Curious about 1973 Topps distribution

[nolemmings]

Thought I'd move the discussion about 1973 Topps from the other thread back over here-- for future reference that thread is http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=190826

Dave's box topper insert shown above is important because it talks about the "One Series Baseball with all 660 cards" being new to '73 and tells "Mr. Retailer" that he'll get "more sales, more profits all season long". IMO, this shows that the cards were not sold with just the last series or after the season but right from the get go, which is what some of us have said all along.

It looks to me as though the printing of series 1 and 2 took place on November 29, 1972 or so, and the remaining cards were printed in the following three weeks. From October 28 to November 28, 1972, there were 42 players in the 1973 Topps set who changed teams, and all of them show correctly with their new clubs regardless of their card numbers. On November 29 and 30, there were another 26 players from the '73 set who changed teams. However, if those players' cards were issued in Series 1 or Series 2, they were stuck on their old teams, whereas those numbered 265 or higher made the change, even if they were part of the same trade. In total 12 stayed with the old and 14 showed the new team. This suggests to me that Series 1 and 2 were printed on the 29th, with Series 3-5 thereafter. There were no trades in December, 1972 involving players found in the 1973 set, so it's hard to say exactly when Series 3-5 were printed using player/team selection. However, Orlando Cepeda was released from the A's on December 18, 1972, and he is a high number card in the 1973 set (recall that Haber mentioned he regretted that Cepeda had been waived but glad the Red Sox had picked him up in January). This suggests that as of December 18 when Cepeda was let go Topps had finished printing Series 3-5. No player movement after that date was reflected on any card found in the 1973 set--by then the set was in the can, so to speak. Thus, any Spring training shots you may find in the '73 set would have been taken the preceding Spring or before.