Birdie Num Nums

In recent years the celebrity set has taken hold in the hobby. Panini, Upper Deck, Razor/Leaf and Topps have all put out at least one set, not to mention countless insert and subsets, based on pop stars, historical figures and ladies who have posed naked in magazines. But this is nothing new. Go back to early tobacco cards and you'll find handfuls of sets that follow a similar pattern. Continue on past World War II and the trend continues.

Here's an example that is a somewhat recent addition to my collection:

34 Peter Sellers - Saturday Spectacular

34 Peter Sellers - Saturday Spectacular (Back)

It's Peter Sellers, one of the greatest comedic actors of his generation. The card hails from an oddball set called ATV Snap Series Two, which was released in 1960. I had a tough time finding a lot of information on the set, but from what I can gather, there's 48 cards in the set, which mixes various television personalities from the era.

Besides offering an amusing pose of Sellers, the bright colors stand out. The fronts are missing a name, something I'm a fan of on my cards. The backs offer very little information outside of being a promotional tool for ATV and their catalog with more stuff to buy. But that's the way a lot of cards used to be.

Singles for this set can be found for auction for a couple of dollars. Among those that I saw, Sellers definitely ranks in the top-tier of stars covered in the set.

This isn't the only set Sellers has appeared in either. Among them is a six-card preview set put out by Cards Inc. in 2003 for the Pink Panther films. He also appeared in a couple of the Donruss Americana sets, including wardrobe cards.