Show your 1973 Topps Comics

[Griffins]

My only one, I guess I could try and figure out who is in it without opening it, but have never bothered.

[ASF123]

Interesting that Topps’ MLB trademark license obviously didn’t extend to the comics.

[raulus]

Last 3 for me.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by ASF123

Interesting that Topps’ MLB trademark license obviously didn’t extend to the comics.

Topps was experimenting to see if they could do away with incensing the logos etc. from the teams at the time, or perhaps threatening to do so. The related Pin-Ups set and the 73 Candy Lids are other examples, likely timed to what were upcoming license renewal negotiations. The Action Emblem stickers from the period were a kind of evolution of this.

Many of the Topps football sets have no team licensed logos and the like, early basketball sets too. For some reason, baseball products without team logos seem to be thought of as cheap by collectors and not as fully collectable as those with them.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by toppcat

For some reason, baseball products without team logos seem to be thought of as cheap by collectors and not as fully collectable as those with them.

I wonder how much of that applies to Topps products, compaired to other companies, just because the Topps name gives them a cachet of legitimacy that not all brands have.

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

I wonder how much of that applies to Topps products, compaired to other companies, just because the Topps name gives them a cachet of legitimacy that not all brands have.

I think unlicensed products would lack cachet regardless of the brand. They just don’t look right, whether that’s via airbrushing or more modern methods of removing the logos, and there’s something noticeably missing and off.

It was noticeable when I was a kid collecting in the ‘80s - I can’t imagine the ‘70s were all that different.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by ASF123

I think unlicensed products would lack cachet regardless of the brand. They just don’t look right, whether that’s via airbrushing or more modern methods of removing the logos, and there’s something noticeably missing and off.

It was noticeable when I was a kid collecting in the ‘80s - I can’t imagine the ‘70s were all that different.

It was the same way, at least to me. Those blank caps on a lot of regional and oddball sets were, as you note, quite cheesy in appearance.

[frankhardy]

I'm not sure now exactly how long I looked for this one for my Cardinals team set. I am pretty sure I looked for over 10 years. I finally found this one in 2018.