1967 Leaf Star Trek 60, Kirk, William Shatner, Funny Little Enemies, Ungraded
Item History & Price
We want you to be happy with your purchase, if there is an issue please contact us through the eBay message system or at our customer service number.
From a pet free and smoke free environment and stored in the same.
The Chicago-based gum company unveiled the first set devoted to the Star Trek TV series, an offering whose history has become so mysterious and scandalous that even the brainy Enterprise crew would have trouble explaining it.
"What's kind of neat about... the 1967 Leaf Star Trek set is that there are a lot of mysteries surrounding it, and I don't know that we're ever going to have them answered, " said non-sports card expert, Kurt Kuersteiner.
Chief among this black-and-white, 72-card set's perplexities was how it was distributed and why it was withdrawn from store shelves so quickly.
There are several theories as to why these cards were only available for a short period. The most recurring explanation is that they were manufactured without obtaining the proper licensing, and Leaf was subsequently forced to halt production and recall boxes.
"But what company in their right mind is going to produce a series thinking that they had the licensing and then wait to get the licensing until after they have printed the cards?" questioned Kuersteiner. "That's not going to happen because that gives the company with the license all the power."
Kuersteiner believes the cards were more likely yanked from store shelves because of a dispute with the show's cast and/or writers.
Perhaps even more plausible is that the writers could've objected to their storylines being used on the backs of the cards, contends Kuersteiner. While some storylines on the card backs stray wildly from the TV plots, some are very similar. For example, Kuersteiner notes that the description on the back of card #3 "A Grup Appears" is nearly identical to the plot for the TV episode entitled "Miri" and that the back of card #5 "Murasaki Mischief" describes the plot of an episode called "The Galileo 7."
"The writers could've griped about their stories being used [without permission] because Star Trek used a lot of other writers, including some science fiction writers who adapted their stories to the series, " said Kuersteiner. "The writers could make the complaint that they didn't get their cut."
The savvy hobby authority adds that it's also possible that Leaf secured rights to use some of the writers' stories but not others. That would explain why some descriptions are similar to the TV plots, while others are laughably different.
Another explanation that's sometimes offered for the scarcity of these cards is that they were test marketed in Illinois and Ohio and didn't sell well, so Leaf simply discontinued production.
"I find that a plausible explanation also, " said Kuersteiner. "Remember, Star Trek was basically discontinued in its third season and it never really caught on in a tremendous way until people saw it in reruns."
For the record, the Gene Roddenberry-created series originally aired on NBC for 79 episodes from 1966 to 1969 before it was cancelled. But Desilu Productions ? a company overseen by Lucille Ball at the time ? invested heavily in the production values of the show and recognized that it might thrive in syndication.
From a pet free and smoke free environment and stored in the same.
The Chicago-based gum company unveiled the first set devoted to the Star Trek TV series, an offering whose history has become so mysterious and scandalous that even the brainy Enterprise crew would have trouble explaining it.
"What's kind of neat about... the 1967 Leaf Star Trek set is that there are a lot of mysteries surrounding it, and I don't know that we're ever going to have them answered, " said non-sports card expert, Kurt Kuersteiner.
Chief among this black-and-white, 72-card set's perplexities was how it was distributed and why it was withdrawn from store shelves so quickly.
There are several theories as to why these cards were only available for a short period. The most recurring explanation is that they were manufactured without obtaining the proper licensing, and Leaf was subsequently forced to halt production and recall boxes.
"But what company in their right mind is going to produce a series thinking that they had the licensing and then wait to get the licensing until after they have printed the cards?" questioned Kuersteiner. "That's not going to happen because that gives the company with the license all the power."
Kuersteiner believes the cards were more likely yanked from store shelves because of a dispute with the show's cast and/or writers.
Perhaps even more plausible is that the writers could've objected to their storylines being used on the backs of the cards, contends Kuersteiner. While some storylines on the card backs stray wildly from the TV plots, some are very similar. For example, Kuersteiner notes that the description on the back of card #3 "A Grup Appears" is nearly identical to the plot for the TV episode entitled "Miri" and that the back of card #5 "Murasaki Mischief" describes the plot of an episode called "The Galileo 7."
"The writers could've griped about their stories being used [without permission] because Star Trek used a lot of other writers, including some science fiction writers who adapted their stories to the series, " said Kuersteiner. "The writers could make the complaint that they didn't get their cut."
The savvy hobby authority adds that it's also possible that Leaf secured rights to use some of the writers' stories but not others. That would explain why some descriptions are similar to the TV plots, while others are laughably different.
Another explanation that's sometimes offered for the scarcity of these cards is that they were test marketed in Illinois and Ohio and didn't sell well, so Leaf simply discontinued production.
"I find that a plausible explanation also, " said Kuersteiner. "Remember, Star Trek was basically discontinued in its third season and it never really caught on in a tremendous way until people saw it in reruns."
For the record, the Gene Roddenberry-created series originally aired on NBC for 79 episodes from 1966 to 1969 before it was cancelled. But Desilu Productions ? a company overseen by Lucille Ball at the time ? invested heavily in the production values of the show and recognized that it might thrive in syndication.
