1981 Phillies Photocards

I updated this post here in November 2020 and this original post is now outdated. 

Number of Cards:  32
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued since 1970, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1981.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs as noted on the checklist below.  There are six cards available with a horizontal orientation as also noted below.

How Distributed:  The cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever available in complete set form.

Complete Standard Checklist:

Luis Aguayo Ruben Amaro CO Ramon Aviles (auto) Bob Boone (horizontal) Larry Bowa Marty Bystrom (auto) Steve Carlton (horizontal) Larry Christenson Dick Davis (auto) Billy DeMars CO (auto) Lee Elia CO Nino Espinosa (auto) Dallas Green MG (auto) Greg Gross Sparky Lyle Garry Maddox (auto)

Gary Matthews Bake McBride (auto) Tug McGraw Keith Moreland (horizontal) Mike Proly (auto) Ron Reed Pete Rose (auto) Dick Ruthven (auto) Mike Ryan CO (auto) Mike Schmidt (horizontal) Lonnie Smith (horizontal) Herm Starrette CO Manny Trillo (horizontal) Del Unser John Vukovich Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Done (0)
First Appearances (5):  Bystrom, Davis, Lyle, Matthews, Proly
Returning Players (20):  Aguayo, Aviles, Boone, Bowa, Carlton, Christenson, Espinosa, Gross, Maddox, McBride, McGraw, Moreland, Reed, Rose, Ruthven, Schmidt, Smith, Trillo, Unser, Vukovich

The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Green
Coaches (6):  Amaro, DeMars, Elia, Ryan, Starrette, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  Rick confirms the existence of Tim McCarver's first ever broadcaster card, and Steve's checklist indicates the possibility of variations for Maddox and Proly.

• Tim McCarver (broadcaster)
• Garry Maddox (variation available?)
• Mike Proly (variation available?)

Finally, while not part of the team issued set per se, there is a 1981 card of the Phillie Phanatic that was issued by Harrison/Ericsson.  I'm not including it as part of the main checklist above but it should be noted that a black and white Phanatic card does exist in the same size as the rest of the 1981 set.  (The same note pertains to the 1978 and 1980 team issued sets.)

Also See:  1981 Topps Home Team 5 x 7 Phillies
Trivia:  The Lyle card contains an uncorrected error with the spelling of his first name as "Sparkey."

I don't currently own any 1981 Phillies Photocards, and I had wanted to hold off on posting on any sets for which I have none of the cards.  However, in the interest of pressing onwards with this project, I've borrowed the images shown here from The Trading Card Database.
Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collectors Steve and Rick (@rickphils)