1966 Topps Series Release Dates ... Approx?

[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 !!

[bb66]

Haha Albert that would have been bad. We had the Philadelphia football cards in Knoxville,Tn. I bought them in 64',65'&66'.

[obcbeatle]

So below is the 66T Crandall I pulled from a pack in 1966. Not as extreme as the Keane, but to this 8 year old, Crandall looked older then my grandfather :-) Ironically, as I grew older I became a big Del Crandall fan since I am a big Braves and Giants fan and Crandall played for both teams (if only briefly for the Giants). Crandall was a big part of the 1957 champion Braves, and pennant winners too in 1958. He was a very good defensive catcher. In Strat-O-Matic he is almost always a "1" defensively :-) I guess he just didn't age well. And I guess I shouldn't talk :-)

(how come my image below isn't rotated correctly)?

66t_crandall.jpg

[bb66]

I decided to look at the backs of the 1966 Topps High-Numbered cards for any interesting dates or clues to production deadlines or anything else. Opening day that year was April 12.Several players were mentioned with late April dates:#529-Elia optioned April 29th,#531-Cunningham released April 25th,& #559-Pena optioned April 28th.Four players(cards)were mentioned for changes in the month of May-#561,584,589,&597.These four-Coleman,Fernandez,Klimchock,&Salmon were either sold,optioned,or released.Two other players were interesting because exact May dates were listed. These were the latest two dates specifically listed on 1966 high-number cards.Card #539-Astros Rookie Stars lists Carroll Sembera as being optioned to Oklahoma City May 9,1966.Card #544-Cards Rookie Stars has George Kernek optioned to Tulsa on May 9,1966.

jmoran19--I will get those two pictures from my brother as soon as I can and post them.Besides the baseball cards laying around us there was some matchbox cars and their boxes,too. Lucky kids!!!!

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by bb66

I decided to look at the backs of the 1966 Topps High-Numbered cards for any interesting dates or clues to production deadlines or anything else. Opening day that year was April 12.Several players were mentioned with late April dates:#529-Elia optioned April 29th,#531-Cunningham released April 25th,& #559-Pena optioned April 28th.Four players(cards)were mentioned for changes in the month of May-#561,584,589,&597.These four-Coleman,Fernandez,Klimchock,&Salmon were either sold,optioned,or released.Two other players were interesting because exact May dates were listed. These were the latest two dates specifically listed on 1966 high-number cards.Card #539-Astros Rookie Stars lists Carroll Sembera as being optioned to Oklahoma City May 9,1966.Card #544-Cards Rookie Stars has George Kernek optioned to Tulsa on May 9,1966.

Text on the reverse was easier to change than pictures but reverses were printed first so I would think the print dates were somewhat close to the May dates for the high numbers. I would say July is the most likely print month for those as you had to get everything composed, proofed, printed, delivered to Topps, cut and packaged, sold to the jobbers and direct accounts then shipped in time for an August rollout. I think in the mid 60's the series still fanned out from Duryea and possibly a couple of other distribution centers, so a slightly slow roll out nationwide.

[cesarcap]

This is off topic slightly but I found it hard to put the 66's together versus the 67's. Financially yeah, 67's are PAINFUL. But there are fewer collectors chasing this set it seems to me, and perhaps fewer dealers, net54 and ebay listings? But for me, it also SEEMS like as soon as I do finish a set, everyone lists the set I just completed.

[Chicosbailbonds]

I would think they would come out around March 1 and each series would be 4 weeks. The 6th series would come out around August and the 7th Series Labor Day. There is only so much retail space with the football cards coming out also, so they may have made just enough to stock a store once and the football cards would replace them, thus “holding” the spot, not to lose it to other candy,

[obcbeatle]

Originally Posted by cesarcap

This is off topic slightly but I found it hard to put the 66's together versus the 67's. Financially yeah, 67's are PAINFUL. But there are fewer collectors chasing this set it seems to me, and perhaps fewer dealers, net54 and ebay listings? But for me, it also SEEMS like as soon as I do finish a set, everyone lists the set I just completed.

I feel your pain. 66 has taken me just as long as 67. Both are still unfinished and I started them both the year they were released. They are both painful. But both of those sets represent my childhood and the beginning of my baseball card collecting habit. Many of the the player photo's in those two sets are still ingrained in my memory and I can still see myself sitting on the floor of my house in SF (over 50 years ago!) sorting through those cards inside a "Keds" shoe box :-) I'm still trying to hang on to those memories!

[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.