1962 Post customs complete the trilogy -- for now

The completion of a six-card sheet of 1962 Post cereal custom baseball cards, in the form of a recreation of a cereal box-back, ends phase one of a project I began a couple of months ago.

I introduced the project on this blog on April 24, showing off my 1961 Post customs. On May 14 I presented by seven-card panel of 1963 cards.

Now I give you my 1962-style creations. I saved the '62s for last because they were my favorite among the three years of Post 200-card sets.

To get a feel for the whys and wherefores of my Post customs, it might be a good idea to go back and look at the April 24 and May 14 blog entries so I don't have to repeat it here.

As in past presentations, I'll have just a few words about my player selections.

Gene Conley. Any Milwaukee Brave, or even a former or future Brave, is liable to find his way onto one of my custom cards. That was the case with Conley. Big Gene was originally included by Post only in its 1961 set, with the Phillies. By that time, however, he'd been traded to the Red Sox. My card recognizes Conley's move to the AL.

Gil Hodges. Hodges had a "real" card in the 1962 Post set, but was pictured as an L.A. Dodger. Post wasn't able to reflect the expansion Mets and Colt .45s of the NL on its 1962 cards, beyond some "drafted by . . . " lines on some of the cards. My card shows what such cards might have looked like if Post had done some additional cards later in the year.

Stan Musial. Though he was near the end of his playing days, and his productive years were behind him, in 1962 Musial was still one of the most popular players in the game. He didn't appear in any of the original Post cereal sets; this is what a 1962 card would have looked like.

Warren Spahn. The game's greatest left-hander appeared on Post cereal boxes only in 1961. Perhaps the company expected him to retire each year thereafter, but he hung on through the 1965 season, adding to his career totals. 

Billy Williams. Williams appeared in the 1963 Post set, where he is a high-priced short-print. It's not too much of a stretch to think Post could have included him in 1962; so I did.

Robin Roberts. Roberts is another player who did have a card in Post's original 1962 set. It pictured him as a Phillie and mentioned his trade to the Yankees. My "update" pictures him with New York and recognizes his move to the Orioles. Roberts was on the Yankees' roster from Oct. 16, 1961 through May 21, 1962, but never pitched in an official game for them.

As I said, these 1962 customs represent the end of the first part of what looks to become an on-going project.

I'm going to be doing something in the style of Post's 1962 football cards in a couple of months. I've also got a special 1962 Post Tens tray-bottom in mind and will likely tackle at least one more box-back of 1963 cards.