The CORRECT 1977 Hostess Twinkies checklist

[darkhorse9]

Ever since they came out in 1977 I have been working to figure out the elusive 1977 Hostess "Twinkies" set. After all these years I've finally nailed it down.

To clarify..the "Twinkies" set refers to only the cards issued as the cardboard backing for single serve Hostess products. These are NOT the ones printed on the multi packs in panels of three.

Hostess issued the single serving versions of the cards in 1975 and 1976 as well, but those sets are easy to figure out. There were only 60 cards in each of those sets (1975 was skip numbered) and they are easily identified by the black bar that could usually be seen on the back of the card even when hand cut from their original size. They were only issued with single serve cellophane wrapped Twinkies. Hence the common "Twinkies" card designation.

That all changed in 1977 when Hostess decided to issue all 150 cards in single serving packages. That's where the drama begins. Hostess decided to include not just Twinkies, but Suzy Q, Cupcakes, Ho-Ho's, Ding Dongs (or King Dons), and SnoBalls. Each one had a different sized piece of cardboard to fit the product. That meant that even though the size of the player card remained the same, the overall size of the card it was printed on varied. The ubiquitous black bar might not be visible on cards cut from a larger product card surface. Furthermore, not all cards were available in all of the products. Some cards, though, were issued on more than one product.

Because of that, figuring out which cards were issued with which products became a real challenge. Much like similar food products like Post Cereal and Jello, less popular products sold less, making those cards less available in the after market. Not all of the single serve Hostess products were available in all areas of the country, either.

Locating a couple of uncut sheets helped answer a lot of the questions and acquiring cards that were uncut from their original panel size has finally allowed me to narrow it all down and finally accumulate what I think is a definitive checklist that includes variations and short print designations.

The only real variation comes from cards that were issued with Cupcakes. The statistics on the backs of those cards is noticeably smaller than all other versions. Cards issued with Twinkies, Suzy Q, and cupcakes are much more available than the other products.

That brings the "master" checklist to 205 cards. Based on an analysis of the original product distribution, there are 25 cards that are "short printed"

With that, here's the checklist that should be associated with the 1977 Hostess "Twinkies" set:

1 Jim Palmer
2 Joe Morgan
3 Reggie Jackson
4 Carl Yastrzemski
5 Thurman Munson
6 Johnny Bench
7 Tom Seaver
8 Pete Rose
9 Rod Carew
10 Luis Tiant
11 Phil Garner
12 Sixto Lezcano
13 Mike Torrez
14 Dave Lopes
15 Doug DeCinces
16 Jim Spencer
17 Hal McRae
18 Mike Hargrove
19 Willie Montanez
20 Roger Metzger
21 Dwight Evans
22 Steve Rogers
23 Jim Rice
24 Pete Falcone
25 Greg Luzinski
26 Randy Jones
27 Willie Stargell
28 John Hiller
29 Bobby Murcer
30 Rick Monday
31 John Montefusco
31a John Montefusco (small print)
32 Lou Brock
32a Lou Brock (small print)
33 Bill North
33a Bill North (small print)
34 Robin Yount
34a Robin Yount (small print)
35 Steve Garvey
35a Steve Garvey (small print)
36 George Brett
36a George Brett (small print)
37 Toby Harrah
37a Toby Harrah (small print)
38 Jerry Royster
38a Jerry Royster (small print)
39 Bob Watson
39a Bob Watson (small print)
40 George Foster
40a George Foster (small print)
41 Gary Carter
41a Gary Carter (small print)
42 John Denny
42a John Denny (small print)
43 Mike Schmidt
43a Mike Schmidt (small print)
44 Dave Winfield
44a Dave Winfield (small print)
45 Al Oliver
45a Al Oliver (small print)
46 Mark Fidrych
46a Mark Fidrych (small print)
47 Larry Herndon
47a Larry Herndon (small print)
48 Dave Goltz
48a Dave Goltz (small print)
49 Jerry Morales
49a Jerry Morales (small print)
50 Ron LeFlore
50a Ron LeFlore (small print)
51 Fred Lynn
51a Fred Lynn (small print)
52 Vida Blue
52a Vida Blue (small print)
53 Rick Manning
53a Rick Manning (small print)
54 Bill Buckner
54a Bill Buckner (small print)
55 Lee May
55a Lee May (small print)
56 John Mayberry
56a John Mayberry (small print)
57 Darrel Chaney
57a Darrel Chaney (small print)
58 Cesar Cedeno
58a Cesar Cedeno (small print)
59 Ken Griffey
59a Ken Griffey (small print)
60 Dave Kingman
60a Dave Kingman (small print)
61 Ted Simmons (small print)
62 Larry Bowa (small print)
63 Frank Tanana (small print)
64 Jason Thompson (small print)
65 Ken Brett (small print)
66 Roy Smalley (small print)
67 Ray Burris (small print)
68 Rick Burleson (small print)
69 Buddy Bell (small print)
70 Don Sutton (small print)
71 Mark Belanger (small print)
72 Dennis Leonard (small print)
73 Gaylord Perry (small print)
74 Dick Ruthven (small print)
75 Jose Cruz (small print)
76 Cesar Geronimo (small print)
77 Jerry Koosman (small print)
78 Garry Templeton (small print)
79 Catfish Hunter (small print)
80 John Candelaria (small print)
81 Nolan Ryan (small print)
82 Rusty Staub (small print)
83 Jim Barr (small print)
84 Butch Wynegar (small print)
85 Jose Cardenal (small print)
86 Claudell Washington (small print)
87 Bill Travers (small print)
88 Rick Waits (small print)
89 Ron Cey (small print)
90 Al Bumbry (small print)
91 Bucky Dent (small print)
92 Amos Otis (small print)
93 Tom Grieve (small print)
94 Enos Cabell (small print)
95 Dave Concepcion (small print)
96 Felix Millan (small print)
97 Bake McBride (small print)
98 Chris Chambliss (small print)
99 Butch Metzger (small print)
100 Rennie Stennett (small print)
101 Dave Roberts (small print)
102 Lyman Bostock (small print)
103 Rick Reuschel (small print)
104 Carlton Fisk (small print)
105 Jim Slaton (small print)
106 Dennis Eckersley (small print)
107 Ken Singleton (small print)
108 Ralph Garr (small print)
109 Freddie Patek (small print)
110 Jim Sundberg (small print)
111 Phil Niekro SP
111a Phil Niekro (small print)
112 J.R. Richard SP
112a J.R. Richard (small print)
113 Gary Nolan SP
113a Gary Nolan (small print)
114 John Matlack SP
114a John Matlack (small print)
115 Keith Hernandez SP
115a Keith Hernandez (small print)
116 Graig Nettles SP
116a Graig Nettles (small print)
117 Steve Carlton SP
117a Steve Carlton (small print)
118 Bill Madlock SP
118a Bill Madlock (small print)
119 Jerry Reuss SP
119a Jerry Reuss (small print)
120 Aurelio Rodriguez SP
120a Aurelio Rodriguez (small print)
121 Don Ford SP
121a Don Ford (small print)
122 Ray Fosse SP
122a Ray Fosse (small print)
123 George Hendrick SP
123a George Hendrick (small print)
124 Alan Ashby SP
124a Alan Ashby (small print)
125 Joe Lis SP
125a Joe Lis (small print)
126 Sal Bando SP
126a Sal Bando (small print)
127 Richie Zisk SP
127a Richie Zisk (small print)
128 Rich Gossage SP
128a Rich Gossage (small print)
129 Don Baylor SP
129a Don Baylor (small print)
130 Dave McKay SP
130a Dave McKay (small print)
131 Bob Grich SP
131a Bob Grich (small print)
132 Dave Pagan SP
132a Dave Pagan (small print)
133 Dave Cash SP
133a Dave Cash (small print)
134 Steve Braun SP
134a Steve Braun (small print)
135 Dan Meyer SP
135a Dan Meyer (small print)
136 Bill Stein
137 Rollie Fingers
138 Brian Downing
139 Bill Singer
140 Doyle Alexander
141 Gene Tenace
142 Gary Matthews
143 Don Gullett
144 Wayne Garland
145 Pete Broberg
146 Joe Rudi
147 Glenn Abbott
148 George Scott
149 Bert Campaneris
150 Andy Messersmith

[savedfrommyspokes]

What you have posted makes sense (thank you)....below are some examples, please confirm I am understanding correctly.

First scan, regular "Hostess" card.
Second scan, "Twinkies" card
3rd/4th scans, front and back of the "Cupcakes" card with smaller print.

[darkhorse9]

That looks about right. The first card was from a box (could be one of several products). The second was issued with a Twinkies single serve and the bottom one was issued with Cupcakes

[DaClyde]

I guess someone needs to notify COMC of the distinction. It appears a lot of the cards they have listed as Hostess Twinkies are actually the small print Cup Cakes cards.

[toppcat]

Outstanding work-so much confusion on these sets, now laid to rest for this one.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

That all changed in 1977 when Hostess decided to issue all 150 cards in single serving packages. That's where the drama begins. Hostess decided to include not just Twinkies, but Suzy Q, Cupcakes, Ho-Ho's, Ding Dongs (or King Dons), and SnoBalls. Each one had a different sized piece of cardboard to fit the product. That meant that even though the size of the player card remained the same, the overall size of the card it was printed on varied. The ubiquitous black bar might not be visible on cards cut from a larger product card surface.

This would explain why I have some cards with typical Twinkie like product stains, have a wider cut and do not appear to have the black bar. Are there any lists at all that show the break down of which "Twinkie" cards appear on which boxes to help determine if they are indeed Twinkie cards despite a black bar not being visible or just a regular Hostess card with some less than usual product staining?

[darkhorse9]

I'll post a visual guide (stains and all as many are from my original 1977 collection). This will help with the "black bar" issue

Up first are the most common cards issued with Twinkies. The checklist included cards:

1-8
11-18
21-28
31-38
41-48
51-58

[darkhorse9]

The second style were issued with Suzy Q's
Card # 9, 10, 19, 20, 29, 30, 39, 40, 49, 50, 59, 60

[darkhorse9]

Third style is from cupcakes and includes cards # 31-135

[darkhorse9]

Next up are Sno-Balls with cards #136-150

[darkhorse9]

Ding Ding/King Don's make up cards #1-21

[darkhorse9]

The final design is from Ho-Ho's covering #111-150

[David W]

Here is Lou Brock.

As you can see the backs of the 2 on the right are not exactly the same (location of print, size of black bar). The fronts are also in different locations, so I suppose you could chase those type of variations for quite a long time.

There are also "Stain" variations...…. LOL.

[darkhorse9]

Originally Posted by David W

Here is Lou Brock.

As you can see the backs of the 2 on the right are not exactly the same (location of print, size of black bar). The fronts are also in different locations, so I suppose you could chase those type of variations for quite a long time.

There are also "Stain" variations...…. LOL.

Your bar variations are merely centering variations. Brock is only available as a Twinkie and a cupcake.

[Jim65]

Great info, thanks for posting it.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

The second style were issued with Suzy Q's
Card # 9, 10, 19, 20, 29, 30, 39, 40, 49, 50, 58, 60

Should 58 be 59?

[darkhorse9]

Originally Posted by toppcat

Should 58 be 59?

Yes, corrected

[DaClyde]

I've noticed some of the Cup Cakes cards seem to have a problem with the level of blue ink in the photo. The Cedeno and Winfield cards are particularly noticeable. You can easily tell them apart just from the fronts.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by DaClyde

I guess someone needs to notify COMC of the distinction. It appears a lot of the cards they have listed as Hostess Twinkies are actually the small print Cup Cakes cards.

Send correction requests in and I'll work on that going forward. Somehow I missed this thread the 1st time it was in play

Rich