VICTOR Hall has amassed a collection of more than 80,000 cigarette cards.

He is one of a large number of enthusiasts who still get a buzz out of the so-called ‘stiffeners’.

The cards were produced by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging, but with their information and colourful illustrations, they quickly became a collector’s item.

Although no cards have been issued since the Second World War, there is still a lively trade in them, with rare ones fetching huge prices.

Mr Hall, who wrote in after reading our feature about cigarette cards (Memory Lane, January 27), became interested as a 10-year-old pupil at Bayswater School, Barton.

He recalls: “We would flick the cards against a wall and the one whose card fell nearest the wall was the winner. We got the cards mostly from our parents – everyone smoked in those days.”

The first cards depicting actresses, baseball players, Indian chiefs and boxers were issued by the Allen and Ginter tobacco company in the United States.

WD & HO Wills produced the first UK cards, but with advertising. The first UK general interest cards were produced by John Player and Sons in 1893, featuring castles and abbeys.

Other manufacturers followed, with ships and sailors, cricketers and footballers. Each set of cards typically consisted of 25 or 50 related subjects.

Many of the cards Mr Hall has collected over the past 40 years are in sleeves and folders, while others are in boxes waiting to be sorted.

His collection includes cars, aircraft, birds, trains, flags, kings and queens, reptiles, military badges and much more.

His favourite sets show racing pigeons – he is also a pigeon fancier – and old motorcycles, probably worth £300 each. He puts the value of his whole collection at about £20,000.

The highest price he has paid was £55 for a card to complete his arms and armour set.

Like all collectors, he is always on the lookout for rare cards.

The world record $2.8m (about £1.4m) was paid in 2007 for a single card of United States’ baseball player Honus Wagner. He was a non-smoker and objected to his picture being included on a card. Threats of legal action prevented the card’s release, but a few slipped out, giving them a rarity value.

Mr Hall, who lives in Headington, is hoping that one of them may be in one of two boxes he brought back from America and which he has still to sort. Who knows, he may be sitting on a fortune!