1989 Topps parallels – Eric Davis

1989 Topps

Card I selected:  #330 – Eric Davis

After 7 Hall of Famers in the first 9 years, I’m going with one of my favorite players for the 1989 set.  That would be Eric Davis.  I don’t know if this is the best Eric Davis Topps card, but it’s up there.  It looks like a double in the gap, maybe more.  I’m also back to just 2 parallels in 1989.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  3

The parallel sets in 1989 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Tiffany

Scans:

1989 Topps #330

1989 O-Pee-Chee #330

The Canadian version was again half the size of the Topps set.  Since Davis was in the first half of the set, his OPC card has the same number as his Topps card.  I’m surprised how few cards I’ve picked out of these parallels where it’s different.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the top corner.
• On some of the cards (not this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

1989 Topps Tiffany #330

For the 6th time, Topps issued a Tiffany variation in factory set form, printed on white cardstock with glossy coating on the front.  The 1989 Tiffany set had production cut back a little bit from the previous 2 years – “limited” to 15,000 sets after nearly twice that in 1987 and 1988.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There’s no others that I know of.

Other cards I would have liked to do:  Bobby Bonilla, Jose Canseco, Julio Franco or Mike Schmidt.  It was Schmidt’s last card, and I listed that as my favorite card in the 1989 Topps set.  But Schmidt was in this parallel thing for his 1986 card, so I had to pick someone else.  Glad I could get my favorite player into the set!

1988 Topps parallels – Wade Boggs (and Tom Browning)

1988 Topps

Card I selected:  #200 – Wade Boggs

The 1988 set is one from my early days of collecting; it has a lot of nostalgia for me.  I remember organizing the cards based on guys who made the All-Star team that year – because I went to the 1988 All-Star Game.  Wade Boggs was one of those players, and I’ve dubbed his card as my best card of the 1988 set.

There’s something I need to address for the parallels in this set, however.  1988 had the standard 2 as far as Topps parallels go – there was O-Pee-Chee and Tiffany.  Tiffany was a full parallel, and O-Pee-Chee was again half the size of the Topps set.  But there’s one additional card that parallels the Topps set.  It’s the Topps Cloth cards, which were a pretty rare test set.  The problem is, I think the O-Pee-Chee and Cloth sets are mutually exclusive.  I haven’t checked every card, but I’ve gone through about 15-20 of them on Beckett’s site.  And none of the cards in the Cloth set are also in the O-Pee-Chee set.  So I think it’s impossible to get a full rainbow of one card here.  What I’ve decided to do in circumstances like this, are to still get a version of the “misfit” card.  I thought about getting the Boggs All-Star card, which does have a cloth version, but I picked Tom Browning’s card.  Basically, because I was able to find it on eBay for a decent price.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  4

The parallel sets in 1988 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Tiffany
• Cloth Test

Scans:

1988 Topps #200

1984 O-Pee-Chee #200

The Canadian version of the Topps set was, again, half the size of the Topps set (396 cards).  Boggs is in the first half of the set, so his OPC card has the same number as his Topps card.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the lower corner.
• On some of the cards (not this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

1984 Topps Tiffany #200

For the 5th time, Topps issued a Tiffany variation in factory set form, printed on white cardstock with glossy coating on the front.  Like the year before, the 1988 Tiffany set was a lot more plentiful than the first 3 versions – it was “limited” to 25,000 sets.

1988 Topps Cloth Test #NNO (Tom Browning)

Topps created a test issue called “Topps Cloth”.  This was an experimental release of 121 cards from the base set printed on textured paper, similar to higher-quality paper towels.  These cards were pretty rare, which is why I went with Tom Browning – I could find his card for a decent price!  I could have got Boggs in his All-Star subset.  But that generally goes for around 50 bucks, which I’d rather keep away from.

 

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There were 2-pocket folders with reprints of some of the 1988 Topps cards.  These were very popular when I was in the 2nd grade; I used to have Eric Davis.  Boggs does have a  folder, but I’m not counting that for the ones above – it needs to fit in a binder (those are closer to being the binder than fitting in the binder).

There’s a Don Mattingly card called “World of Baseball” that Topps created.  I don’t know much about it, except that it’s not a cheap buy.  I don’t really consider it a parallel, since it uses a different picture from Mattingly’s regular card.  It is an interesting “other” type card.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

I really like the cards of Dave Stewart, Bo Jackson and Jose Canseco.  And Eric Davis has a cool card, as he always does.  But he’ll get in this shindig next year!

1987 Topps parallels – Kevin Mitchell

1987 Topps

Card I selected:  #653 – Kevin Mitchell

This is the first of these parallel posts where I’ve picked a really great action shot.  Last year’s card (Mike Schmidt) was a very good card that featured an action shot.  But it was all about the guy in the photo.  While Mitchell did win an MVP, he’s by no means an all-time great.  But this play at the plate is an all-time great photograph on a Topps baseball card.

Topps Super was discontinued after 1986, so I’ve only got 3 cards in this mini set.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  3

The parallel sets in 1987 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Tiffany

Scans:

1987 Topps #653

1987 O-Pee-Chee #307

The Canadian version was again half the size of the Topps set.  Since Mitchell was in the second half of the set, his OPC card has a different number from his Topps card.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the bottom left.  The name tag is a lighter color on the O-Pee-Chee card.
• On some of the cards (including this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

1987 Topps Tiffany #653

For the 4th time, Topps issued a Tiffany variation in factory set form, printed on white cardstock with glossy coating on the front.  The 1987 Tiffany set had 6 times the production run as the previous 2 years – “limited” to 30,000 sets.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There’s no others that I know of.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

This was an easy choice.  But I would have picked the Nolan Ryan if not for this card.

1986 Topps parallels – Mike Schmidt

1986 Topps

Card I selected:  #200 – Mike Schmidt

In 1985, I picked Gary Mathews for my parallel.  In 1986, I’m back on the Hall of Fame train.  I went with my personally deemed “best card” from the 1986 Topps set – Mike Schmidt.  The 1986 set is not one known for great action shots, or great anything shots for that matter.  But this is a really good one, and it’s of Mike Schmidt.  It looks like he just went yard.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  4

The parallel sets in 1986 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Tiffany
• Super

Scans:

1986 Topps #200

1986 O-Pee-Chee #200

The Canadian version was, as always, half the size of the Topps set.  Since Schmidt was in the first half of the set, his OPC card has the same number.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the top right. It has a yellow box as background that’s not on the Topps version.
• On some of the cards (not this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

1986 Topps Tiffany #200

For the 3rd time, Topps issued a Tiffany variation in factory set form, printed on white cardstock with glossy coating on the front.  The 1986 Tiffany set had the same production run as the previous year – limited to 5,000 sets.

1986 Topps Super #49

Also for the 3rd year, Topps also made a set that was much larger (4-7/8 x 6-7/8) than the base, again with 60 cards.  The numbering is obviously different from the base set.  Topps “Super” cards came in 1-card packs, 36 per box.  Other than the size and numbering difference, these cards have an extra bit of write-up at the bottom, highlighting the player’s team leading stats.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There’s no others that I know of.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

I would probably have picked the Tony Perez card, which has Eric Davis on it.  But he didn’t have a card in the Topps Super set.  Pete Rose has a really notable card, Rod Carew has a nice last card in this set, and Bo Diaz was one of my favorite pictures.  Only Rose has a card in the Super set, and while card #1 of the set would have been a good pick, I just like the Schmidt card better.

1985 Topps parallels – Gary Matthews

1985 Topps

Card I selected:  #210 – Gary Matthews

As I promised yesterday – in 1985 I’m finally picking a guy who isn’t a Hall-of-Famer.  In 1985, Topps made a pretty rare test version of 132 of their cards in “mini” format.  They also made a partial parallel, 60-card set of extra-large cards called Topps Super.  If you cross-check the two checklists, there aren’t many guys in both sets.  Gary Matthews is one of those players, and I kind of liked his card.  The Cubbie blue combined with the short team name seems to go well with the 1985 Topps design.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  5

The parallel sets in 1985 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Tiffany
• “Mini” test
• Super

Scans:

1985 Topps #210

1985 O-Pee-Chee #210

The Canadian version of the Topps set was, again, 396 cards; half the size of the Topps set.  Matthews got the same number in both sets – there’s a 50/50 proposition for that.  If a player is in the OPC set, he’ll have the same number if he’s in the first half (#1-396) of the Topps set.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the top left.  It has a yellow box as background that isn’t there on the Topps version.
• On some of the cards (not this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

1985 Topps Tiffany #210

For the 2nd year, Topps issued a Tiffany variation in factory set form, printed on white cardstock with glossy coating on the front.  The 1985 Tiffany set had half the production of the previous year, limited to 5,000 sets, and is one of the most expensive sets of the 80’s given the plethora of rookies and short production.

1985 Topps Mini Test #210

As part of its relationship with O-Pee-Chee, Topps tested printing equipment in Canada by printing variations of certain cards in the base set that were ~10% smaller than the base cards (2-3/8″ x 3-9/32″).  The cards were printed on white cardboard stock.  Only 1 sheet was printed, so there were only 132 cards printed.  These cards made it out the backdoor in Canada, and now can cost quite a bit if you want one of the star cards that were on that sheet.  I got this one for 10 bucks on eBay.  I’ve read estimates of around 100 of these cards out there.

1985 Topps Super #19

Also for the 2nd straight year, Topps also made a set that was larger (4-7/8 x 6-7/8) than the base, this time with twice as many cards (60).  The numbering is obviously different from the base set, and this .  Called Topps “Super”, these cards came in 1-card packs, 36 per box.  Other than the size and numbering difference, these cards have an extra bit of write-up at the bottom, highlighting the player’s statistics.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There’s no others that I know of.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

Pete Rose, Darryl Strawberry, Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn and Eddie Murray were all great cards, but weren’t in the Mini set.  Joe Morgan was a cool card, too.  It’s his last card; he played with the A’s to wrap up his career in 1984.  His OPC card has wording on the front denoting his retirement.  Alas, while he has a mini card, it would be pretty expensive, and he wasn’t in the Topps Super set.  Matthews seemed like a good choice compared to the few other guys who would also have 5 cards.

1984 Topps parallels – Robin Yount

1984 Topps

Card I selected:  #10 – Robin Yount

I swear it isn’t intentional, but out of the 5 years I’ve done so far, I’ve picked 5 straight Hall of Famers.  Carlton, Yaz, Eckersley, Carter and now Robin Yount.  This is a streak that will end in my next post, but I guess the greatness of the player impacts how good I view the card.

The number of “parallels” went way up in 1984.  O-Pee-Chee was the only one in the previous year; it’s back.  But there were 4 addition cards made in 1984, and Robin Yount was a good choice because he has all 6 cards (counting his Topps card).  Also, Yount has one of the best photos in the set – I picked this as the top card of the entire set.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  6

The parallel sets in 1984 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Tiffany
• Nestle
• “Encased” test
• Super

Scans:

1984 Topps #10

1984 O-Pee-Chee #10

The Canadian version of the Topps set was, again, 396 cards; half the size of the Topps set.  This particular card was given the same number as Yount’s Topps card.  If the player got a OPC card but his Topps card was in the second half (#397-792) of the set, he’d have a different card number.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the top right.
• On some of the cards (not this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock and tends to be poorly cut as cards from the early 80’s were for OPC.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

1984 Topps Tiffany #10

For the first time, Topps issued a Tiffany variation in factory set form.  The Tiffany set is a true full parallel – the cards are numbered exactly the same.  There are only 2 differences for the Tiffany cards – they’re glossy, and they were printed on white cardstock.  The cards were limited to 10,000 sets.

1984 Nestle #10

Another true parallel, Topps issued a full set as an uncut sheet as a promotion with Nestle.  Many of the sheets were cut up to be sold as individual cards.  The only difference for these cards from the base set is that the Nestle logo replaces the Topps logo on the front and back.

1984 Topps Encased Test #NNO

Topps issued 66 promo / sample cards as blank-backed versions of the cards in the set. Other than the blank back, this version is also distinguishable by the “encased” portrait photo in the lower left-hand corner.  The edge of the small portrait photo is cut off by the border, whereas for the regular set, the top of the player’s head/cap will overlap the border.

1984 Topps Super #29

Topps also made 30 cards that were larger (4-7/8 x 6-7/8), with only the numbering differing from the base set.  Called Topps “Super”, these cards came in 1-card packs, 36 per box.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There’s no others that I know of.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

I really liked Buddy Bell’s card and actually own most of his variations.  He wasn’t in the super set, however.  Pete Rose would also be cool; you could get his 1984 Traded card with the Expos (which also has a Tiffany version) to put next to his regular Topps cards (with the Phillies).

1983 Topps parallels – Gary Carter

1983 Topps

Card I selected:  #370 – Gary Carter

There is basically only 1 parallel card for the ’83 Topps set.  There were no Coke or Burger King sets, so it’s just O-Pee-Chee.  That means there’s a lot I can pick from.  My “best card” from my completed set post was Carl Yastrzemski’s last Topps card.  I already did a card of Yaz in 1981 for this parallel project, so I’m going with my second favorite card, that of Gary Carter.  This set probably has the best photography of any Topps set in the 1980’s, so winning 1983 is saying something!

# of cards (including the Topps card):  2

The parallel sets in 1983 include:

• O-Pee-Chee

Scans:

1983 Topps #370

1983 O-Pee-Chee #370

The Canadian version of the Topps set.  At 396 cards, the OPC set was exactly half the size of the Topps set.  This particular card was given the same number as the Topps Carter card.  I think that, if the player got a OPC card but his Topps card was in the second half (#397-792) of the set, he’d have a different card number. Makes sense.

Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the top right.
• The position on the front is spelled out in both English and French .
• On some of the cards (not this one), the card number is different.
• The copyright on the bottom of the back says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock and tends to be poorly cut as cards from the early 80’s were for OPC.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• It says O-Pee-Chee on the back instead of “Topps”.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  None in 1983.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

• As I mentioned, I would have gone with Yaz if he didn’t already have an entry into this endeavor from 1981.  Chris Speier and Tom Seaver were others I considered.

1982 Topps parallels – Dennis Eckersley

1982 Topps

Card I selected:  #490 – Dennis Eckersley

There was a limited number of guys to select from in 1982 for a few reasons.  First, there were only 2 coca-cola teams sets in 1982; the Reds and the Red Sox.  So that limits me right away to 44 players from each team.  And it’s a bit smaller when you factor in the players who weren’t in the O-Pee-Chee set.  None of my selected “best” cards from 1982 are Red Sox or Reds.  I did pick Johnny Bench as my favorite Reds card, but it was a down year for Topps photographing Reds players.  It’s not even a great Johnny Bench card.  So I went with Eckersley as I liked the photo.  That’s the 2nd straight year I’m doing a Red Sox player.  Yuck.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  3

The parallel sets in 1982 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Coca Cola team set

Scans:

1982 Topps #490

1982 O-Pee-Chee #287

The Canadian version of the Topps set.  The OPC set size increased to 396 cards, now exactly half of the Topps set which had been bumped up to 792.  Here are the differences for this card:

• The “O-Pee-Chee” logo on the front replaces the Topps logo in the lower right.
• The card number is different.
• The position is spelled out in both English and French .
• The copyright says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock and tends to be poorly cut as cards from the early 80’s were for OPC.
• Any wording on the back is in both English and French.
• There’s an O-Pee-Chee wording on the back instead of “Topps”.

1982 Coca Cola Red Sox #5

Topps issued 2 team sets in 1982 as a promotion with Coca-Cola.  Both 23-card sets feature 22 players from the team and an advertising card.  Here’s how you can differentiate these cards from the Topps version:

• There is a square Coca-Cola logo in the lower left corner on the front, where the “hockey stick” bends.  For the Red Sox, there is also a logo for Brigham’s ice cream, a local New England favorite.  Eckersley’s signature is so long they had to move the placement on it for this card.
• The card number is different.
• The back is red instead of green.
• The position on the back is just the abbreviation and they fit the player’s number next to it.
• There’s a Brigham’s logo on the back where the Topps logo is.
• There is copyright information regarding the Coke logo on the back.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There was a printing error that occurred on sheets for about half of the cards where the black ink didn’t print on the front.  The black line inside the white border and the player signature aren’t included.  Eckersley has a blackless variation.  I thought about including Topps blackless cards, but they aren’t cheap and I don’t think an error is really a parallel, even if it’s one that happened on about 120 different cards.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

• My favorite cards from this set were Rickey Henderson, Nolan Ryan, Carlton Fisk’s In-Action subset, and Jon Matlack.  None of them are Reds or Red Sox, so I didn’t get to go after those guys for this idea.

1981 Topps parallels – Carl Yastrzemski

1981 Topps

Card I selected:  #110 – Carl Yastrzemski

There are a ton of guys with 3 cards in 1981, as about 11 teams had a Coke team set.  So you’d just need to find somebody who is on one of those teams and also has an O-Pee-Chee card.  When I did my complete set post, Yaz was my 2nd favorite card in the set.  My favorite was a subset card of Tug McGraw after the Phillies clinched their first World Series, which doesn’t have any parallels.  The Red Sox are one of those teams that have a Coke set, and Yaz naturally has an OPC card.  So I went with him.  It’s a cool photo of him cleaning off his bat.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  3

The parallel sets in 1981 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Coca Cola team sets

Scans:

1981 Topps #110

1981 O-Pee-Chee #110

The Canadian version of the Topps set.  The set was again 374 cards, but somehow Yaz got the same number in this case.  Unlike 1980, the front of the card is slightly different from the Topps card.  There are a ton of differences for this card:

• The baseball on the front says “O-Pee-Chee” instead of Topps.
• The position on the cap is spelled out in both English and French .
• The card number is – usually – different.
• The copyright says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• The card is printed on white card stock and tends to be poorly cut as cards from the early 80’s were for OPC.
• The position on the back and the words “complete major league batting record” are shown in English and French.
• There’s an O-Pee-Chee logo on the back instead of the Topps logo.

1981 Coca Cola Red Sox #11

Topps issued 11 team sets in 1981 as a promotion with Coca-Cola.  Each of the 12-card sets features 11 players from the team and an advertising card.  Here’s how you can differentiate these cards from the Topps version:

• There is a Coca-Cola logo in the upper corner on the front.
• The card number is different.
• There’s a Coca Cola logo on the back where the Topps logo is.
• There’s copyright information regarding the Coke logo on the back.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  No, but I could have done some creative things with Topps Traded.  Carney Lansford and Ray Durham both switched teams in the 1981 offseason.  You can find them both in the Topps set with their old team (Angels & Cardinals), in the Coke set (Red Sox and Cubs) with the new team and a completely new picture.  They are also in O-Pee-Chee, and then of course in Topps Traded.

I’m going more for “Rainbow” cards, so I didn’t do that here.

Other cards I would have liked to do:

• Al Hrabosky, Mike Schmidt and Kent Tekulve because I liked all of their photos.  Tekulve and Schmidt have a Coca-Cola version.  Schmidt’s card would be cool, because he has the All-Star designation and it’s shown in French and English on his O-Pee-Chee card.
• Kirk Gibson because it’s his rookie card.  There’s a Coke version for him as well.

1980 Topps parallels – Steve Carlton

In my last post I brought up my next thing to go over for this monster that I’ve created called the Lifetime Topps Project.  The next 20+ posts will be the parallel cards I got from each year.

1980 Topps

Card I selected:  #210 – Steve Carlton

One thing about this part of the project, I want to select cards that have as many parallel cards as possible.  So I’m limited in this by players who have all cards in the various “parallel” sets.  There’s a Phillies set that was issued in Philly area Burger Kings, and there’s a national Burger King set called Pinch, Hit, Run.  Only Carlton and Pete Rose are in both, and I like the Carlton card better.  Carlton was also the 1980 Cy Young winner in a bit of a resurgence, helping the Phillies to their first World Series title.  So he’s a good pick from that perspective.

# of cards (including the Topps card):  4

The parallel sets in 1980 include:

• O-Pee-Chee
• Burger King Pinch, Hit, Run
• Burger King Phillies

Scans:

1980 Topps #210

1980 O-Pee-Chee #113

From 1965 to 1992, O-Pee-Chee issued a Canadian version of the Topps set.  The set was usually smaller than the actual Topps set, so it’s not numbered the same.  In 1980, it was 374 cards, a little more than half the size of the Topps set.  The front of the card is exactly the same as Topps.  There are 3 ways to tell the difference for this card, all on the back:

• the different number.
• the copyright says O-Pee-Chee and notes the card was printed in Canada.
• the card is printed on white card stock.  Also, the cards tend to be poorly cut (as mine is) and much harder to find in good condition.

1980 Burger King Pinch, Hit, Run #2

This 34-card set (33 players and a header card) was issued in participating Burger King restaurants in 1980 and contains cards of stars of the era.  Both Nolan Ryan and Joe Morgan are shown with their new team in 1980, the Astros, so they have a different picture from their 1980 Topps card.  There are a few others like that, too.  But Carlton has the same pose.  There are quite a few ways to differentiate this card from the Topps version:

• The front has the BK logo in the top left where the position is on the other cards.  The words “collector’s series” appear above that at the top.
• The card number is different.
• The back is red.
• There’s a “pinch hit run” cartoon in the cartoon section of the card.

1980 Burger King Phillies #15

This 23-card set (22 Phillies and a header) was handed out at local eastern PA Burger King restaurants.  It’s a Phillies team set from 1980.  There are actually a few guys in the team set that aren’t in the Topps set.  Like the O-Pee-Chee card, the front is indistinguishable from the Topps card.  On the back, you can differentiate the cards by:

• The card number is different.
• There is a BK logo where the Topps card has the card number.
• The card number is moved to the right hand side.

The “Rainbow”:

Any sets I didn’t get:  There’s a very rare Topps Pepsi test set that was never released.  Topps sold off the cards from their vault in 2005.  The test cards include the 22 players with All-Star designations on their 1980 Topps cards.  Which means Carlton does have a card – I just don’t know if I’ll be willing to dole out the coin if I ever see it.

Other cards I would have liked to do:  George Foster, Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, Joe Niekro

Foster and Niekro have 2 of my favorite cards in the set.  Morgan and Ryan also have cool cards, and the BK Pinch, Hit, Run card has a different picture as I noted above.