Product Details

1933 Sport Kings may be mostly associated with the popular Babe Ruth card in the release, but there is so much more to the beautiful multi-sport offering. Featuring a now-classic design, the colorful and artistic set has earned a special place in the hobby.

Officially designated as R338, there are 48 cards in the 1933 Sport Kings set, but only three of them feature baseball players. As a showcase of athletes from several different fields, there are actually 18 different sports represented in the set. Many of the athletes included are legends of their craft, so the set has remained quite popular over the years. While it traditionally listed as a 1933 release, it is now believed to have been produced over both 1933 and 1934.

Issued by Goudey, 1933 Sport Kings came in striped wax packs with various athletic silhouettes. The 2-3/8" by 2-7/8" cards feature a color painting of the athlete against a solid background of various colors. A red "Sport King Gum" banner appears above the picture and a black strip with the player's name appears below it. Additionally, there is a small, multi-figure silhouette above the name that displays the sport each athlete plays. Goudey baseball collectors should easily recognize the circular 1933 copyright found in the corner.

The card backs are also familiar to vintage collectors, as they look almost the same as 1933 Goudey's layout. Most of the back consists of a biographical write-up, with the card number and player info found above and an advertisement for Goudey Sport Kings Gum below it.

Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Carl Hubbell are the only three baseball players in the set. Jim Thorpe, who also played major league baseball, is featured as a football player. Some collectors choose to simply collect the three baseball cards, while others opt to collect the full 1933 Sport Kings set.

Among the many 1933 Sport Kings non-baseball subjects are some very significant cards. Four pre-NBA pros are included, notably Hall of Fame players Nat Holman and Ed Wachter, which make them the first individual cards for basketball players. There are also four hockey players, including Howie Morenz and Ace Bailey. Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne joins Thorpe and Red Grange as football subjects. Babe Didrickson is one of the best-known female athletes in history. She's featured as a track star, but played a wide range of sports. Gene Tunney, Max Baer and Jack Dempsey are all high-rated, former boxing champions.

Predating the Griffey and Howe family legacies, bicyclists Bobby Walthour Sr. and Jr. make up what may be the first father-son tandem in a card set. Golfers Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones are legendary and are key cards in the 1933 Sport Kings set. Stretching beyond the world of sports, aviator Jimmy Doolittle led an air raid on Tokyo soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and swimmer Johnny Weissmuller would become better known as Tarzan in a series of films.

While the second-half of the checklist is more scarce, the big names drive interest in 1933 Sport Kings and they are largely found in the early part of the set. The key names among the high numbers, specifically Bobby Jones, Babe Didrickson and Knute Rockne, can be more difficult.

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Near Mint 1933, GOUDEY, "SPORT KINGS" Card Wrapper Ex Rare

$329.00

1933 Goudey Sport Kings #44 Max Baer

$149.92

1933 Goudey Sport Kings #21 Johnny Weissmuller Vg- Ex.

$225.00

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Jack Westrope #39

$35.04

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Bobby Walthour Sr #7

$29.49

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Charles Jewtraw #11

$24.26

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Ralph Snoddy #25

$52.29

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Ed Wachter #5 HOF

$630.26

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Ty Cobb (HOF) Bright Color Sharp Corners

$2,750.00

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Ellsworth Vines #46

$44.53

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Bobby Walthour Jr #31

$42.66

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Reggie McNamara #15

$56.03

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gene Tunney #18

$275.00

1933 SPORT KINGS BILL TILDEN

$70.00

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum James R Wedell #26

$213.78

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Ace Bailey #29 Rookie RC HOF

$361.18

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Laverne Fator #13

$35.04

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Vincent Richards #23 HOF

$57.47

2013 Sportkings F Anton Lekang 1/1 Gold Version Original Art Card Skiing

$99.00

1933 Goudey Sport Kings Gum Bobby Jones #38

$1,185.76