The 5 Most Valuable Cards From 1936 World Wide Gum

In 1936, the Canadian counterpart of the Goudey Gum Company released its own designs, featuring striking player portraits and a checklist of many future Hall of Famers. Here are the best five cards from that legendary set.

Four featured cards from World Wide Gum's 1936 release featuring a Joe DiMaggio rookie card. | Card Ladder

1936 World Wide Gum, a Canadian counterpart to the United States Goudey Gum Company, took a step in a different direction. Known for printing their own versions of Goudey's popular baseball cards, the chewing gum company changed the design style in 1936 to its own unique style. The result is one of the most iconic vintage sets that is an absolute treasure for collectors.

With a checklist that includes Lou Gehrig, Dizzy Dean, Hank Greenberg, Joe Cronin, and a Joe DiMaggio rookie card, this set features some of the biggest names of 1930s baseball. Featuring predominantly profile portraits as images for the players' cards, there are also action shots that show players like pitcher Red Ruffing pitching, Ruffing being one of four Yankee pitchers to hit a grand slam, a walk-off grand slam in April of 1933 against Boston.

Here is a list of the five most valuable cards of that 1936 World Wide Gum release.

5. #19 Dizzy Dean

1936 World Wide Gum #19 Dizzy Dean. Known for his confidence, this card was released in the peak of his career. | Card Ladder

The highest reported sale on Card Ladder for this card was a BVG/BGS graded 3.5 that sold on Christmas 2025 for $2,250. Santa made some collectors happy. Dizzy Dean, known for his overly confident attitude and for being the face of the Cardinals' pitching staff dubbed the Gashouse Gang, led the National League in strikeouts four years in a row and was the 1934 MVP, the year the Cardinals won the World Series, and was a four-time All-Star before being traded to the Cubs in 1938.

4. #135 Philip Weintraub

This PSA 3 Weintraub is the highest sale of a Weintraub card despite having a pop of 9 with grades as high as PSA 6. | Card Ladder

A .295 lifetime batting average and, although technically spending 1936 in the minor leagues, Weintraub has a higher sale - a PSA 3 that sold for $3,400 - than any other player from the 1936 set not ranked higher on this list. Starting his big league career in 1926, Weintraub played in and out of the majors from 1926 to 1945, when he retired with the NY Giants, the team he made his rookie debut for, despite spending time with Cincinnati and Philadelphia in his career as well.

Card Ladder does not show sales for the PSA 5 or PSA 6 version of this Weintraub card, and a PSA 4 last sold in 2010 for $255, making that PSA 3 sale the highest for this card.

3. #41 Hank Greenberg

The 41st card in the checklist features Detroit slugger Hank Greenberg. | Card Ladder

Hank Greenberg, a player known for ushering in a new era of sluggers, was the reigning American League MVP when this set was released, having won the 1935 honors. He led the league three times in home runs and runs batted in, and as the reigning MVP, he had also just won the first of his two career World Series championships.

A PSA 5 sold for $6,000 in September of 2025 for the highest sale of this card, although there are one copy of PSA 5.5 and PSA 6 on the PSA pop report that have no sales reported on Card Ladder.

2. #96 Lou Gehrig

Triple crown winner in 1934, this card was printed in the prime of Gehrig's career. | Card Ladder

Lou Gehrig has some of the most iconic baseball cards of the late 1920s and 1930s. He was the face of baseball that had grown out of Babe Ruth's shadow into the star of the show - the captain of the team. From his '33 Goudey to the 1934 Goudey with the "Lou Gehrig Says..." feature on their set, Gehrig became the face of baseball cards as much as he was the face of baseball. He was the first athlete featured on a Wheaties cereal box.

The highest PSA grade for this card is a PSA 7, but the highest sale is for an SGC 8 that sold in February of 2024 for $164,400.

1. #51 Joe DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio's true rookie card, showing the Yankee Clipper in his debut season. | Card Ladder

And then there was Joe. While Gehrig was the face of baseball, he was handed the torch by Babe Ruth, and he would eventually hand it to DiMaggio. Joltin' Joe had been featured in cards before; Zenith ran their own set of minor league cards for the Pacific League that DiMaggio played in the minors. However, this is seen by collectors as Joe's first true rookie card.

An autographed PSA 3 copy of this card sold in March of 2022 for $203,326. That holds an autograph premium, but a non-autographed PSA 6.5 sold for $148,840 in February of 2025 as the highest-graded copy sale, but a PSA 7 exists in the pop report without a Card Ladder sale.