Red Man All Star Baseball Cards were a unique promotional baseball card series that was included in cans and packages of Red Man chewing tobacco from 1969-1987. The Red Man brand was one of the biggest smokeless tobacco companies in America during the 20th century and issued these cards as a way to promote their products and the sport of baseball.
The idea for the Red Man All Star cards came about in 1969 when the company’s marketing executives wanted to find a fun way to engage baseball fans and smokeless tobacco users. Baseball card collecting was immensely popular throughout the 1960s and early 70s, fueled by the traditional card series issued by Topps, Fleer, and other companies. Red Man saw an opportunity to insert sports cards directly into their tobacco products as a bonus for customers.
The first series of Red Man All Star Baseball Cards was issued in 1969 and contained 36 total cards, featuring snapshots of many of the biggest major league players from that season. Some of the stars included on the inaugural cards were Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Pete Rose. The photographs utilized on the cards were provided by various professional photographers who covered baseball games.
Each subsequent year from 1970-1987, Red Man issued new sets containing 36 cards that highlighted the top players and performances from that particular MLB season. Some differences over the years included card stock quality (often thicker in the early years), player pose variations, and the addition of rookie cards for up-and-coming young talents. Famous names to appear on Red Man cards down the decades included Reggie Jackson, Carlton Fisk, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken Jr., Wade Boggs, and Ozzie Smith.
In addition to current major leaguers, the Red Man sets from the late 1970s and 1980s also included ‘Legendary Performers’ cards spotlighting star players from baseball’s past. Legends like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Smokey Joe Wood, and Mel Ott would receive vintage-style cards in these special subsets highlighting their career accomplishments. A unique trait of the Red Man issues was that unlike traditional card companies, they did not worry about obtaining player or team licensing rights.
As with any promotional cards, the Red Man All Star sets varied greatly in terms of condition, centering, and photographic quality compared to mass-produced products from brands like Topps. They still held considerable appeal among collectors because of their rarity and “one-per-can” insertion method distribution. Today, high-grade rookies or stars from the earlier Red Man years can command prices upwards of $100 USD or more on the secondary collector market.
Some of the more coveted and valuable inclusions in the various Red Man sets over the decades included Nolan Ryan’s first card from 1971, Rod Carew’s 1969 rookie, Cal Ripken Jr.’s well-centered 1981 rookie, and Darryl Strawberry’s impressive debut in 1980 featuring the New York Mets outfielder demonstrating his batting stance. These were the types of cards that drove collector demand even without official MLB licensing.
Red Man ended their baseball card insert program after issuing their final 1987 set. By this late stage, concerns over the health impacts of chewing tobacco—along with pressure from anti-smoking groups—were taking a major toll on the smokeless industry. Product liability lawsuits and declining usage rates forced Red Man’s parent company, Conwood Company, to cease tobacco merchandising efforts focused on sports and youth audiences. The legacy of Red Man’s early sets from the sport’s golden era live on as prized collectibles today.
While of promotional material, the Red Man All Star cards resonated so strongly with fans because they tapped perfectly into the confluence of baseball nostalgia and tobacco enjoyment from a bygone Americana period. Their “one-per-can” low print run distribution created a sense of scarcity that further enhanced collectibility. Though production ended over 30 years ago, these sets maintain an authentic capsule of both the game’s rich history as well as smokeless tobacco’s once ubiquitous place within American popular culture. For devoted baseball card aficionados and history buffs alike, the Red Man issues endure as a true piece of sporting ephemera from another era.
The Red Man All Star Baseball Card sets from 1969-1987 represented a innovative promotional effort between a major tobacco brand and America’s pastime during baseball’s golden age. By including sports cards directly within smokeless tobacco cans and pouches as bonuses, Red Man gained untold customer goodwill while assembling some of the hobby’s most historically relevant and valuable rookie cards and star players of the period. Though no longer in print, the Red Man issues leave behind a cherished legacy within the realm of vintage sports collectibles.