Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali

Valida Backs (Redemption Variations)

The first Cassius Clay card to have an alternate back / redemption parallel came from the 1965 Lampo Grandi Campioni set. Cards with the blue text Edizioni backs (“worth 2 points”) could be sent in by collectors and redeemed for prizes. Panini carried on this Italian tradition with their Valida back versions for the Campioni Dello Sport sets from 1966-1970. Panini did not make a Cassius Clay card while his boxing license was suspended in 1969 and 1970. Their last redemption back variation came from the 1971 Olympia set (Bisvalida). According to the pop reports, the Valida back parallels of the 1966 & 1967 Panini sets appear to be about 4 x more rare than the regular back versions. The Valida and Bisvalida back parallels of the 1968 and 1971 Panini sets are roughly 6 x more rare than their regular back counterparts. The extremely rare 1968 Mira Tuttosport (Regalo) and 1970 Baggioli set (removable tab) also had redemption prizes for collectors. Italian translations for these extremely rare cards are shown below:

1965 Edizioni Lampo Grandi Campioni

PSA Total Pop: 4 (there are 33 total Collezioni backs)

The 1965 Edizioni Lampo (with blue text on the back) is one of the rarest Cassius Clay collectibles you can own. The Edizioni parallels look identical to the Collezioni fronts, but the card stock is thinner and appears in a brighter white color. Edizioni backs could be redeemed for prizes, which no doubt adds to their rarity today.

Italian Translation: “Worth 2 Points. Collect these stickers. Amazing prizes await all those who send us the necessary number of points. 500 points for a plastic soccer ball - 700 points for a football jersey of a Serie A team (at collector’s choice), 1000 points for a table tennis game or a doll - 2000 points for a full football kit of Serie A team or a full American kitchen for girls - 2400 points for a foosball table - 3000 points for a soccer ball Calcio N. 4 or a great working sewing machine.”

1966 Panini Campioni Dello Sport - Valida Back

PSA Total Pop: 31 (there are 104 total regular backs)

The 1966 Panini Campioni Dello Sport Valida Back comes in two print variations. The first print run came with a lighter grey background and brighter colors on Clay’s robe (image above). The 2nd print run has a significantly darker background with less variation and eye appeal (an image of that card is below). Higher grade copies of this card appear to come more consistently from the 2nd print run although both appear to struggle with consistent centering and tilting issues. PSA does not differentiate between the print runs and it is hard to tell which version has a higher pop. The total pop count of all the 1966 Validas is just 31.

Italian Translation: “Valida. Keep the Valide stickers and send them to Edizioni Panini Modena (address). Magnificent gift to be chosen from the following. 300 Valide: children's book, harmonica, ballpoint pen - 400 Valide: sport flag, cowboy pistol, coloring book - 500 Valide: white soccer ball, suit for schoolboy, battery powered car - 600 Valide: AER jet, compass, doll - 750 Valide: soccer jersey, spring micro-kick, model aircraft - 1000 Valide: Garzanti dictionary, basketball, space battle game - 1250: Garzanti atlas, monopoly, tennis racket - 1500 Valide: football kit, baby pinball machine, magnetic whiteboard - 1750 Valide: various games, puppet theater - 2000 Valide: football shoes, roller skates - 2500 Valide: Garzanti encyclopedia - 3000 Valide: leather soccer ball - 4000 Valide: foosball table. To acquire the gifts, the Valida, Bisvalida and Trisvalida cards must be sent in. See the illustrated catalog of gifts and the rules of the competition in the album. Ministerial authorization granted.”

1967 Panini Campioni Dello Sport - Valida Back

PSA Total Pop: 30 (there are 111 total regular backs)

For whatever reason, the 1967 Panini Campioni Dello Sport seems to have the best centering of all Panini releases, and they are slightly easier to find in high grade. There are twelve 1967 Validas with a PSA 6 grade or higher including three 8’s. Although at least one of these 8’s is mislabeled by PSA (actually a regular back version that I own).

Italian Translation: “Valida - registered trademark. Keep the Valida stickers and send them to Edizioni Panini Modena (address). You will immediately receive a wonderful gift to be chosen from the following: 300 Valide: children's book, harmonica, ballpoint pen - 400 Valide: sport flag, coloring book, toy missile - 500 Valide: white soccer ball, suit for schoolboy, sports bag - 600 Valide: AER jet, compass, Robinson pistol - 750 Valde: soccer jersey, doll, guitar - 1000 Valide: spring football, basketball, Garzanti dictionary, space battle game - 1250 Valide: Garzanti atlas, Garzanti historical atlas, monopoly, tennis racket - 1500 Valide: football kit, baby pinball machine, magnetic board - 1750 Valide: various games, Festacolor projector - 2000 Valide: football shoes, rollerskates - 2500 Valide: Garzanti encyclopedia, De Agostini geographic globe - 3000 Valide: leather soccer ball, pinball machine - 4000 Valide: foosball table. To acquire the gifts you can send the Valida, Bisvalida, Trisvalida and Pentavalida. See in the album the illustrated catalog of gifts and the rules of the competition. Ministerial authorization.”

1968 Mira Tuttosport I Campionissimi - Regalo Back

PSA Total Pop: 0 (there are 7 total regular backs)

No copies of the 1968 Mira Tuttosport Cassius Clay with a Regalo back have yet to surface on the open market. The image of this back was taken from another card in the set. The standard back Mira has a total PSA pop of just 7. Finding a Cassius Clay Regalo 1/1 is definitely on my bucket list.

Italian Translation: “Gift card. Your gifts are in the Mira sticker book. Ministerial authorization of the finance lot.”

1968 Panini Campioni Dello Sport - Valida Back

PSA Total Pop: 16 (there are 119 total regular backs)

An honorable mention on our Top 10 List. The 1968 Panini Campioni Dello Sport Cassius Clay card is notorious for centering problems, with many crisp copies unfortunately earning an OC or MC qualifier from PSA. The extra rarity of the Valida backs make it all the more difficult to find this particular card in high grade. There are a total of 16 Validas in the PSA pop report with a single PSA 7 taking the highest graded title.

Italian Translation: “Valida - registered trademark. Keep the Valida stickers and send them to Edizioni Panini (address). You will immediately receive a magnificent gift of your choice among the following: 300 Valida: children’s book, harmonica, Walker markers - 400 Valida: sports flag, Mach X missile, hit record - 500 Valida: white soccer ball, Panini sports bag, schoolboy suit - 600 Valida: coloring book, binoculars, compass - 750 Valida: soccer jersey, doll, checkers and chess set - 1000 Valida: Panini sports suit, basketball, spring football - 1250 Valida: ping pong, Garzanti atlas, Garzanti historical atlas, monopoly - 1500 Valida: football kit, baby pinball machine, toolbox - 1750 Valida: various games, Festacolor projector, football shoes - 2000 Valida: rollerskates, guitar, Garzanti encyclopedia - 2500 Valida: geographic globe, leather soccer ball - 3000 Valida: pinball machine, foosball table. To acquire the gifts you can send the Valida, Bisvalida, Trisvalida and Pentavalida. See in the album the illustrated catalog of gifts and the rules of the competition. Ministerial authorization.”

PSA Total Pop: 7 (with tab attached - there are 8 more of the round discs graded)

All of the cards from the 1970 Baggioli set came with the redeemable tear off tab. So this card is not a parallel like the rest of the cards on this “Valida” list, but I thought it was appropriate to include it because of the redemption theme.

Italian Translation: Front: “Baggioli Awards. Worth 2 points. Remove and collect these good points.” Back: “Awards List: 30 points - photos of the 16 Serie A Teams, 100 points - model car to build, 250 points - cool airplane models, 800 points - mattel spinning top wizzzer, 2000 points - leather soccer ball.”

1971 Panini Olympia - Bisvalida Back

PSA Total Pop: 7 (there are 75 total of the regular & brown letter backs combined)

After a 2 year hiatus Panini brought Cassius Clay back to its 1971 Olympia set. There are 3 back variations for this card. The Bisvalida back gave collectors 2x more bang for their redemption buck. I have never seen a Bisvalida back from the 1966, 1967 or 1968 sets and have never seen a Valida for the 1971 set. If you read the translations of these Valida backs there is mention of Bisvalida & Trisvalida in the rules of the 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1971 sets. There is also mention of a Pentavalida in ‘67, ‘68 and ‘71. I have never seen a photo of anything higher than the Bisvalida. Perhaps there are even more rare backs that were worth 3 or 5 Valida redemption points, or perhaps this was false advertising or something Panini planned to do and never executed. If you ever find a Cassius Clay Pentavalida I suggest that you buy it.

Italian Translation: Bisvalida is worth two Valida - registered trademark. keep the valid stickers and send them to Edizioni Panini (address). You will immediately receive a magnificent gift of your choice among the following: 500 Valida: binoculars, Mach X missile, white soccer ball, Panini sports sack - 750 Valida: doll, Panini sports bag, schoolboy outfit, soccer jersey - 1000 Valida: spring football, sport dart, camera, basketball - 1500 Valida: football kit, monopoly, ping pong - 2000 Valida: fishing suit, football shoes, Panini sports suit - 2500 Valida: leather soccer ball, Mattel track - 3000 Valida: foosball table, electric train. To acquire the gifts you can send the Valida, Bisvalida, Trisvalida and Pentavalida. See in the album the illustrated catalog of gifts and the rules of the competition. Ministerial authorization.”

Cassius Clay Damaged Backs - Recovered From Album

Most of Clay’s early releases were “stickers” included as part of a set that came with a display album. These stickers did not have removable backs, but collectors would attach them to albums to fill up the spaces and try to complete the set. This also adds to the rarity factor for these cards. Cards that were never attached to the album are very hard to come by, and clean backs are required for high grades. Many of the lower priced vintage Cassius Clay cards you will see for sale have been “recovered” or removed from the album. When looking at these cards you will see evidence of damage on the back depending upon how cleanly they were removed and what adhesive product they were originally attached with. If the Seller is only showing a photo of the front, there is probably a reason for it. On some of these cards you will see tape stains (usually in a triangle shape). This appears to have started with the 1967 and 1968 Panini Campioni Dello Sport sets. Other albums used glue. So it is not uncommon to see these cards with blotches on the back where the album was removed with the card or even worse, the back of the card was torn off and stayed with the album upon removal. Any card with paper loss has a guaranteed grade of 1 (Poor) from either PSA or SGC. In some cases if there is glue or tape residue and the rest of the card is in excellent shape, it may receive a PSA or SGC 1.5 - 3 grade. The picture above provides some examples of compromised backs of Clay cards that were recovered. These cards can sell for dramatic discounts when they surface even though the fronts still maintain tremendous eye appeal. It may provide an opportunity to own an authentic Clay card on a much more reasonable budget.