Curious about 1973 Topps distribution

[jakeinge]

I'm not sure why, but it is "stuck in my craw" that I heard at one point the team checklists came only in rack packs, much akin to the All Star glossies that came in rack packs later on. Granted I wasn't born until 1979, it would make sense to include the team checklists as an insert in rack packs ONLY containing all series. I have no evidence to back this, it's just a hunch that would also happen to make some sense.

[GasHouseGang]

I remember reading somewhere that the blue checklists were offered as complete sheets on one of the Topps wrappers. The only ones I have ever had or seen where I grew up, were hand torn from a sheet. And I was happy to get them!

[chris6net]

For some reason I always remember the 1973 Series as being issued all at once. I grew up on Long Island and just seem to remember that the whole set was issued at the same time. On the Rusty Staub comment there is definitely more to the story as he was an all star at the time even though he missed most of 1972 with an injury.

[moeson]

John, make it Yuengling or Shiner Bock and you have a deal! Just kidding. It was my pleasure to share the article. I suspect that I won't find similar in the archives but I promise to take a look. Most of the hobby publications back then focused on finding unreported additions to older sets rather than addressing the latest Topps set. As a side note, I believe I purchased my 1973 Blue checklist set directly from Mr. Haber at the first card show ever held in Manhattan. Unfortunately, I used bad teenage judgment in passing on the eight card 1972 Test Set of 1953 style cards that were on the same table along with 1969 Super singles!

[Rich Klein]

I forgot to say that 73 was the last set of my "youth" before I realized a few years later I wanted to continue colletcting.

In Saddle Brook NJ at Sam's Stationery, the packs were by series. I remember the 1st series packs and all the blank backs I pulled. My dad, who was a vest pocket stamp and coin dealer at one time, told me to go buy more so I did. I had like 30 blank backs at that time.

[jakeinge]

I just bought a small hoard of NM 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1976 Topps baseball from a guy I work with. (Let me know if you need any singles)

I asked him specifically about the 1973 set and the team checklists. He said where he lived in Red Wing, MN, the 73 set was issued in series and only wax packs were available in the area. He has a bunch of the team checklists. He seems to recall the high series cards only being available for a very short time, then the 74's moved in. He also remembered how happy him and his brothers were that the cards were all being issued in one series in 1974 so they could collect all of the Minnesota Twins players at once. It seems to be that if the 1973 set was available in one series in some areas (which certainly appears to be the case) then those areas were very limited.

[nolemmings]

Thanks again for all the feedback. Jakeinge, I wonder if the cards your co-worker bought back in the day came from jobbers on the Wisconsin side of the border (some may not know that Red Wing is right across the Mississippi River from Wisconsin). I was hoping some more of my native Minnesotans from back then, especially in the Twins Cities, would check in on this.

Anyway, it's still an open question for me. Again, I grew up thinking everyone got the 73s in one series, then the guides came out late 70's and still seem silent or at most unsure on the subject, and lead collectors to believe they came out only in series. Then I see people claiming that the Boston, Cleveland and Long Island areas, and at least parts of California and Florida received all cards at once, and I read Haber's letter that it was the plan to have the majority of the country receiving them this way; meanwhile, other parts of NYC and PA as well as NC and NoCal seem to recall series only. Seems a bit unsettled.

I do need to amend and correct one thing I stated-- the cards may have been distributed all at once, but were not printed at the same time. Haber makes mention that Topps got "stuck" with certain guys on teams who had been traded. One such trade was KC sending Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum to the Reds for Hal McRae and Wayne Simpson. Haber noted that Topps was "stuck" with three of these, two of which are low numbers and Roger Nelson (#251). However, Wayne Simpson is shown on his new team and is card #428. So the first two or three series appear to have been printed before the others. Also, Simpson's facsimile auto is shown with the new team/Royals on the team checklist, so those would also have been printed subsequent to the first 2-3 series from the set.

EDITED TO ADD: Simpson's card specifically mentions the trade:

[oaks1912]

Wow, what a great thread bringing up the past and this set. I grew up in the East (San Francisco) Bay area and was actively collecting at the time. I recall getting the cards in wax packs, by series, towards the beginning of the season in Castro Valley, and then mixed series by the end of summer in Alameda. I do not ever recall ever seeing any of the blue checklists in any of the packs I purchased, but I do remember buying them as a set the following year at the Acalanes show (it could have been from an out of town vendor). Around '75, I remember buying a few cases of 3rd series wax from longtime collector Lou Chericoni (the series with Mays in it) and I busted open most of those at the time to make full series runs. I held onto about a half dozen boxes, until the last one sold off about 15 years ago. Wish I'd saved a few more of those boxes.....