You have to admire the creativity that went into vintage non-sport display boxes. They’re attractive, colorful works of art; the comparison is more fitting since vintage boxes are also scarce and fragile!
These were part of a lot of 14 different that were auctioned off together in the spring of 2008. Today, auction houses would almost certainly list each of these boxes individually.
This grouping, offered by Mastro, included: 1964 Topps Beatles/Color Photos, 1965 Philadelphia Gum James Bond/Movies, 1965 Philadelphia Gum James Bond/Thunderball, 1965 Topps Man from U.N.C.L.E., 1966 Donruss Marvel Super Heroes, 1966 Topps Batman/Real Photos, 1966 Topps Superman, 1966 Donruss Monkees/2nd Series, 1967 Donruss Monkees/3rd Series, 1967 Donruss Monkees/2nd Series Canadian-issue Blue Box, 1968 Becker Laugh-In Rings, 1968 Philadelphia Gum Dark Shadows/Pink, and 1970 Donruss Odder Odd Rods.
The boxes were generally described as VG/EX to EX/MT in presentation quality.
Who doesn’t love a scarce vintage regional basketball issue?! Here’s an “ultra-complete” set of 13 1970-71 Phoenix Suns A1 cards.
Mastro offered this grouping in their November 2000 Fine Sports Auctions catalog with a minimum bid of $500. They explained that the scarce advertising cards were produced as six-pack inserts with A1 Premium Beer depicting Suns players in black-and-white photographs, formatted underneath a logo and price header, and distributed in only a very limited regional area. They then started talking a bit about the ten players in the set, plus the variations, but my 2003 Standard Catalog of Basketball Cards (6th Edition) explains it better with a checklist.
That Tuff Stuff guide explains that the cards measure 2-1/4” x 8-3/4” overall and
…feature a black-and-white photo of the player and his name printed beneath the photo at the bottom of the card. The top of the card features “Phoenix Suns picture special,” the A-1 Premium Beer logo and either a 95-cent price (most common), 98 cents (harder to locate) and no price printed. The player photo measures 2-1/4” x 3-3/8” and showcase the player in a posed position. The backs are blank and unnumbered.
Here’s the complete checklist:
Mel Counts (95 cents)
Mel Counts (98 cents)
Lamar Green
Clem Haskins
Connie Hawkins (98 cents)
Greg Howard
Paul Silas
Fred Taylor
Dick Van Arsdale (Error – reversed negative, no price)
Dick Van Arsdale (Corrected – no price)
Neal Walk (95 cents)
Neal Walk (No price)
John Wetzel (No price)
That Tuff Stuff Standard Basketball catalog priced a near-mint complete set at $1950 in 2003, and the prices appear to have stood up.
The following 12-card set is available on eBay (July 2024) for $3,600 from BMW Sports Cards and Memorabilia.
Scottsdale Baseball Cards has the following complete 13-card master set available on its site (and eBay) for $2,500.
However, Goldin sold the following 12/13 near master set, graded by SGC, for only $420 in June 2022. However, at the time, they wouldn’t have been my top choice for selling a set like this.
That Goldin set was also missing the Dick Van Arsdale error, which is one of the tougher cards. The priciest, though, is the Connie Hawkins.
If you’re looking for a graded sample, PSA has only slabbed 67 in total.
PS, while the cards say “12 oz. Bottles” on the front, if you want to augment a collection of them, think about hunting down these four A1 Premium Beer cans; from 1967-1974, the Phoenix Roadrunners were a WHL team.
Morean Auctions sold the pictured lot of empty beer cans for $527 in September 2023.
Pig League Chewing Gum! Christie’s offered this George Chastain parody painting in their October 1993 Sports Memorabilia catalog.
In the description, Christie’s wrote:
An original painting in acrylics by George Chastain, parody artist known for his pulp magazine, science fiction and movie parodies. The painting spoofs the 1933 Goudey Ruth card No. 181 and refers to ” Pig League chewing gum ” and substitutes peanuts, hot dog, beer and Porker Snax for the bat on the actual card. The painting measures 11 x 14 inches and is one of a series of baseball card parodies done by Mr. Chastain. The lot does not include any publication rights.
The estimate was $800-1,000.
Precious Paper has it now (July 2024) and is selling the painting for $2,500. Here’s a screenshot in case it’s sold and removed from their site—you know, to document hobby history!
Today, I’m wrapping up my five-part series of articles focused on 1978 Topps baseball and its associated sets and promotions. Here are the previous four articles, in case you missed them:
In this one, I’ll discuss the six-card 1978 Topps uncut panels that came inside issue 47 of Scholastic Inc’s Dynamite Magazine. As a hobby library guy, I find this collectible super appealing.
Dynamite Magazine 101
Scholastic Inc.’s Dynamite Magazine launched in March 1974 and continued to be released through March 1992 (165 total issues). It was Scholastic’s most successful publication and inspired four other magazines you might be familiar with if you were a kid aged ~8-14 at the time; Bananas, Wow, Hot Dog!, and Peanut Butter. It was a bit of a pop culture update and included articles, comics, puzzles, and other interactive content like puzzles, games, masks, etc. They’d often contain inserts like stickers, glow-in-the-dark items, 3-D posters with glasses, and of course, baseball cards.
Dynamite Magazine Issue 47, April 1978, Happy Birthday, Mad!
The issue that included 1978 Topps baseball cards was number 47, released in April 1978, titled “Happy Birthday, Mad!” This edition has over a dozen features, with the headline being “a look at the MADmen and their MAD magazine on its 25th birthday.” Other blasts included a feature about the magazine’s one-year-old horse, how to decorate bicycles, and mini-skits that kids could perform. Shorter pieces, “bombshells,” included cartoons, sneak peek calendars, jokes, puzzles, and advice. The magazine also had a bike poster and, of course, “Free Baseball Cards!”
Dynamite Magazine – Issue 47 – Front Cover
Dynamite Magazine – Issue 47 – Back Cover
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Details and Examples
The 1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels are the same as regular 1978 Topps cards. They’re a six-card strip from an uncut sheet, then folded to fit in the magazine. No one’s really sure if the whole set made it into the magazines. While my 2010 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards wrote that just three six-card panels of 1978 Topps baseball issues had been found at the time, there are definitely more than that, but likely not the entire set because an 11-card wide sheet doesn’t make an even number of 2×3 card panels.
Of the four examples I’ll share, three are cut from Sheet A and one from Sheet B. The Standard Catalog shares two other examples, one with Steve Kemp, Reggie Smith, Roguish Jackson, Rick Burleson, Duane Kuiper, and Davey Lopes, and another with Toby Harrah, Gary Carter, Jeff Burroughs, Fred Lynn, Bucky Dent, and Jim Rice. Both are Sheet A cards. If you’ve seen some from other sheets, please let me know in the comments.
Here’s the example in my library; it features Wayne Garland, Lerrin LaGrow, Enrique Romo, Rick Waits, Rick Manning, and Jim Kern. I bought it for $15.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 1 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 1 – Image 2
Here, you can see where the six-card panel was on a regular 1978 Topps uncut sheet (Sheet A).
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 1 Highlighted
This second example includes Ellis Valentine, Steve Stone, Willie McCovey, Mark Belanger, Willie Montanez (of Topps Zest Fame), and Mitchell Page.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 2 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 2 – Image 2
This panel was cut from the left edge of Sheet A.
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 2 Highlighted
This third example is the most famous one and was documented on The Chronicles of Fuji blog in June 2013 after the author sniped it off of eBay for $22.50 + $3.95 shipping. It features Eddie Murray, Amos Otis, Ruppert Jones, Bobby Bonds, John Mayberry, and George Scott.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 3 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 3 – Image 2
The Eddie Murray panel was cut from the lower right corner of Sheet B.
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 3 Highlighted
By the way, ToddUncommon on Twitter mentioned that there’s a cottage industry of hand-cutting Murray cards from sheets and passing them off as pack-pulled since the in-card pack Murray’s are often terribly off-center.
The following example is slightly inconsistent with the other three, which is interesting since it features superstars Dave Winfield and George Brett, Roy White, Bobby Murcer, Jim Barr, and Cesar Geronimo. It’s been listed on eBay for $49.99 before.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 4 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 4 – Image 2
You can see that it’s also a Sheet A cut panel, but it seems to have been inserted oppositely. The first three examples all look the same, with a pair of cards over the edge of the poster on top of the magazine’s index.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels – First 3 Examples
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 4 Highlighted
If you’re looking for individual panels, they’ll all have a bend across them, just like this 1983 Topps Hot Dog Magazine example.
1983 Topps Hot Dog Magazine Panel and Sheet Placement
A handful of examples advertised as Dynamite or Hot Dog panels without bends are probably legitimate cards but not magazine inserts.
Topps partnered with Scholastic for many years, so you can also find examples for other baseball (and football) sets.
1978 Topps Series Wrap Up
That wraps up my 1978 Topps baseball series! From the base set to partnerships with Burger King and Zest Soap, the mail-in checklists, and these six-card panels, Topps certainly maximized their brand’s reach! And I acknowledge that I COULD have included a review of the 1978 O-Pee-Chee baseball set in this series. Do you think I should have?
“How can you say you’ve got the whole set when you haven’t got what it came in?” Here’s Ed Henderson’s look at the collectibility of wrappers from the November 1992 issue of Baseball Cards Magazine.
PS: I’d love to see a resurgence of multi-page hobby writing like this today.
In this article, I’m continuing my series through the world of 1978 Topps baseball cards with a look at the unique little oddball set Topps released in partnership with Zest Soap. The set was limited to just five cards; they look nearly identical to the regular Topps base cards and remain popular with a small group of collectors. In this article, I’ll explore the 1978 Topps Zest Soap promotion details, distribution, packaging, printing, and the current market for these intriguing cards.
Before we get started, though, here are the previous three articles in the 1978 Topps baseball series:
Topps produced this set of five standard-sized cards featuring Hispanic baseball stars as a promotion for Proctor & Gamble in 1978. The five players included were:
#1 – Joaquin Andújar
#2 – Bert Campaneris
#3 – Ed Figueroa
#4 – Willie Montanez
#5 – Manny Mota
A hobbyist on the Collectors Universe Message Boards wrote, “Proctor & Gamble targeted Zest Soap towards Latin American men because of its unique pH formula for Dry Skin. Looking for an incentive to get Latino men to try Zest, P&G coupled with Topps to produce the Zest Baseball Card Set. The Latin American women already had Camay Soap and the Latin American Children had Ivory Soap.”
The cards have the same design as the base 1978 Topps cards, and except for Willie Montanez, who was traded from the Braves to the Mets, the fronts use the same images too.
The backs are a little different. First, they’re bilingual (Spanish and English). Second, the 1978 Topps Zest cards don’t have the play ball game on the back; it’s been replaced by MLB and MLBPA logos. Third, the card numbers are different. It’s funny though that Zest isn’t mentioned anywhere on the cards.
The five cards were issued as complete sets in a cello package via a mail-in promotion requiring two zest soap wrappers and a certificate. While the set is tough to find, it’s not expensive, perhaps due to the player selection.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack
1978 Topps Zest Soap Promotion, Distribution, and Packaging
We have one key advertising product that explains how the 1978 Topps Zest promotion worked. In their Spring 2018 catalog, Robert Edward Auctions sold this 1978 Topps Zest Soap Store Advertising Display and a complete set in its original packaging for $270.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Advertising Display
Here’s how they described the lot:
Enormous point-of-sale advertising display for 1978 Topps “Zest Soap” Baseball Trading Cards, accompanied by a complete set of five cards still in their original package as issued. This extremely rare advertising display is designed with all five giant-versions of the issued cards from the set pictured at the top and the text printed in Spanish. This is the first example of this advertising display that we have ever offered or seen! Due to its size and shape, as expected, the display (24 x 39 inches at its widest points) has some obvious flaws including creases and edge wear. Overall in remarkable condition, especially for a store advertising display of this type, the piece presents as Excellent and is perfect for display, as intended. The original mail-order slips are still intact. This is an outstanding example of this seldom-seen advertising display, and one that would be at home in any advanced baseball-advertising collection.
The top of the display translates (I used Google Translate) to Zest Baseball Stars with the word free below it; then, we have the pictures of the five cards. Next to the two bars of soap, the following terms say, “5 baseball cards with the purchase of 2 “bath size” zests.” The ad then explained that you could get a Cesar Cedeno poster by mail with the purchase of 8 “bath size” Zest soaps. The fine printed said to see the required certificate for complete details, that the offer was good from August 1, 1978, to November 1, 1978, and that there was a limit of 2 posters per name or address.
The same Collectors Universe Forum Thread that explained why P&G targeted Zest Soap towards Latin American men also had the following scans of the mail-in card for the set, which is written entirely in Spanish.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Mail-In Card
It explained to send two full-size Zest bath-size wrappers for each set of five cards and that the certificate was required to be included with the order. The additional details along the bottom mentioned that the offer was only valid in 27 states, that the offer was limited to two sets of five cards per name or address, and that you’d get the cards in about 6-8 weeks. The back also showed that the offer card was printed in May 1978, long after the base set was released, helping explain how Topps could update the Montanez image in this set.
Regarding the pack that was sent, almost every 1978 Topps Zest cello pack I’ve seen has Manny Mota on top and Montanez on the bottom, but I have seen a single example with Andujar showing.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack Lot of 4 – Mota on Top
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack Lot of 4 – Montanez on Bottom
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack – Mota Top & Montanez Bottom
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack – Mota Top & Montanez Bottom
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack – Andujar Top
I’m unsure if some cards got flipped in packaging, but you can see on this YouTube break of a pack that had Mota face up on top and Montanez on the back that each card was face up in the pack. After Mota, you had Figueroa, but it was upside down. Campaneris came next, positioned in the same direction as Figueroa, followed by Andujar, upside down, then Montanez on the bottom, upside down once again.
I’ve also seen another peculiarity: the Topps Archives mentions that the cards were unavailable with the product in stores. But in my research, I encountered a set shrink-wrapped around three bars of soap. This offer is slightly different since it came with a three-pack of soap, while the mail-in offer only required two wrappers. If you know more about this example, please contact me or leave a comment.
Zest Soap Three Pack with 1978 Topps Zest Set – Image 1
Zest Soap Three Pack with 1978 Topps Zest Set – Image 2
1978 Topps Zest Soap Printing and Today’s Availability
Lelands offered two 110-card full-production uncut sheets featuring the five different 1978 Topps Zest players in an auction in December 2003.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Uncut Production Sheets
Lelands paired the two Zest sheets with a 1974 Topps Traded Baseball Uncut Sheet, and it appears the auction’s reserve wasn’t met. The odd thing about the 1978 Topps Zest sheets is that while most uncut sheets have 132 cards, these only have 110. It’s like they’re missing two extra rows of 11 cards. However, they do look complete from a bordering perspective.
As I wrote earlier, the promotion only lasted a few months, from August to November 1978, so the distribution was limited. Hence, the cards are a little challenging to come by today. PSA-graded copies are also scarce, with only 89 total examples across the five-card set.
1978 Topps Zest Soap PSA Population Report
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cards and Sales
While the cards are scarce, they’re not that pricey. In 2019, the following five PSA-graded cards were sold on eBay for $129.99: a PSA 9 (OC) Andujar, a PSA 9 Campaneris, a PSA 9 Figueroa, a PSA 9 Montanez, and a PSA 6 Mota. From a raw perspective, complete sets sell for between $10 and $25.
1978 Topps Zest Soap 2019 PSA-Graded Set Sale
PFP Cards have the highest graded set on the registry, with all five cards being PSA 9s.
PFP Cards 1978 Topps Zest Soap Set – First Four Cards
PFP Cards 1978 Topps Zest Soap Set – Manny Mota
Now, I’ll share more details about each 1978 Topps Zest Soap card and show the player’s base 1978 Topps card.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #1 Joaquin Andujar
1978 Topps Zest Soap #1 Joaquin Andujar
1978 Topps #158 Joaquin Andjujar
PSA has graded 18 Joaquin Andújar cards, including a single PSA 10 example, which was recently listed on eBay as a Buy It Now item for $699.99 in the summer of 2023.
Ten of the other graded Andujar cards are PSA 9s, but they haven’t sold for much historically. One 9 sold for $8.49 in August 2020, and one of the two PSA 8s sold for $10.99 in August 2017. Just last month (July 2024), a PSA 8 was sold on eBay with a best-offer buy-it-now sale of $42.90.
A few raw copies have also been available for just a few dollars.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #2 Bert Campaneris
1978 Topps Zest Soap #2 Bert Campaneris
1978 Topps #260 Bert Campaneris
PSA has graded 16 Zest Soap Campaneris cards, including five PSA 9s and eight PSA 8s. One of the 9s sold for $75 in June 2020, an 8 sold for $4.99 in August 2020, and another 8 sold for $10.99 in December 2017.
Just like the Andujar last month (July 2024), a PSA 8 Campaneris was sold on eBay with a best-offer buy-it-now sale of $42.90.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #3 Ed Figueroa
1978 Topps Zest Soap #3 Ed Figueroa
1978 Topps #365 Ed Figueroa
PSA has graded 17 Figueroa Topps Zest Soap cards with three 9s and nine 8s. However, no examples appear on the auction prices realized page for the card.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #3 Ed Figueroa PSA 8
In the past, raw Ed Figueroa cards have been listed on eBay for between $.90 and $12.99.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #4 Willie Montanez
1978 Topps Zest Soap #4 Willie Montanez
1978 Topps #38 Willie Montanez
There are twenty PSA-graded Montanez Zest Soap cards, including five 9s and ten of 8s. An 8 sold for $4.99 in August 2020, another 8 sold for $22.99 in April 2020, and a 9 sold for $13.5 in September 2016.
Again, just like the Andujar and Campaneris last month (July 2024), a PSA 8 Montanez was sold on eBay for $42.90, with a best-offer buy-it-now sale.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #5 Manny Mota
1978 Topps Zest Soap #5 Manny Mota
1978 Topps #228 Manny Mota
Mota has 18 PSA-graded cards, including a single 10, four 9s, and eleven 8s. But one of those 8s sold for just $1.36 in September 2020.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Wrap-Up
I’m surprised this set hasn’t become more popular, given the larger number of Hispanic players in the majors and collectors in the hobby today, along with its uniqueness. I guess it’s just not mainstream enough for most collectors; however, if you’re looking for a nice post-war set that would be affordable and display well with an unopened pack, this is a great set to go after.
In May 2024, I shared the original football card artwork for Chuck Hunsinger’s 1952 Bowman card and mentioned that the original art was first sold to the hobby in Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989, so I wanted to share all the pages from the catalog with every B&W photo.
Not including the 10% buyers premium, the four priciest 1952 Bowman football card original art pieces were $6k for Doak Walker (note: my list says E61A was $6k, which could be Sammy Baugh rather than Doak Walker), $5k for Frank Gifford, $3,750 for Otto Graham, and $3,750 for George Halas.
It would be impossible to track down each piece of original artwork for a single collection today, but I may try to find pictures of them for a page here on the site as a future project. Happy collecting!
