[Keviron]

One of the keys to understanding the 1959 Topps set is the arrangement of the cards on the printing plates. The arrangement could help to explain a lot about the set, from variations to condition scarcity. It is surprising how many “interesting” cards fall on sheet borders and corners. For example, notoriously difficult 572 Billy Pierce All Star is the top left card on the series 7 sheet and frequently messed-with 416 Haywood Sullivan is the bottom right card on the series 6 sheet.

Unfortunately, proof sheets or otherwise complete sheets are rare. Or maybe I haven’t been lucky enough to stumble across them all. From what I have been able to assemble, I believe that toppcat at The Topps Archives blog is correct in that there were 7 separate printing runs.

Can you help me in my research to plate this set? Do you have a scan or photograph of a strip, panel, or sheet of 1959 Topps cards? Is this information compiled somewhere else already? I would also be happy to share the data I have so far; contact me.

Here is what I have:

Series / Number of Cards / Format / Status
1 / 110 / Sheet of 110(?) / no info
2 / 88 / 2 sheets of 132, 11x12(?) / 56+ cards, partial sheet
3 / 88 / 2 sheets of 132, 11x12(?) / 44 cards (1/2) complete
4 / 88 / 2 sheets of 132, 11x12 / complete
5 / 66 / Sheet of 66, 11x6 / complete
6 / 66 / Sheet of 66, 11x6(?) / no info
7 / 66 / Sheet of 66, 11x6 / complete