All of Bob's independently sold (i.e., non-Fleer issued) sets were not sold in packages (OK, except maybe the 1980 Famous Feats set) but were sold as complete sets through Bob (mail order or at shows) or through a dealer he supplied with sets. He sold the sets for roughly $3 a set.
Bob did these as a labor of love, I think, and I doubt he ever made a ton of money on any of his independent sets. For most of his sets, he did a print run of 500 sets, which would allow him to recoup all of his costs for production. If he sold enough, he would do a second run (again of about 500) which would provide any profits from a set. As of 1976 (two years after the 74 set), the most sets he had ever produced of any of his sets was 1500. My guess is that 1500 number was for either his Great Feats set (from 72 with a great selection of popular players) or the Old Time Black Stars - those two seemed to be the most popular of his independent sets. The Long Ago set from '78 again seemed to be a lot less popular at the time, again I think because the player selection (and maybe the card design itself) was much less attractive. I would be very surprised if he did a second run of the 78 set, which is why I pegged the number of those sets at maybe 500. And since you guys are looking for the sets/cards to some extent, I am sure you would agree that the 78 set seems to come up even less often than a 1500 to 500 ratio would suggest. Bob may not have sold all that he printed of the 78 set, or maybe he eventually printed another run or two of the 74 sets (sometime after 1976).
Hope this helps! If anybody ever runs into any Laughlin original art or Stand-ups, let me know! Would happily trade for what I need!
Marty
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