1974 (and 1982) Topps Factory Sets...

[deweyinthehall]

People recall variously that these were made available via the Christmas catalogs of JC Penny and/or Sears...I found this website:
https://christmas.musetechnical.com/
which offers page by page images of all major retail catalogs down through the years, and has a search function. I went through those of Pennys, Sears and even Montgomery Wards in 1974 and 1982, but could not find any evidence of the Topps sets being listed.

Any thoughts as to what this does (if anything) to those recollections?

Could they have been simply a limited in-store only item?

When I found this site, I really thought I was going to be able to nail down the retail information on these, but it was not to be....

[Baseballcrazy62]

I remember when those 1974’s were issued. My Grandmother stood in line to get one for me which I still have. It was either Sears or JC Penny’s. I believe it was a rather limited time offer because I don’t remember them being on the shelves. You don’t see them come up for sale very often. This one just closed at Mile High’s recent auction.IMG_0257.jpg

[toppcat]

I blogged the 74 set a couple of times, here's what I unearthed:

https://www.thetoppsarchives.com/sea...0Factory%20Set