Question: Debbie Barrett inquires, "What is the rarest tea card in the set of wildlife in danger ."

Answer: I'm afraid there is no rarest card that I can speak of. I am not aware of any variations and the wildlife set is quite common. This means the cards go pretty cheap.  I think part of the lack of appeal comes in the fact that what is endangered and what is not has changed in 40 years so the information on the cards is dated.  The pics are great and it's neat to see what was endangered way back when but they are not a really popular set. Sorry I couldn't help better with your question. Thanks for the email. 

Question: Jen McNeil from Canada asks, "I have two tea cards from the birds of North America series they are the black ones. The two I have are no 14 and 17. I have no idea where to go to sell them. But I googled and found your website. Please get back to me."

Answer: My advise to Jen is what I tell many people who have only a few common cards for sale. You can do eBay if you want but a couple of cards are worth a buck or less and the shipping you have to charge is going to be $2 or $3 making the sale less than desirable to the average collector. A seller needs at least 20 or 30 common cards to make the sale worth the shipping. Thanks for the email. That is a good faq!

Question: David Curtis of England asks, "I have picked up a couple of Tropical Bird empty albums. In one it has the order form, the other hasn't, (it hasn't been pulled out either because the staples are to tight), also the pages are slightly different shades. My point is, do you think the album with no order form is an early print run, and the one with the form, was printed towards the end of the card print run or vise versa?"

Answer: I I have never considered them running the series 6 without the order form. I agree there are plenty around both ways but I can add or remove the order form in an album so that you cannot tell I have tampered with it. It is a lot easier to take it out than to put it back though. ;-) My opinion is that someone removed the order form. It is however, hard to prove either way. Thanks for the email. That was interesting,

Question: Dwayne Nagy of Saskatchewan asks, "I have a question about series # 1 songbird of N.A. album variations .  I have two songbird albums with the Redrose only text on the back cover , however one album has the glossy finish and one album is the dull finish. Which one of these are more rare? Could you tell me any info you have about this ?"

Answer: I have noticed the glossy finish before but have never thought too much of collecting variations of it. With the finish as the only difference, it becomes a matter of degree. You can have a shiny and a dull and 5 others in varying degrees in the middle. It all becomes a bit murky. The same thing happens with the series 3 wildflower blue backs. There is the ultra rare variation (but the print is slightly different) and then you are left with different shades of blue. I have people that contact me wishing to collect the lighter (or darker) shades but I don't catalog them that way, again, because of all the guesswork in the middle. Sorry it wasn't better news, but the good news is that shiny or not, you have two of the rarer albums.

Question: What is a Red Rose Tea Card worth?

Answer: I am afraid that is a tough one. There are several factors in general and specifically that effect the value of tea cards. Value factors include:

• Condition
• Series (which one does the card belong to?)
• Condition
• Is the card part of a rare set or misprint?
• Condition
• Blue Back or Black Back?

Did I mention condition? Everyone has their own opinion about value. No one opinion is right or wrong, it is about what people are willing to pay. For cards in common series (i.e.- 11 Trees or 13 NA Wildlife in Danger), a card in great shape is worth at most .05¢ in my opinion. For a US blue backed dinosaur card in great shape, I have paid up to $2. Most collectors are willing to pay a little more to get those last few cards to finish out a set. If a card has creases or stains or is deep yellow then the value drops to as low as 10% of a good card. 

Question: Andrew Reynolds asks "... some of the images used (by Red Rose) are much older than the publication date of the set, any ideas?" 

Answer: Good and very common question Andrew. Let's give a specific example. Why is it that the first series (Songbirds of North America) came out in 1959 and yet  #11 has a 1949 NWF copyright date on it? 

Many people assume that the card was issued in 1949. Sorry, that was the year that they copyrighted this particular National Wildlife Federation (NWF) image at NWF. Red Rose got most if not all of it's tea card images at NWF. Some were specially commissioned and others were based on the vast library of beautiful imagery previously done by NWF artists. When Red Rose published the cards, they chose not to date the issue of the cards but they had to list the copyright on each card. 

Question: Robert Skurda asks "I clearly remember collecting series 10, 11 and 12 here in the states. You list series 10 as identical to the Canadian set and say that 11 and 12 were not issued, if that is true then what do I have?"

Answer: I used to think that just series 10, Transportation through the Ages was produced in the US but thanks to Bob's question, I dug a little deeper and found that, yes, they did produce the cards in the US. The point is proven with the free album coupons from those series. If you are interested check it out.

Red Rose Issues of Series 10, 11 and 12 in the US 

Question: Bob also asks "Do you know why some cards fade and yellow? I have some that look as good as the day I got them and others that have yellowed, I have stored them the same over the years, any ideas?"

Answer: I wish I could answer that one but my only guess is that some chemical process was different for some cards as storage does not seem to matter, some cards just yellow up. A prime example are the series 3 Canadian cards. The yellow on them is not normal aging but some chemical thing by my best guess. It makes sense to keep them from light and moisture. If anyone feels differently, let me know.

Question: Bob Skurda again asks "I know that the cards were printed in Canada but do have any idea as to how many of each set? More of some than others? I have never been able to get numbers from Red Rose or Brooke Bond but it would be kind of nice to know. Did they use more than one printer and thus the variety of sets?"

Answer: Another great question, Bob. As far as I know, the cards were all printed at one printer. I don't think Red Rose or the printer have an idea of how many were printed of each series. When they ran low, I think they just had another batch printed up. If anyone else has numbers, I would like to see them myself.   

Question: Many of you have asked "Why don't you list issues I know exist on your "types" lists? For example, I know that there are "C" types go all the way to series 1 and you start at series 7." 

Answer: A good question. The types I am listing are for Free Album Coupons. Several of the types did double duty as a check list and a source for a free album.  Using the "C' type check list, I am aware of Red Rose issuing that type of card from series 1 to 15 and although I haven't seen one yet, I am sure they were issued for series 16 and 17 as well. Only series 7 to 14 offer free albums. The others offer albums but at a cost of .25¢. Since the list is only about free album coupons, then the other series are not listed. There is another list of check list cards I have finished and that has all of the "C" types there as well as some new types. Check List Cards

Statement: Terry Calleyne of So Limerick, Ireland writes "I think I solved the question of the "V" on your proof cards from series 4...."  

Answer: I agree with Terry. What did he have to say? Click the link and get the whole story.  Printer's Proof Cards Solution