Curious about 1973 Topps distribution

[nolemmings]

My posts in another thread on distribution of 1973 Topps has sparked me to ask others who collected cards that year what they remember about obtaining them. I no longer actively collect much post-war, so I was surprised to see how there seems to be incomplete and/or inaccurate information about this set, which seems to me to have been issued not that long ago–at least not so long that there should be much mystery.

As I mentioned elsewhere, the cards were issued in one 660 card series in southern Minnesota in 1973. http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=184104 At least one other board member recalls similar distribution in the Boston area. Please chime in with your recollections.

The so-called high numbers were clearly printed in the winter of 1972, as evidenced by the lack of player-team changes that should have been noted and made. In addition to those I mentioned in the other thread, I have since found at least two more. Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda was traded to the Red Sox by Oakland on January 18, 1973, yet his high #545 shows him in an A’s uniform and captioned with Oakland. Similarly, lesser-known pitcher Rickey Clark went from California to Philadelphia on January 29, 1973, yet he is shown in high number 636 still on the Angels. Contrast this to 1972, where a trade involving Bob Burda to Boston in late March was caught so that his high number card depicts and captions him with his new team and Ron Hansen, who never played for the Royals until being signed April 2, 1972, is nonetheless shown wearing full Royals gear in the high-numbered series (See also the McLain and Carlton traded cards). Clearly the presses stopped early in 1973 (perhaps before New Years), giving Topps the opportunity and ability to distribute all the cards at once. This also may have allowed them to devote time in the Spring for developing their various test issues from that year.

An all-at-once distribution makes sense for other reasons too. First, Topps released its complete football card set all at once for the first time in 1973, so it clearly had the idea and the ability to do so that year. If football why not baseball? Moreover, the FB card set was Topps’ largest by double or so, meaning they would have needed extra time to print the cards—which takes us back to the printing starting early because the baseball presses had fully run. Finally, I now see from the SCD catalogue that our neighbors up North issued the nearly identical (except for text) 1973 OPC baseball set of 660 cards all at once, so again the idea and ability were in place by at least the Spring. All of this confirms what some of us experienced first-hand– that the 1973 Topps baseball set was distributed all at once in certain parts of the country.

Despite this, some guides and resources seem confused and uncertain when describing this set. For one thing, Ron Erbe’s book from 1981 claims the cards were released in two series, one with card numbers 1-528 and then a second with high numbers 529-660. Erbe was writing from Iowa–who knows, maybe there was some different distribution there, although that seems lacking in evidence.

The SCD guide claims that the blue team card checklists are “generally accepted” as having been inserted in the high-numbered series, as well as being available by mail order. Generally accepted? It’s only been 40 years and there were millions of these cards produced, yet no one can state authoritatively whether these checklists were or were not in the high-series packs? By the way, I have never owned a blue team checklist, and yet assembled nearly three full sets of 1973's at the time. I submit that the only way for us “all 660 in one series” collectors to acquire these was by mail. For those of you here who collected by series in 1973, were the blue checklists in the high-series wax packs? Cellos?

Some online sources suggest that the “all 660 in one series” wrappers that are sometimes seen were issued only when the high numbers were distributed. I am skeptical, and instead believe that these sources simply haven’t accounted for the fact that some parts of the country had the whole set available all along, and are struggling for an explanation. I suppose they could have been issued in this manner also, but I would have been steamed as a kid if I waited all summer for the last series and then had to rip packs that were stuffed with retread cards from prior series I’d already put together, getting what, possibly 2 out of 10 high-series cards? Not a great marketing strategy for Topps. I suppose there could have been some sort of Christmas card packs assembled a la some sets from a little earlier in that era, but I have not heard anyone make claim to having seen such a promotion.

Anyway, those are my musings for now. Hopefully Mr. Lemke, Mr. Hornish and those others here who remember the 1973 cards can add to this discussion.