1930s Balas Pugilistas Primo Carnera Set and Checklist

‘It’s In The Details’

Title Balas Pugilistas Primo Carnera
Year 1930s
Size Unknown
Images Color
Type Gum and Candy Cards
Number in Set
100

1930s Balas Pugilistas Primo Carnera Overview

Balas Pugilistas Primo Carnera BoxingThis rare international set features Hall of Fame boxer Primo Carnera.

The cards are a low-quality grade and are often found with printing defects, miscuts, etc. They are a Brazilian boxing issue. The cards picture Carnera in a number of cartoon scenes and the text on them is in Portuguese. The name of the set is Balas Pugilistas, which, translated roughly is ‘Boxing Bullets.’

The cards are clearly Brazilian as they include the address of the distributor of them as Rua do Gazometro, a street in Brazil. The cards bear the name of A. Saccomani, which is believed to be a candy producer of some sort.

Carnera was an Italian fighter so the Brazilian origin may be a bit puzzling. However, Carnera participated in a Brazilian tour, including two fights, in 1935. The exact date of this set is unknown but I believe it could date to that year or perhaps the year before when they could have promoted his appearance. His first fight was on January 13, a knockout of Seal Harris. He then fought again only nine days later, knocking out Erwin Klausner.

Some of the cards in the set are puzzling. For example, this one here depicts Carnera knocking down a fighter named Sandy Seifert. However, I am not aware of the two fighting at any time. Some pictures also humorous, depicting Carnera as a bit of a superhero and overwhelming his opponents. One card (No. 34), for example, shows Carnera knocking his opponent several feet in the air and out of the ring entirely. Others depict his opponents as heavily beaten up to exaggerated states.

The set also contains numerous drawings of Carnera outside of the boxing ring. For example, one shows him as a soccer player. Others show him in non-sports capacities. Card depicting Carnera as a boxer will likely have the most desirability. However, the cards are also so rare that most boxing fans would settle for any of them.

1930s Balas Pugilistas Primo Carnera Checklist

Titles for the cards are those printed on them. They are printed following Carnera’s name in order to complete a short phrase (i.e. Carnera playing soccer). Please note that some typos almost certainly exist below.

For any that are sports-related cards aside from the boxing issues, I have identified those in parentheses.

  1. TBD
  2. TBD
  3. TBD
  4. Jogando Bola (playing soccer)
  5. e suas juvas
  6. TBD
  7. Em viagem para Nova York
  8. Apos o 2 round
  9. Treinando
  10. Rindo
  11. TBD
  12. TBD
  13. TBD
  14. Treinando no sacco de areia
  15. Ne puncing ball
  16. TBD
  17. TBD
  18. Resistindo um automovel
  19. TBD
  20. TBD
  21. TBD
  22. Passeando
  23. TBD
  24. Fumando
  25. Sem adversarios
  26. Levantando pesos
  27. E os seus musculos
  28. Derrotando Wiggins
  29. Em training
  30. TBD
  31. TBD
  32. Pulapula cord.
  33. Derrotando Roy
  34. Zangado
  35. E seus adversarios
  36. Cyclista
  37. TBD
  38. Ne cinema
  39. Esmurrando
  40. Photographo
  41. TBD
  42. TBD
  43. Apos o 1 round
  44. Exercitando-se
  45. Terror dos pugiljstas
  46. TBD
  47. e o adversario pedindo agua
  48. e os 3 KO
  49. TBD
  50. TBD
  51. Envia uppercut esquerdo
  52. e o primero KO
  53. TBD
  54. TBD
  55. Pondo as luvas
  56. Em guarda
  57. TBD
  58. TBD
  59. TBD
  60. Indio
  61. TBD
  62. Disposto para a inta
  63. TBD
  64. TBD
  65. Derrotando Barrik
  66. e o uppercut terrivel
  67. TBD
  68. TBD
  69. TBD
  70. TBD
  71. e os commentarios
  72. No mar (swimming)
  73. TBD
  74. TBD
  75. Derrotando Sodge
  76. TBD
  77. Grille
  78. TBD
  79. Derretando Sandy Seifert
  80. TBD
  81. e George Goodfrey
  82. Correndo
  83. TBD
  84. Remando (rowing)
  85. TBD
  86. TBD
  87. TBD
  88. TBD
  89. e o seu almoco
  90. TBD
  91. TBD
  92. TBD
  93. TBD
  94. TBD
  95. TBD
  96. Victorioso
  97. TBD
  98. Com seus succesios
  99. Em triumpho
  100. TBD

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