1966 Topps Series Release Dates ... Approx?

[obcbeatle]

Anybody know the approx. timeline for release of the 1966 Topps cards e.g. Series one released in April, Series two released in May, etc? I'm trying to reconstruct a timeline for when I opened packs ... by series ... in 1966. Obviously I have way to much time on my hands right now :-) This all came about today when I was thumbing thru my almost complete 66T set in binder ... and was able to identify cards that I'm sure I bought in 1966 (I wrote on some of them ... I was 8 years old). I'm still working on this set :-) I think I bought maybe (15) packs in 1966 based on the # of cards I'm pretty sure I pulled. I bought a bunch of 66T's in the 1980's at card shows in Atlanta when I was trying to complete the set. Then joined OBC and they've been helping me along the way. I'm down to 8 cards, mostly the high #'s. I'll eventually scan all the cards I think are original to my purchases in 1966. Pretty cool how I formed an image of many of those cards over 50 years ago and I can still identify those cards as cards I pulled from packs (Del Crandall for instance ... as an 8 year old I couldn't figure out why an old, old man was playing baseball ... check out his 66T card! :-). Anyway ... if anyone knows about when each series was released in 1966, that would be cool to know. Thank you.

[ALBB]

yea, thats interesting..on the back of some 1960s Topps cards ,there are sometimes clues -

" he retired on May 14 ", " optioned to Tidewater on June 3, " traded to... etc..

[BillP]

hi i know i bought 6th series cards in late august, but my store never had the 7th series. by then we had philly fb cards.

[obcbeatle]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check the backs of some of those cards. I was looking at my 67T binder too and noticed last night that I bought a pack of 67T's in the 7th series! And quite a few 67T's in the 6th series. So that year I must have been buying packs in August/September? I do remember the fb cards coming out in the Fall at my local 5 and 10 and the bbc boxes either drying up or being removed by the owner. I wonder if Philly FB cards were just a Philadelphia market? I'd never heard of those fb cards till a few years ago.

[ALBB]

here is a pic of back of 67T Hi # Piersall..it .makes note that he retired May 8,...so Topps was printing 7 th series cards past that date

[bb66]

I have wondered about the same info--when series were released. I recently found a couple of old Christmas pictures(from 1966)of my brother and I opening packages from under the tree.Strewn all around us are Topps baseball card wrappers! I counted at least ten seperate wrappers. I can see at least two seperate stacks of cards we made. One had a 7th series #586 Claude Raymond on top. The other stack had a 6th Series John O'Donoghue on top. My parents had bought cards from two different late series and probably put them in our stockings!!! Wow I sure wish I had the original cards from that day.

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by obcbeatle

Thanks for the replies. I'll check the backs of some of those cards. I was looking at my 67T binder too and noticed last night that I bought a pack of 67T's in the 7th series! And quite a few 67T's in the 6th series. So that year I must have been buying packs in August/September? I do remember the fb cards coming out in the Fall at my local 5 and 10 and the bbc boxes either drying up or being removed by the owner. I wonder if Philly FB cards were just a Philadelphia market? I'd never heard of those fb cards till a few years ago.

I know we had the Philly cards in New Orleans. Pretty sure they were nationwide. I don't remember seeing AFL cards in New Orleans from the years 1962 to 1967, or maybe they were there and I just wasn't interested. I was a pretty big NFL snob, back in those days. AFL ! Yuck !

[ALBB]

Wow,..That Keene card ..holy crap

Imagine opening a pack with him, Crandell, a team card, a checklist card,and another no hat wearing bald guy !!

[BillP]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

I know we had the Philly cards in New Orleans. Pretty sure they were nationwide. I don't remember seeing AFL cards in New Orleans from the years 1962 to 1967, or maybe they were there and I just wasn't interested. I was a pretty big NFL snob, back in those days. AFL ! Yuck !

Hi depending on the store in Lakeville/Middleboro Massachusetts you could get Philly FB (local mom & pop) or Topps (bigger chain grocery stores). The Mom & POP tended to have all sorts of stuff BB, FB, and non sports. The larger chain had Rack Packs (bb) and packs with candy in the register checkout. This was 1965-68.

[JollyElm]

Basic math.
There are fewer star cards simply because there are fewer star players than there are scrubs (as my brother-in-law is wont to say) on any given team or in the league as a whole.