Finds around Toronto of Baseball cards from the 50's make sense as OPC was located nearby in London, Ontario. What follows is somewhat theoretical but I've seen anecdotal evidence that Topps shipped materials, including uncut sheets from various sets, up through the Great Lakes to London from Detroit for a time before OPC was really set up to deal with the flow of Topps product into Canada. There is a story out there about a truck accident involving 1954 hockey sheets in Detroit IIRC.
More theory-Given the lack of gum and wax staining, some of the grays in '52 may have originated in ten cent cello packs in the US. Some of those cellos, branded as Trading Card Guild by Topps, had mixed series and printings within them.
Not theory but fact-Topps also sold off excess and older inventory through Sam Rosen (Woody Gelman's stepfather) and that company eventually became Card Collectors Company. Rosen originally coordinated aftermarket sales from midtown Manhattan at 110 W 34th St, a building that still stands and is a block away from the Empire State Building. Topps would direct you there if you inquired about buying cards from older sets. I could see grays being dispersed by Rosen if they were dumped on him by Topps.
I really want to do more research into the Topps-Canadian Pipeline. Topps had trademarks in Canada as early as 1944, so they would have been right on it after the war ended.
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