It’s been a while (since Dave De Busschere had a baseball card)…

…and it’s not as if I’m making any kind of triumphant return.  I haven’t been doing too much baseball cards.  But I have bought one card recently that completes a little coupling of cards I was trying to do.  I got the 1965 card below this year on eBay.

I’m always a big fan of cards of guys in their other sport.  Getting the buybacks of the baseball cards of an NBA Hall of Famer is pretty cool!  These go in my Heritage binders.

A look back at 1964 Topps

In honor of Heritage coming out last week, and me buying two boxes yesterday, here’s my post on the original.

Last year once Heritage hit, I basically stopped posting about my Lifetime Topps project and started doing retro sets only until October.  I’m going to try to avoid having that happen this year by doing less detailed looks at these retro sets that I buy.  I’ll still do Heritage in some level of depth because it’s my favorite product.  But I won’t be doing 20-something comparisons this time!  We’ll see Gypsy Queen and Archives come out, I’ll post less on those, too.

This year’s Heritage product has less to live up to in my mind.  The 1962 design was one of my favorites of those older sets that I knew of when I was a kid.  The 1963 design was one I didn’t know much about, but after being featured as last year’s Heritage throwback, it became one of my favorite designs Topps has ever done.  The 1964 set probably isn’t in that category.  I don’t think it’s a bad design, just not a very good one, either.  It’s better than 1961, I guess.  1964 is an in-between year.  I think a lot of people loved the very unique 1962 design and 1963 seems to be a favorite for many.  1965 and the pennant design is also a fan favorite, so I think that will be the more popular product.

587 cards in the set – 11 more than the year before.

• Set Design: The design features a white border with the team name in big block letters at the top.  There is a black box at the bottom with the player name and position, with the player photo in the middle.  The orange-colored card backs are horizontally oriented with the card number inside a baseball in the upper left corner and player biographical data along the top border.  There is a blurb about the player at the top and a trivia question along the bottom that you’d have to rub down to see the answer.  The player’s complete statistical record is shown in the middle of the card.
  
• Subsets: League Leaders (#1-12), World Series (#136-140), Multi-player specials (10 cards throughout), Team Cards (19 cards throughout), Managers (22 cards throughout), Topps All-Star Rookies (9 cards throughout), Rookie Stars (57 cards throughout).  This was quite an increase in the number of the Rookie Stars cards from 1963.
• Packs: Topps issued the set in 7 series (see below).  Cards were available in 5-card wax packs (5¢) that came 24 to a box, 1-card wax packs (1¢) and cello packs (I believe 10 cards for 10¢).  As was usual for the time – the last series is perceived as rarer than the rest.  There are also some cards in that series that were short-printed.
  • Series One #1 – 109
  • Series Two #110-196
  • Series Three #197-283
  • Series Four #284-370
  • Series Five #371-446
  • Series Six #447-522
  • Series Seven #523-587
• Rookies: Phil Niekro is the most notable rookie card, as do Tommy John and Mickey Lolich.  Future HOF managers Tony LaRussa and Lou Piniella has a RC in this set as well.
• Hall of Fame: There are 35 (or 38 – depending if you count the broadcasters) Hall of Famers in this set.  Factoring the addition of Niekro, that’s a net 2 decrease.  Stan Musial, Richie Ashburn, and Whitey Herzog were gone.  Berra in the set, but as a manager
  • Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Casey Stengel, Eddie Mathews, Orlando Cepeda, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Warren Spahn, Al Kaline, Gaylord Perry, Mickey Mantle, Walter Alston, Robin Roberts, Billy Williams, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford, Hank Aaron, Luis Aparicio, Don Drysdale, Frank Robinson, Bill Mazeroski, Yogi Berra, Dick Williams, Lou Brock, Jim Bunning, Carl Yastrzemski, Duke Snider, Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson, Willie McCovey, Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Santo, Willie Stargell, Phil Niekro.
  • Bob Uecker, Tony Kubek and now Tim McCarver have all won the Hall’s Ford C. Frick award as  broadcasters and have cards in this set.
  • Dave DeBusschere is featured on card #247 in the set – he pitched 2 seasons for the Chicago White Sox before focusing full-time on his pro basketball career, where he became a Hall of Famer and was voted as one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in 1993.  He pitched 2 seasons (only one of which he saw significant time), yet he got 3 separate Topps cards (1963 to 1965).
• Last Active player: Tommy John was the last active player from this set – he played his final game on May 25, 1989.  There wasn’t a player who played in the 90’s until the 1968 set (Nolan Ryan).
• Variations: There are only a couple of variations in the 1964 set.  Card #4, a pitching leaders card, has an apostrophe on the back in an incorrect place that was later corrected.  Checklist #517 has a numbering error that was later corrected as well.  There are a few more uncorrected errors.  Pete Rose, Don Mossi, Hector Lopez, Vic Power and Minnie Minosa all have their birth year incorrect on the card back.  Joe Koppe has his glove on the wrong hand.  Roberto Clemente’s card back for #440 spells Pittsburgh incorrectly (Pittsburfh).  Lew Burdette’s name is misspelled and he tricked the photographer by posing as a left-hander.  Bud Bloomfield’s photo is actually of Jay Ward, and Dave Bennett’s Rookie Stars card lists his age incorrectly.

The wax box is a little less colorful than the previous year – with a white background and a catcher, umpire and batter following through on a swing. The box has the Topps in a red oval at the top with “Baseball” in green block letters below that. I can’t tell if there’s a player the batters designed after – that looks like it could have been Frank Robinson, but he was number 20.

Parallel Set

Topps issued a parallel set of 390 cards in Venezuela (creatively referred to as Topps Venezuelan).  This was the first four series of the base set.  This year, the text was completely in English, with the only difference in the cards being a black back as opposed to the orange card backs.

Promo Cards

• Topps issued a couple of 3 card advertising panels to market the set.  The panels have 3 player cards on the front of the card and a mock-up of Mickey Mantle’s card plus an advertisement on the backs.

Insert set

• 164-coin set – Topps inserted coins of 120 players into specially marked packs.  The coins measure 1-1/2″ in diameter.  The last 44 cards are All-Star coins.

Promotions

• I’m not aware of any promotions similar to the sticker album available in the previous year.

Other releases associated with the Topps flagship set

There isn’t really anything else (or at least nothing I’m aware of – and I’ve done some “research”) that’s directly associated with the flagship set.  There are a couple of things that Topps has included in Heritage as buybacks, but these don’t qualify as “associated with the flagship” set.

1. Topps Giants – these came in their own separate packs
2. Bazooka – this was its own “product” issued as box-bottoms for Bazooka gum

There is also the stand-ups from 1964 – they were also a separate product, but they aren’t included in Heritage in any fashion this year.

I’ll start posting about the 2013 version in my next post – hopefully Wednesday morning as I haven’t had a chance to open anything from the boxes I bought on Sunday.

Archives – A look back at 1969 Topps Deckle Edge

On to my last “look-back” at an older card set re-created as part of the Topps Archives product.  Archives does have reboots of the 1982 In-Action subset and 1958 Classic Combinations, but I’m skipping over these as they are part of regular Topps sets.

Topps Deckle Edge was a 33-card set from back in 1969.  The sets were organized alphabetically by league, team, and player last name, with the first 16 cards being AL players and the last 17 being NL players.  I again would send anyone with more detailed interest in these cards to the “Topps Archives” blog – there is a ton of interesting info that really does more justice to these sets than I do below.

• Set Design: The cards measure 2-1/4″ x 3-1/4″ – just a tad smaller than standard size.  The edges are “deckled” (I can’t think of a better way to describe it), with a blue facsimile signature over the top of the black and white photos.  The players cap logos have been photo shopped out. The card backs have the player name and the card number (out of 33) on the back.
• Packs: Topps inserted into the cards into the first 3-4 series of 1969 Topps 5¢ packs.  So you’ve got a true insert card – all the way back in 1969!  Amazing how times change – this idea obviously didn’t catch on enough to become a staple for another quarter-century!  The packs advertised that you would get an “EXTRA real autographed photo in each pack” – though obviously the blue signature is not “real” by how we define it today.
• Hall of Fame: There are a whopping 11 Hall of Famers in this set – Brooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Luis Aparicio, Hoyt Wilhelm, Rod Carew, Ron Santo (glad to be able to add his name to this list!!!), Roberto Clemente, Bob Gibson, Willie McCovey, Willie Mays, and Juan Marichal.  There are some other big names as well – Pete Rose, Curt Flood, Rusty Staub, Boog Powell, Luis Tiant, Denny McLain and Maury Wills are a few.
• Last Active player: Pete Rose, who played his last game in 1986.
• Variations: Jimmy Wynn (Astros) and Joe Foy (Royals) were replaced later in the print run after Wilhelm and Staub were traded from those two teams in the 68/69 offseason.  But Topps actually mixed the two up, thus Foy got card #22 amongst a bunch of National League players, while Wynn got card #11 with the American Leaguers.  Maybe Topps was just foreshadowing the 2013 move by the ‘Stros!

Archives – Another look back at 1968 Topps 3D

This “look-back” is actually a rehash of a test set that I did last year as part of Topps Lineage – which I’m reposting because Topps apparently liked the response to their 3-D cards so much in 2011 that they did them again in 2012.  This was one of my favorites last year, and is so again this year.

Topps 3-D was a 12-card test set issued in 1968.  Like last year, I have to direct anyone with more detailed interest in these cards to the “Topps Archives” blog – there is a ton of interesting info that really does more justice to these sets than I do below.  In short, these cards were produced by a company named Visual Panographics, which later produced the Kellogg’s sets of the 1970’s.  I’m not positive, but they may have then become or started the company Optigraphics, who released the Sportflics cards of the mid-late 1980’s.  They eventually created the Score and Pinnacle products under the name Pinnacle Brands.

• Set Design: The cards measure 2-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ – just a little bit smaller than standard size – with rounded corners.  The cards were printed using a technique called lenticular printing that creates a 3D / movement type effect with the player’s interaction with the background.  The player name is in colorful block letters at the top, above a circle containing the player’s position and team.  Most cards come with blank backs.
• Packs: Topps issued the set in 2-card test packs (5¢) that came 12 to a box.  Each pack came with an easel that could be folded up to display the cards.  The picture below is from an auction last year – this may be the only known box of these remaining.
• Hall of Fame: There are 2 Hall of Famers in this set – Roberto Clemente and Tony Perez. (See below for the Brooks Robinson proof)
• Last Active player: Perez played his last game on October 5, 1986 – some 18 years after this test set was issued.
• Variations: Some cards come with a stamp on the back in either Red or Black.  The stamp says: “This is an experimental XOGRAPH card produced as a limited edition. Not for public circulation or distribution. Not for resale. To be returned to: Visual Panographics, Inc. 488 Madison Avenue New York, New York.”  There are also some small variations in the pictures used on the front.

The box has the Topps logo with an ad for “3-D Baseball Picture Cards”.  Next to that is a picture of one of the cards and the 5 cent pack price – and apparently these came with gum.  The box advertises that the cards are “Real 3-D without glasses”.

Promo cards

• A proof card of Brooks Robinson has been found that is similar in design to the 1967 set.  The only wording is “Orioles” at the top of the card.
• There have also been 3 unissued cards turn up in uncut sheets with the 1968 design – these are Rick Monday, John O’Donoghue and Tommy Davis.
• There have also been some findings of square cornered proofs as well

Archives – A look back at 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers

Here’s another look back to the cards that Topps based its Archives product on – the 1977 Cloth Sticker set.

Last year there were cloth stickers, but they were supposedly based off of the 1972 set.  That was pretty loose, as it really was just the Lineage card design made into a cloth sticker.  Regardless, Topps has had a number of test sets called Topps cloth stickers.  Here’s a list of the sets in chronological order.

1970 Cloth Stickers Test

These are apparently very rare, and appear to have been material tests that Topps intended to send to the scrap heap.  Every sticker that’s been found (less than 44, including some that are only partials) corresponds to the 2nd series of Topps cards from t(#133-263).  Here’s a couple of posts on this issue from the blog “Topps Archives”.

1972 Cloth Stickers Test

There were 33 cards from this issue, which was also a test design.  The sticker set is essentially a sheet of cards from the 1972 Topps set in sticker form, so some of the same subsets are represented that are in the 1972 Topps flagship set.  There are 3 “In Action” cards, a “Boyhood Photo” card of Jim Fregosi, the Red Sox team card, and even a checklist.  If you see a single card – that means it was hand-cut.  Hank Aaron is the biggest name from the cards that made it onto the sheet.

1976 Cloth Stickers Prototype

Another materials test – there were only 2 cards printed for this test issue – Duff Dyer (Pirates) and Bob Apodaca (Mets).  Topps was likely testing for the full-blown set they would release in 1977 – these cloth stickers can be found in a couple of different versions.  I’ve seen a couple of lots for these on eBay from time to time.

1977 Cloth Stickers

1977 Cloth Stickers Test

This set consisted of 55 players and was issued in packs.  Here’s a write-up of this set on sports collector’s daily.

• Subsets: There are 18 checklist cards that form 2 different 9-piece puzzles (one for each league).  When you put the puzzles together, they form a photo of each All-Star squad.  Other than that, the cards are basically cloth parallels of the 1977 set.
• Set Design: The front is the same design from 1977 Topps flagship.  The cards have a white border with a team name is at the top left in block letters and the player name below that.  The position is in a pennant to the top right, and there is a facsimile signature over the player photo.
• Packs: The cards came in 15¢ packs with 2 cards and 1 checklist per pack.  Boxes have 36 packs.
  
• Hall of Fame: There are 19 Hall of Famers in this set.
  • Johnny Bench, Bert Blyleven, George Brett, Lou Brock, Rod Carew, Steve Carlton, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Jim Palmer, Tony Perez, Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Willie Stargell, Don Sutton, Dave Winfield, Carl Yastrzemski, Robin Yount
• Last Active player: Winfield, who played his final game in 1995.

Archives – A look back at 1967 Topps Stickers

I’m going to do a few “look-backs” of the oddball sets that Topps Archives copies off of in 2012.  The first one is the 1967 Topps Stickers, which was a test issue released for two teams – Pittsburgh and Boston.  These were probably released in just those areas as a test.  There were 3 cards per pack, at 5¢ a pack.  Here’s a look at a pack of Pirate stickers:

There are 33 cards in each set.  The stickers themselves are the standard card size of 2.5″ x 3.5″.

• Subsets: The Pirates have 24 player / coach cards, while the Red Sox have 26 player / coach cards.  The remaining cards have various fun ad cards – saying things like “Clemente (or Yaz) for Mayor”, or “Tony Conigliaro is my Hero”.  hat are in the 1972 Topps flagship set.  There are 3 “In Action” cards, a “Boyhood Photo” card of Jim Fregosi, the Red Sox team card, and even a checklist.
• Set Design:The stickers have the “floating head” look with the players’ name in a comic book style font at the bottom.  Sometimes there is a colored shape in the background.  The “subsets” have various “fun” with the design.  The cards have blank, brown backs.
• Packs: 3 cards per nickel pack.  See the picture above.
  
• Hall of Fame: There are 5 Hall of Famers in these 2 sets.
  • Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski, Dick Williams MG
• Last Active player: Yastrzemski, who played his final game at the end of the 1983 season.

A look back at 1963 Topps

As I did last year, I’m taking a temporary break from my lifetime Topps project to collect the current year retro sets that Topps comes out with.  Heritage is the first of these sets, and last year at least, was my favorite.  I loved the 1962 design.  I’m excited for 1963 – but I could see me liking Gypsy Queen a little bit better when it’s released.  Anyways, I’ll start doing some similar stuff with what I do for each Topps set – but like I did last year, I’ll compare the original set to the “retro set” as I go.  So first up is 1963 Topps.  If you’re reading this, and you know any info I could add – feel free to post a comment (and thanks!).

576 cards in the set – 22 less than the year before.

• Set Design: The design features a white border around most of the card, with a colored bar at the bottom of the card.  The player’s name, team and position are featured on the left and middle of that bar – to the right is  a player photo in a circle.  The design certainly draws its look from the 1953 set.  The back features off-white cardstock with gold highlights.  The card number and “Topps” is in the upper left corner inside a baseball, next to the player name, team and biographical information.  Below this is a write-up of the player, next to a comic and a quick blurb on the right hand side.  The player’s complete seasonal and lifetime statistics are at the bottom in a gold box.
  
• Subsets: League Leaders (#1-10), World Series (#142-148), In Action (#311-319), Sport Magazine All-Stars (#390-399, #466-475), Multi-player specials (12 cards throughout), Team Cards (20 cards throughout), Managers (19 cards throughout), Topps All-Star Rookies (9 cards throughout), Rookie Stars (20 cards throughout).  The “Babe Ruth” subset is gone, and the Rookie Parade cards at the end of the 1962 set are replaced with the Rookie Stars “4 quadrant” floating head cards throughout the set.  The Sport Magazine / Sporting News All-Star cards were also gone.  The All-Star rookie cards have the large trophy in place of the second picture on the team.  I’ve read that Topps had planned an All-Star subset for cards number 577-598 to bring it up to the same # of cards from 1962.
• Packs: Topps issued the set in 7 series (see below).  Cards were available in 5-card wax packs (5¢) that came 24 to a box, 1-card wax packs (1¢) and cello packs (I believe 11 cards for 10¢).  As was usual for the time – the last series is perceived as rarer than the rest.  There are also some cards in that series that were short-printed.
  • Series One #1 – 109
  • Series Two #110-196
  • Series Three #197-283
  • Series Four #284-370
  • Series Five #371-446
  • Series Six #447-522
  • Series Seven #523-576
• Rookies: Pete Rose is one of the bigger RC’s ever, and there is also one of Hall of Famer Willie “Pops” Stargell.  Tony Oliva and Rusty Staub also have rookie cards in the set.
• Hall of Fame: There are 37 (or 40 – depending if you count the broadcasters) Hall of Famers in this set.  Factoring the addition of Stargell, that’s a net 4 decrease.  Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins and Lou Gehrig were gone after being included in the 1962 Ruth subset.  Early Wynn had his last Topps card in the 1962 set, and Red Schoendienst his last Topps card as a player.
  • Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Casey Stengel, Eddie Mathews, Orlando Cepeda, Brooks Robinson, Stan Musial, Harmon Killebrew, Warren Spahn, Al Kaline, Gaylord Perry, Mickey Mantle, Richie Ashburn, Walter Alston, Robin Roberts, Billy Williams, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford, Hank Aaron, Luis Aparicio, Don Drysdale, Frank Robinson, Bill Mazeroski, Yogi Berra, Dick Williams, Lou Brock, Jim Bunning, Carl Yastrzemski, Duke Snider, Juan Marichal, Whitey Herzog, Bob Gibson, Willie McCovey, Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Santo, Willie Stargell    (Out of these guys – Perry, D. Williams, Brock, Yaz, Stargell and McCovey all had cards in the 1980 set – where I started my lifetime Topps project.)
  • Bob Uecker, Tony Kubek and now Tim McCarver have all won the Hall’s Ford C. Frick award as  broadcasters and have cards in this set.
  • Dave DeBusschere is featured on card #54 in the set – he pitched 2 seasons for the Chicago White Sox before focusing full-time on his pro basketball career, where he became a Hall of Famer and was voted as one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in 1993.
• Last Active player: Rose was the last active player from this set, playing his final game on August 17, 1986.
• Variations: There are far fewer variations in this year than the 1962 set.  The 2 “Rookie Stars” cards in the first series have an error variation where it says “1962 Rookie Stars” on the front – this includes the DeBusschere card noted above.  Card #341 of Jack Baldschun has an error where there is a white streak across the smaller inset photo in the bottom right – there is a version where this streak was removed.  Art Fowler also has a variation where the number on the back of his card is colored in gold as opposed to a white box that’s supposed to be there.  Finally, there are 2 color variants for 3 of the set’s checklists (#102, #431, #509).  There are a few uncorrected errors, as well – the Ken Hubbs card doesn’t list his position on the front.  Ron Santo is pictured on Don Landrum’s card, and the card for Eli Grba really pictures Ryne Duren.  The back of Jim Owens’ card has a “R” for the column header where there should be a “W”.  Finally, the back of Ernie Banks’ card said “Major and Minor League record” – but he never played in the minors, and the comic on the back of his card actually points this out!

Wax boxes have a photo of a batter, catcher and umpire waiting on the pitch.  It appears to be Phillies catcher Clay Dalrymple.  The box has the words “Topps Baseball Bubble Gum” and either 1 cent or 5 cents depending on which type of card you bought.  The sides have a couple of other action shots from a distance, while one side has a Stan Musial advertisement for the product, claiming “Topps Baseball is the finest series ever”.  An ad for “Topps Finest” – 30 years early?

Parallel Set

There were no parallel sets for 1963 Topps.  In the 1960’s, Topps did produce cards for the Venezuelan market that paralleled the first couple of series, but usually only in even years.

Promo Cards

• Topps issued a couple of 3 card advertising panels to market the set.  The panels have 3 player cards on the front of the card and the Musial advertisement on the backs.

Insert set

• 46-sticker set – Topps Peel-Offs were inserted in most of the series of Topps card (1 per cello or 5-card pack).  These stickers measure 1-1/4″ x 2-3/4″ and include a “floating head” picture of the player inside a colored oval with the player name, team and position.  The backs come blank or with instructions.

Promotions

• I believe there is an advertisement on some of the packs for an album that can be purchased.  Other than that, I’m not aware of any promotions similar to the sticker album available in the previous year.

Other releases associated with the Topps flagship set

#1 – I did find a picture of some boxes that were used to hold the cards for presentations that Topps made.  Other than that – not much else that Topps released in 1963 for baseball.  These actually look pretty nice considering the times!

I had an autographed card of Whitey Ford from the 1962 set, but I don’t think I’ve ever owned a card from the 1963 Topps set.  It’s a nice looking design – and the card backs actually seem really nice compared to other years around this time frame.  I’m excited to open the Heritage product!

A look back at 1968 Topps 3D

This is the last “look-back” for an older card set which has been re-created as part of the Topps Lineage product.  I’m skipping over any regular Topps sets as Lineage does have autographed reprints of older flagship Topps set cards and 1952-style cards of current players.  But that’s not really in line with the other inserts, which are of the oddball variety.  My last one is my second favorite of these oddballs – behind the 75 minis – Topps 3-D.

This was a 12-card test set issued in 1968.  Again, I have to direct anyone with more detailed interest in these cards to the “Topps Archives” blog – there is a ton of interesting info that really does more justice to these sets than I do below.  In short, these cards were produced by a company named Visual Panographics, which later produced the Kellogg’s sets of the 1970’s.  I’m not positive, but they may have then become or started the company Optigraphics, who released the Sportflics cards of the mid-late 1980’s.  They eventually created the Score and Pinnacle products under the name Pinnacle Brands.

• Set Design: The cards measure 2-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ – just a little bit smaller than standard size – with rounded corners.  The cards were printed using a technique called lenticular printing that creates a 3D / movement type effect with the player’s interaction with the background.  The player name is in colorful block letters at the top, above a circle containing the player’s position and team.  Most cards come with blank backs.
• Packs: Topps issued the set in 2-card test packs (5¢) that came 12 to a box.  Each pack came with an easel that could be folded up to display the cards.  The picture below is from an auction last year – this may be the only known box of these remaining.
• Hall of Fame: There are 2 Hall of Famers in this set – Roberto Clemente and Tony Perez. (See below for the Brooks Robinson proof)
• Last Active player: Perez played his last game on October 5, 1986 – some 18 years after this test set was issued.
• Variations: Some cards come with a stamp on the back in either Red or Black.  The stamp says: “This is an experimental XOGRAPH card produced as a limited edition. Not for public circulation or distribution. Not for resale. To be returned to: Visual Panographics, Inc. 488 Madison Avenue New York, New York.”  There are also some small variations in the pictures used on the front.

The box has the Topps logo with an ad for “3-D Baseball Picture Cards”.  Next to that is a picture of one of the cards and the 5 cent pack price – and apparently these came with gum.  The box advertises that the cards are “Real 3-D without glasses”.

Promo cards

• A proof card of Brooks Robinson has been found that is similar in design to the 1967 set.  The only wording is “Orioles” at the top of the card.
• There have also been 3 unissued cards turn up in uncut sheets with the 1968 design – these are Rick Monday, John O’Donoghue and Tommy Davis.
• There have also been some findings of square cornered proofs as well

A look back at 1972 Topps Cloth Stickers test

The next set I’ll look at with ties to 2011 Topps Lineage is from the 1970’s – specifically the 1972 Topps cloth sticker set. 

After doing a little research, I’m surprised they singled out the 1972 set – as Topps has had a number of test sets called Topps cloth stickers.  Here’s a list of the sets – I’ll do 1972 last because that’s what Topps says they modeled the Lineage set after:

1970 Cloth Stickers Test

These are apparently very rare, and appear to have been material tests that Topps intended to send to the scrap heap.  Every sticker that’s been found (less than 44, including some that are only partials) corresponds to the 2nd series of Topps cards from t(#133-263).  Here’s a couple of posts on this issue from the blog “Topps Archives”.

1976 Cloth Stickers Prototype

Another materials test – there were only 2 cards printed for this test issue – Duff Dyer (Pirates) and Bob Apodaca (Mets).  Topps was likely testing for the full-blown set they would release in 1977 – these cloth stickers can be found in a couple of different versions.  I’ve seen a couple of lots for these on eBay from time to time.

1977 Cloth Stickers

This set consisted of 55 players and was issued in packs along with 18 other cards that formed 2 9-piece puzzles.  When you put the puzzles together, they form a photo of each All-Star squad.  Here’s a write-up of this set on sports collector’s daily.

1972 Cloth Stickers Test

33 cards in the set – usually coming in 33-card or 132-card sheets.

• Subsets: As the sticker set is essentially a sheet of cards from the ’72 set in sticker form, some of the same subsets are represented that are in the 1972 Topps flagship set.  There are 3 “In Action” cards, a “Boyhood Photo” card of Jim Fregosi, the Red Sox team card, and even a checklist.
• Set Design: Exactly the same as the recognizable arch design from 1972, these was one of the more unique designs in Topps history.  Like all the other sets above, these cards have blank, stickered backs.  If you see a single card – that means it was hand-cut.
• Hall of Fame: There are 4 Hall of Famers in this set.
• Hank Aaron, Luis Aparicio (IA), Roberto Clemente (IA), Willie McCovey
• Last Active player: Dave Concepcion, who played his final game in September of 1988.

A look back at Topps Venezuelan: 1959-1968

The next set I’ll look at with ties to 2011 Topps Lineage is from the 1960’s – starting in 1959 actually – Topps Venezuelan.  Topps authorized printing of a Venezuelan version of some series of the base set during certain years. Below is some info on each year.  Again, I have to direct folks to The Topps Archives blog for where I got a little bit more detailed information than the Standard Catalog has.

1959 Topps Venezuelan

As the professional baseball league in Venezuela became popular – Topps attempted to capitalize on this market through a partnership with a Venezuelan company called Benco.  They printed the same first two series of Topps cards – up through card #198.  Some of the cards have copyright on the back that Benco printed the card, but some have the same Topps copyright.  For either version, the biggest difference is the lack of gloss on the front.

Hall of famers (14): Ford Frick, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, Nellie Fox, Warren Spahn, Willie Mays, Jim Bunning, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, Al Kaline (subset only), Ernie Banks (subset), Robin Roberts (subset)

1960 Topps Venezuelan

Topps came back the next year and again produced parallels of the first and second series (#’s 1-198).  These cards have no typing differences between the regular and Venezuelan cards; the only way to tell the Venezuelan cards is that they have less gloss and the colors are not as bright.  This set is notable in that it includes the rookie card of Carl Yastrzemski (#148).

Hall of famers (14): Early Wynn, Ernie Banks, Brooks Robinson, Sparky Anderson, Whitey Ford, Al Kaline, Bill Mazeroski, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Nellie Fox, Yaz RC, Willie Mays (subset only), Hoyt Wilhelm (subset), Mickey Mantle (subset)

Ford C. Frick award winner Tony Kubek also has a card in this set.

1962 Topps Venezuelan

Topps began a trend of skipping a year, so the next set is the 1962 Venezuelan set.  These were the first cards where the backs were written in Spanish – except for the statistics.  The first two series are again reproduced, except the last 2 cards (#197 & 198) were replaced by Elio Chacon and Luis Aparicio as cards #199 & 200, both of whom were born in Venezuela.  The first 2 series had a number of subsets, including the Babe Ruth story, so this one has a ton of HOF-ers.  Roger Maris is card #1 in tribute to his breaking the Babe’s HR record.  I wrote about this set in one of my Heritage posts.

Hall of famers (22): Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Casey Stengel (MG), Eddie Mathews, Orlando Cepeda, Brooks Robinson, Stan Musial, Harmon Killebrew, Nellie Fox, Warren Spahn, Al Kaline, Aparicio, Babe Ruth (subset only), Lou Gehrig (subset), Miller Huggins (subset), Willie Mays (subset) Mickey Mantle (subset), Frank Robinson (subset), Jim Bunning (subset), Whitey Ford (subset), Don Drysdale (subset)

1964 Topps Venezuelan

Topps again skipped a year, but when they came back to the South American market that had increased to including the first 4 series – netting a total of 370 cards.  However, this time, the cards have English writing on the back.  As with previous years, the cardstock for the Venezuelan cards is not as good, and there is no gloss whatsoever on the front.  Most distinguishing, however, is that there is black border on the back, whereas the regular Topps set had an orange border.

Hall of famers (30): Hoyt Wilhelm, Yogi Berra, Lou Brock, Eddie Mathews, Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks, Walter Alston MG, Don Drysdale, Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Billy Williams, Harmon Killebrew, Sandy Koufax, Nellie Fox, Carl Yastrzemski, Brooks Robinson, Al Lopez, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson, Jim Bunning, Juan Marichal, Robin Roberts, Hank Aaron, Casey Stengel, Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Warren Spahn (subset only), Whitey Ford (subset), Roberto Clemente (subset), Orlando Cepeda (subset)

1966 Topps Venezuelan

Continuing with even-numbered years only, the next Topps Venezuelan set was 1966.  This was another 370-card set matching the first 4 series.  The backs are the only distinguishing feature – they are noticeably darker. 

Hall of famers (29): Willie Mays, Phil Niekro, Jim Hunter, Billy Herman MG, Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Perez, Red Schoendienst, Sandy Koufax, Ernie Banks, Walter Alston MG, Harmon Killebrew, Lou Brock, Jim Palmer, Orlando Cepeda, Whitey Ford, Joe Morgan, Eddie Mathews, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, Don Sutton, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron (subset only), Willie McCovey (subset), Billy Williams (subset), Juan Marichal (subset), Don Drysdale (subset)

Ford C. Frick award winner Bob Uecker also has a card in this set.

1968 Topps Venezuelan

Topps again skipped a year before releasing its final Venezuelan parallel in 1968.  Again a 370-card set, the cards are identical replicas except for the noticeably cheaper cardboard and the notation of being printed in Venezuela.  This set has 3 pretty notable cards all included in the Venezuelan version – the Jerry Koosman rookie which also featured the future GM of the Rangers, Johnny Bench’s RC and Mickey Mantle’s last Topps card.

Hall of famers (35): Brooks Robinson, Billy Williams, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Eddie Mathews, Rod Carew, Gaylord Perry, Willie Stargell, Dick Williams MG, Bob Gibson, Don Sutton, Hank Aaron, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Don Drysdale, Roberto Clemente, Nolan Ryan RC, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Jim Bunning, Harmon Killebrew, Al Kaline, Johnny Bench RC, Carl Yastrzemski, Phil Niekro, Mickey Mantle, Willie McCovey, Red Schoendienst MG, Luis Aparicio, Leo Durocher MG, Hoyt Wilhelm, Ernie Banks, Lou Brock (subset only), Frank Robinson (subset), Fergie Jenkins (subset)