1979 Topps premium

[steve B]

Looks like I messed up psting this last night

In 1979 Topps offered Tradin Cards as a premium. I think the offer was part of the jumbo cello packs, but I'm not sure at the moment.

These were cards offered by a private company and were mostly made to give parents some fun cards of little leaguers. But occasionally an enterprising individual would use other pictures. I think they were supposed to be screened for this, but some did slip through.

A neat twist on a non-Topps Topps premium.

Steve B

[ALR-bishop]

I would sure like to know more about these Steve. They were a Topps Premium ? But not produced by Topps ? A Send away for product ?

[David Bender]

Wow! Where did you find these and do you have others?

[steve B]

I got them from a local auction run by a longtime dealer. They were the ones that sent away for them back when they were new. There may be a few other players out there, Yaz and maybe a couple others.

I think these were a mail away item and the offer card was in the big cellos that had a pack of large gum at the bottom. The packs were an odd format that wasn't all that common. I think they only made them 3 years
1979 had the tradin' cards offer?
1980 had a scratchoff game
1981 had a blank backer card and 1980 datecoded wrappers.

I looked through a bunch of my disorganised stuff last night to see if I could find the pack or offer card. All I could find was the 1981 pack. But I'm sure the pack or offer card will turn up as I reorganize things.

Steve B

[novakjr]

Let see if I've got this straight. These were basically the pictures that the parents of a little leaguer could get so that they could have a card of their kids? And that a few people submitted pictures of major leaguers to make their own brand of card?

I believe Topps started doing a similar thing online a few years ago, and you could create the card virtually online using their templates from older year layouts, and then order limited print runs of anything from 50-750(or something like that). People started making cards of Bryce Harper and other highly touted minor leaguers/ draft prospects/ or picks. They are technically Topps cards, also dated with stats(if the buyer/designer chose to include them). I wonder if these will ever have any kind of effect on the hobby?

[steve B]

That's exactly what they are. I'm fairly sure this promotion was for 20 cards at a time. If I recall things right there were a few submissions they did that got rejected. They did use photos they took themselves, so no copyright worries aside from no MLB license or team license for the logos.

I'll have to check out the Topps online card thing.

Hard to say of they'll have any hobby impact. Probably not since stuff like this is very hard to catalog. I bought these as curiosities and examples of that Topps premium. They cost a bit since it's actual players. The modern ones could be interesting as they're a labeled Topps product.

Steve B

[ALR-bishop]

Somehow I ended up with a bunch of the scratch off game cards

[D. Bergin]

Hmmmm.

Didn't Fleer have a similar make your own card or sticker promotion in the 80's?

Same deal, they discouraged actual players being submitted, but I think somebody got a Mantle or somebody else very prominent through, and that caused a bit of a stir on the show circuit for a little while..........at least here in the Northeast where I'm from.

[Bob Lemke]

Yes, Fleer had the do-it-yourself sticker offer in 1981. The collectors' issue Mantles, Mattinglys, Boggs, etc. are mentioned on Page 786 of the 2011 Standard Catalog.

[ALR-bishop]

Bob---what about the 1971 Topps Winners cards or "set". ? Did that involve some contest to get your kid on a baseball card ? Not sure if anyone could do it or you had to be a "winner". Also, do you know if there is a checklist of any kind, even partial, to the 71 set, or the 79, or the 81 Fleer "set" ?

[Bob Lemke]

I always viewed those types of cards as impossible to accurately checklist, so I never attempted to do so.

[doug.goodman]

I show the 1971 Topps Winners checklist as follows :

#01 - Mark D. Audia
#02 - April D. Bole
#03 - Lisa C. Bole
#04 - Allen G. Csuk Jr.
#05 - Theresa D. Faulkner
#06 - Vernon Grover
#07 - Tim J. Harlan
#08 - Jeff Hooper
#09 - Darren K. Lazzari
#10 - Jeffrey M. Mihalik
#11 - Jerry R. Nachtrieb
#12 - Ricky E. Nobile
#13 - Brucette A. Rumenyak
#14 - Fred A. Sinopoli
#15 - Christine Ulicny

Dave Hornish goes into them pretty deep on his blog http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com/se...opps%20Winners

For those of you holding a big stash of these cards, I'm still looking for #2, 6, 10, 11, 12 & 13.

Thanx,
Doug

[ALR-bishop]

Doug---thanks for the checklist. I should have checked Dave's blog. He is "deep" into anything Topps

I will check with Bob Fisk to see if he has any not on your list.

[bobsbbcards]

Doug,

That's the same checklist that I have. I still in need of April Bole, which sounds a bit perverted except for the fact that she'd be 48 or so now.

Bob

[bobsbbcards]

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by bobsbbcards

Doug,

That's the same checklist that I have. I still in need of April Bole, which sounds a bit perverted except for the fact that she'd be 48 or so now.

Bob

I'm 48...

[ALR-bishop]

....well she is much too old for Bob

[parkerj33]

I'm not interested in collecting these, but how did you guys end up obtaining these cards? Did you contact the families or the individuals themselves? Were they a bit astonished to find out someone wanted what to them was a personal memento of theirs? I'll bet there are some good stories there - do tell!

[ALR-bishop]

I was with Bob at the National in Baltimore when he bought a bunch of his. I think the people involved won some contest that resulted in them "winning" the opportunity to have a card of their kid produced and issued in some quantity.

Not sure if that is right or how they were issued or in what quantities. Bob may know. I'll ask him.

[jmoran19]

Here's a photo of the 1971 display box advertising the contest for the 25winners, the 1000 winners received a 132 card uncut series 1 sheet. John:

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by jmoran19

Here's a photo of the 1971 display box advertising the contest for the 25winners, the 1000 winners received a 132 card uncut series 1 sheet. John:

Wow, so that's where those uncut sheets came from.

When I was a kid I remember finding an uncut sheet of '71's in my grandmothers basement. It was in horrible condition and there was some paint splattered on portions of it, but I later wondered what the heck it had any business doing down there.

Must have been one of my many aunts or uncles who won it in this contest. The time frame would have been right.

[toppcat]

I corresponded with both Bole sisters awhile back and the fact they both won leads me to believe the contest was rigged to an extent. I suspect only fifteen cards exist and that the contest was something of a failure. Many of these cards were found in groups of 9 or 14 subjects and I have no idea why-possibly there is a Card Collector's Co. connection.

The April Bole card is not usually found with the other groupings and I don't know why.

[ALR-bishop]

Dave---Despite his protestations to the contrary, I have to believe Bob is somehow responsible....

[scmavl]

So no one has been sucessful in getting a Bole card?

The oddness & mystery of this set make it kind of intriguing... How much do the cards usually go for?

[doug.goodman]

Plenty of people have the April Bole card, I just don't happen to be one of them. I don't think I've spent more than $10 or $15 each for the other 14 cards. But some I traded for.

Doug

[ALR-bishop]

Doug---maybe you and Bob should talk to Topps about doing a Then and Now Set featuring pictures of these kids all grown up and back in uniform .

April can be the SSP or chase card

[doug.goodman]

Hahaha, that's pretty funny.

Especially the chase card part, since I think you know that chase cards are what "chased" me away from new cards and deep(er) into the old stuff.

Doug