Skip to main content

A cutting crisis


A few posts ago, I wrote a Blog Bat-Around on all of the various items I collect and in the process exposed what has been an ongoing crisis in my collection.

One of the things I collect is 1970s oddballs, specifically Hostess cards. And I showed some Hostess panels, which I picked up at the most recent area card show (way back in October).

Back on that post, I mentioned that those Hostess panels, as great as they are, would soon be cut into the more typical cards, as the dotted lines suggest. Whenever I obtain sheets or panels or what have you, the mission always is to reduce it down to its purest card form. I'm about the pure card, not the panel or sheet or box.

Or so I thought.

It's now been five months since I purchased those Hostess panels. And none of them are cut.

I can't do it. I just can't.


Something about these are simply too cool to alter.

It's not that I fear I'd make a mess of them. I'm sure I'd cut them straight and true. Yeah, I'd be a tad nervous, but I think I could get them all approximately the same size. I'm not some sugar-spaz 9-year-old kid anymore.

But I still can't do it.


They seem much more special in their untrimmed state.

Then I was reading someone else's blog bat-around. The Fleer Sticker Project mentioned that he owns a complete run (1975-79) of Hostess panels. Man, so jealous of that, and they look, so, so, so, so, so, so, awesome.

Maybe I should be trying to complete the '76 Hostess panel set instead of merely the '76 Hostess set.


That would kick serious oddball ass.

So I'm a bit stuck.


I already have these. A bunch of previously-trimmed 1976 Hostess cards.

Do I collect a trimmed set AND a panel set because I don't have the guts to cut the panels?

And what about these?


Do I maybe cut all the '76 Hostess panels because I have so many already-cut '76 Hostess cards and then keep the '79 panels intact?

What to do? What to do?

Yeah, I know, do what I want.

I just don't know what I want yet.

I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Comments

Mark Hoyle said…
I would leave them uncut. I think they fit in the three pocket horizontal pages. If you need some I can get them from my local guy
Section 36 said…
Agreed. Leave them uncut.
Commishbob said…
Don't cut 'em. They look terrific like that.
Tony L. said…
The answer is yes. Collect both versions. Why not? You need more to chase than just the (*checks Trading Card Database*) 110,000+ Dodger cards, after all, don't you?
Nick Vossbrink said…
Collect both but consider the set "complete" when you have the whole checklist between panels and cards.

I'm having this same dilemma with box-bottom cards myself.
acrackedbat said…
gotta say I like the idea of panels. I wouldn't dare cut them were they mine. I'm prone to spasms, which always occur at the worst possible moment. keeping scissors at bay!
night owl said…
I don't think I've seen three-pocket pages in the wild, so, yeah, I wouldn't mind some.
Adam said…
I say collect both the cut and uncut cards, that way you get the best of both worlds!
steelehere said…
Collect both. Consider one normal size and one 'Minis'. Plus as a bonus, you can collect the Hostess Twinkie versions which were individual cards.
A week ago I'd of said CUT em! Tonight I say build both sets.
Fleerfan said…
My vote is don't cut. You can always cut them later, but once you cut, the panel is gone forever. I keep them in the 3 pocket pages which you can pick up off Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-3-Pocket-Platinum-Pockets/dp/B00156X6BI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521515098&sr=8-5&keywords=ultra+pro+3+pocket+pages
Angus said…
I'd try to collect both. And I promise to point out any more uncut panels I see at any show that we're at together!
mr haverkamp said…
I cut my 75 set into singles as I was building it (as a kid in 1975), but the remaining years I kept them in panel form...and I have no regrets about either. Slowly been trying to finish the 78 and 79 versions, but they don't show up too often any more. I was so happy when I saw that you snagged the Cey SP card!
Billy Kingsley said…
Probably my second biggest regret in the hobby was separating the panel sets that I did- the SI for Kids cards and the 1996-97 NBA mini cards...and one of the Quads in 1996 Skybox USA basketball.

The panels are harder to store but I feel it's worth the effort.
Anonymous said…
I think this is a situation where one has to think beyond one's own lifetime... Someone in the 1970's had the foresight to not cut them into individual cards, it'd be a shame to undo that 40 years later and take a panel away from future collectors.
Old Cards said…
Don't cut. Collect both.
Jon said…
I completely agree with this sentiment.
GCA said…
Single cards aren't scarce by any means. Do a whole single set and if you have enough panels, go for that too.
Fuji said…
Fleer Sticker Project has a complete Hostess panel run from 75 to 79? That has to be one of the coolest projects around. I'm interested in whether or not you go for it, because if you don't... I might. Well... I'd probably just target the 1976 set.