1936 Varldens Basta Boxare Set and Checklist

Posted on December 10, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Varldens Basta Boxare
Year	1936
Size
Images	Black and White
Type	Publications
Number in Set	32

1936 Varldens Basta Boxare Overview

1936 Varldens Basta Boxare This 32-card set pictures black and white images of boxers from around the world. The set is named Varldens Basta Boxare, which translates from Swedish to ‘World’s Best Boxers.’ The cards, as indicated on the fronts were produced by a company called Malmo Art Print.

Collectors will recognize many names of fighers in the set, including Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, James Jeffries, Joe Louis, and Max Schmeling, among others. Any star from the set is a noteworthy one but the card of Louis in particular is an impressive one as it is one of his earliest cards.

As best I can tell, Malmo Art Print was some sort of printing and publications company. Thus, I have classified these as M-Cards (publications issues). Malmo is actually the name of a city in Sweden but I am unsure if this could be a candy or tobacco issue. Swedish candy sets, for example, were quite popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

The cards are more like the German Sanella/Astra cards of the 1930s in that they are more like small thin photos than they are traditional cards. There is a very good reason for that as the cards were intended to be pasted into an album. The album for this set has the Varldens Basta Boxare name on the front in red ink along with a drawing of a globe and a boxing ring.

This is a rare set that is not commonly seen in the U.S.