One of the things that card collectors do the most is start new projects. It might be a new set, a new player PC or any other number of things. I am no different. I can’t say that I needed another project, but it’s always fun to start one.
I found out about the 1960 Hawes Wax Indy set a couple of months ago. I can’t remember how, but it was likely perusing racing cards on COMC. Not surprisingly, the sellers on there were asking more that I was willing to put out and more than “book” value. I took a look on eBay and found some that were priced in my comfort zone.
One of the sellers was “openbinders” and that rang a bell. Someone had told me about their website before and I’d checked it out, but just hadn’t made any purchases. I checked their site to see if the cards they had on eBay were also on their site. I was happy to find they were, so I bought the cards from their site instead of on eBay. I’m happy to have saved them 20%.
About the set, from Beckett.com: “Although often considered to be one of the first American auto racing card sets, the 50-card Hawes Wax issue was printed by Parkhurst in Canada for distribution in Hawes Wax products. This set features 39 cards portraying Indy 500 race winners from 1911-1959; 11 cards featuring race action scenes, and one card featuring the Purdue University Marching Band. Cardbacks are printed in both English and French. It’s interesting to note that card #50 lists the winners of the Parkhurst Zip Gum Hockey Contest originally offered on the backs of 1958-59 Parkhurst hockey cards. Oversized versions (approximately 3″ by 4″) of six cards exist featuring the fronts of 12 Hawes Wax cards (#9/26/29/31/33/35/37/38/39/40/43/44) placed back-to-back. Reportedly, the six cards were part of a game produced in Canada that also included additional cards of non-racing subjects. These six cards are valued at approximately $20.00 each.”
These are the first cards into my set:
This is a long term project. Now, the set is 8% complete (4 of 50).
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I think I’ve purchased some stuff from openbinders once or twice. Those cards are pretty cool, although I am not as drawn in by early race cars as I am by later models.
As an avid Indy fan, I have to say that this set is absolutely phenomenal. I wish I knew of it before. I might have to search a few out myself.
They are definitely available. For me, it’s just a matter of finding a price I’m comfortable with.