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?
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 addition to their base set and partnership with Burger King in 1978, Topps offered a full sheet of team checklists as a wrapper redemption. The cards share the same design as the team checklists distributed as part of the base set, with just a few card stock differences. Topps designed the cards for collectors to cut out individually, so uncut sheets are pretty tough to come by – individual cards aren’t that common, either! In this article, I’ll give a basic overview of the 1978 Topps Team Checklists, discuss the wrapper redemption offer, share a few surviving uncut sheets and compare them to the base set’s uncut sheets, and finish by sharing individual card details.
1978 Topps Team Checklists Overview
Topps offered collectors another way to keep track of all their 1978 baseball cards, tell at a glance which cards to trade and learn about players’ positions and team line-ups. They did this by offering kids an uncut sheet of the 26 team checklist cards. The sheet also had another offer, a collectors card box, printed on it to fill out a 3×9 grid. From a design perspective, the cards on the sheet were the same as the team checklists that Topps distributed as part of the base set.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Reverse
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front Section
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Back Section
1978 Topps Team Checklist Wrapper Offer and Distribution Details
There were three 1978 Topps baseball wrapper variations; one offered collectors the 26 team checklist cards.
1978 Topps Baseball Wrapper
Here’s a centered image of the specific offer.
1978 Topps Baseball Wrapper – Checklist Offer
You can see in the image that for 50 cents and a wrapper, Topps would send back a tri-folded sheet of all 26 team checklist cards. The picture indicates that Topps intended for fans to cut the cards out.
The redemption ran for quite a long time, ending in December 1978. So perhaps this helped Topps sell more base cards later in the year, motivating collectors to complete the set.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Uncut Sheet and Printing Details
As I said, the uncut sheet was tri-folded and included all 26 baseball team checklists. The cards were identical to the base set, but Topps printed them on a thinner stock, making them easier to cut. The card stock on the back also appears super white, which is the obvious way to identify the handout cut cards from those distributed in the base set.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front
Unlike the base set team checklists, each team was only single-printed. For the base set, 24 team checklists were printed on sheet F.
1978 Topps Baseball Uncut Sheet F
But the Expos and Blue Jays team cards were double-printed on sheet D.
1978 Topps Baseball Uncut Sheet D
As I shared in the deep dive of the 1978 Topps base set, each card’s back has the sheet it was printed on listed on the back. That’s no different for the redemption team checklists; they have the same sheet numbers on the back despite being printed on the same wrapper redemption sheet.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Reverse
I’ve only been able to track down a single sale of an uncut sheet panel, and Heritage sold it in June 2019 for $44. However, it’s a weird one, and the misprint of colors doesn’t align with the team checklist cards. The sheet measures 10 1/2″ by 22 1/2″.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet Heritage Auctions – Front
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet Heritage Auctions – Reverse
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut Cards
Each team in MLB had a checklist card. First, here’s an example of a hand-cut card for the Phillies.
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut
And here is a Phillies’ example from the base set,
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team Checklist
And here are the two Phillies card backs for comparison.
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team Checklists Backs
You can see the white background of the card that Topps distributed as part of the wrapper redemption. I’m sure, in hand, you can also see obvious signs of cutting/trimming that aren’t apparent on factory sheet cut cards.
Next, here’s a Kansas City Royals hand-cut example; notice the Sheet F designation on the back.
1978 Topps #724 Royals Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut
I found a Blue Jays hand-cut example, and it’s a little tough to make out, but you can see the D next to the copyright information along the right-hand side, just like on the base Blue Jays card.
1978 Topps #626 Blue Jays Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut – Reverse
1978 Topps #626 Blue Jays Team Checklist Base Set – Reverse
Compared to how many individual team checklists PSA has graded from the base set, there are relatively few sheet hand-cut graded examples, just 365 in total, including one advertising card! The population distribution is pretty varied, with 69 PSA 10s, 78 PSA 9s, and 52 PSA 8s as the most common grades. The most graded specific cards are the Angeles (36), Royals (33), Reds (30), Yankees (29), and Phillies (26).
Here are some individual card sales data:
1978 Topps #328 Brewers Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 10: $79 in May 2023, and another for $99.99 that same month
1978 Topps #214 Angels Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 10: $48 in July 2021
1978 Topps #626 Blue Jays Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 9: $179.99 In August 2021
1978 Topps #96 Orioles Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 4: $35 in October 2020
1978 Topps #282 Yankees Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 8: $55 in July 2020. A PSA 10 Yankees example sold for $109 in October 2018
1978 Topps #724 Royals Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 9: $56 in February 2017
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 9: $27 in February 2017, a PSA 10 graded Phillies Team Checklist sold for $97.99 in February 2021
Conclusion
The 1978 Topps baseball team checklist mail-in redemption was a cost-effective way for kids who couldn’t afford to rip a ton of 20-cent packs to get a bunch of their favorite teams’ cards for just 50 cents. It also made a great display piece and probably motivated a lot of collectors to buy more packs to complete their sets. But these checklists and the Burger King cards weren’t the only promotions Topps ran; I have two more articles to share in the coming days highlighting the 1978 Topps Zest Soap set and the six-card panels Topps included in a specific release of Scholastic’s Dynamite Magazine.
I kicked off my exploration of 1978 Topps Baseball and its accompanying sets last week with a comprehensive guide to the 1978 Topps base set. This article will explore Topps’ 1978 collaboration with Burger King. Topps kicked off their partnership with the national fast food chain in 1977 with a set of cards devoted to the New York Yankees, and in 1978, they expanded that partnership to four cities and their teams: the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers.
First, I’ll provide an overview of the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Series. Then, I’ll compare the Burger King and base Topps set designs before discussing the distribution and packaging of 1978 Topps Burger King cello packs, wrapping up with details for each of the four team sets.
1978 Topps Burger King Set Profile
Topps’ history with Burger King launched in 1977 and continued through 1980. But in 1978 specifically, they issued four sets of 23 standard-sized cards (22 player cards + the checklist) in major metropolitan areas. So, kids 14 and under in Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, and New York could get a pack of three cards plus an unnumbered checklist by purchasing any Burger King Sandwich.
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Team Checklist – Front
The partnership focused on pretty big markets, so despite the Tigers finishing the 1977 season 26 games behind the Yankees, with a 74-88 record, they still got a set. This was lucky for us collectors since the Tigers had a trio of great rookies in Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris. This meant we got solo rookie cards for them rather than the multi-player cards Topps included in their base set.
1978 Topps Burger King Alan Trammell and 1978 Topps Rookie Shortstops
1978 Topps Burger King Lou Whitaker and 1978 Topps Rookie 2nd Basemen
1978 Topps Burger King Jack Morris and 1978 Topps Rookie Pitchers
1978 Topps Burger King Design
The 1978 Topps Burger Kind cards looked identical to Topps base set cards with one major and one minor distinction. The major distinction was the different card numbers on the back. The minor difference is that the back of the Burger King cards don’t have the sheet designation next to the copyright on the back that the base cards do. Also, a few cards used different player mages, and I’ll highlight them in the team overviews below, but the design was the same. The back of the cards also highlighted the “Play Ball” game from the base set. But you would need to eat a heck of a lot of Burger King sandwiches to get enough cards to play!
Here’s the front and back of the 1978 Burger King #21 and base Topps set #200, Reggie Jackson cards.
1978 Topps Burger King Reggie Jackson and 1978 Topps Reggie Jackson – Fronts
1978 Topps Burger King Reggie Jackson and 1978 Topps Reggie Jackson – Backs
1978 Topps Burger King Distribution and Packs
As I said, Topps and Burger King distributed the cards in cello packs of three cards plus a team checklist. Topps got the cards to Burger King packed in plain white boxes since they weren’t meant for sale that way. However, here’s an example of a box of 48 3-card New York Yankees 1978 Topps Burger King cello packs authenticated by the Baseball Card Exchange.
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees 48 Pack Cello Box – BBCE – Top
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees 48 Pack Cello Box – BBCE – Reverse
And here’s another 1978 Topps Burger King Yankees box I saw on Facebook showing how Topps arranged the packs in the box and all the packs displayed individually.
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Box With Packs
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Cello Packs From Box – Side View
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Cello Packs From Box
From an individual pack perspective, PSA has authenticated and slabbed 14 from the New York Yankees series, 47 from the Detroit Tigers, and two each for the Astros and Rangers series. 28 of the Tigers packs feature one of the big-3 rookies showing on the back.
For example, here’s a PSA 7-graded 3-card cello pack featuring Jack Morris.
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers Cello Pack – Jack Morris Back
Examples with stars showing have been selling for quite a bit on eBay lately. A PSA 7 with Whitaker on the back sold for $109 in July 2023, a PSA 9 pack with Trammel showing went for $199 in July 2023 (a PSA 7 sold for $129 in July 2023, too), and a PSA 8 with Morris on the back sold for $219 in May 2023.
Back in 2016, Collect Auctions offered this lot of nine unopened three-card packs of 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers cards, five with Trammell showing and four featuring Whitaker—the auction closed for $124.
Collect Auctions Lot of 9 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers Cello Packs – Fronts
Collect Auctions Lot of 9 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers Cello Packs – Backs
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros
Today, the Houston Astros cards are the least desirable and expensive of the four teams. A complete team set on eBay costs less than $10, including shipping.
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Team Set
And, PSA has only graded 120 cards among the Astros Topps Burger King set, which is fewer than any of the Tigers stars individually. There are two interesting tidbits related to the Astros players in this set. First, Dave Bergman got his own card, rather than being part of a multi-player Rookie Outfielder card in the Topps base set, and Jesus Alou was included here but didn’t have a card in the base set.
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Team Checklist Card – Front and Back
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Checklist:
1 Bill Virdon
2 Joe Ferguson
3 Ed Herrmann
4 J.R. Richard
5 Joe Niekro
6 Floyd Bannister
7 Joaquin Andujar
8 Ken Forsch
9 Mark Lemongello
10 Joe Sambito
11 Gene Pentz
12 Bob Watson
13 Julio Gonzalez
14 Enos Cabell
15 Roger Metzger
16 Art Howe
17 Jose Cruz
18 Cesar Cedeno
19 Terry Puhl
20 Wilbur Howard
21 Dave Bergman
22 Jesus Alou
No Number Checklist
1978 Topps Burger King Texas Rangers
The Rangers’ team set is a little pricer than the Astros cards, as a team set costs between $10 and $15 on eBay.
1978 Topps Burger King Texas Rangers Teams Set
PSA has also graded several more Rangers than Astros cards, with 294 in the pop report, but again, that’s less than Trammel alone.
Topps changed the images of quite a few of these cards: Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, but also Jon Matlack, Reggie Cleveland, Al Oliver, and John Lowenstein, are all pictured on different teams in the base set; Bobby Thomson wasn’t included in the base set but has a Burger King card; and Bump Wills’ Burger King card doesn’t have a rookie cup logo on the front.
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Texas Rangers Checklist:
1 Billy Hunter
2 Jim Sundberg
3 John Ellis
4 Doyle Alexander
5 Jon Matlack
6 Dock Ellis
7 Doc Medich
8 Fergie Jenkins
9 Len Barker
10 Reggie Cleveland
11 Mike Hargrove
12 Bump Wills
13 Toby Harrah
14 Bert Campaneris
15 Sandy Alomar
16 Kurt Bevacqua
17 Al Oliver
18 Juan Beniquez
19 Claudell Washington
20 Richie Zisk
21 John Lowenstein
22 Bobby Thompson
No Number Checklist
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees
The Yankees team set will cost you a bit more; they are the Yankees and were coming off a World Series win in 1977.
PSA has graded more than 1,000 Burger King Yankees cards; Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson are the most graded, and most are PSA 8s and 9s.
1978 Topps Burger King Yankees #21 Reggie Jackson – Front and Back
Three cards in the Burger King set have different front poses compared to the base set: Goose Gossage (close-up vs. action shot), Rawly Eastwick, and Jim Spencer were on different teams.
PSA 10 Reggie Jackson Burger King cards have surged in price lately, commanding prices between $550 and $650 compared to just $200 and $250 a few years ago. A PSA 10 Munson sold for $365 in 2020.
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Checklist:
1 Billy Martin
2 Thurman Munson
3 Cliff Johnson
4 Ron Guidry
5 Ed Figueroa
6 Dick Tidrow
7 Catfish Hunter
8 Don Gullett
9 Sparky Lyle
10 Goose Gossage
11 Rawly Eastwick
12 Chris Chambliss
13 Willie Randolph
14 Graig Nettles
15 Bucky Dent
16 Jim Spencer
17 Fred Stanley
18 Lou Piniella
19 Roy White
20 Mickey Rivers
21 Reggie Jackson
22 Paul Blair
No Number Checklist
1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers set is the most significant team set in the 1978 Burger King Series because of the inclusion of individual rookie cards of Alan Trammel, Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris. Thank goodness Detroit was a big market in the late 70s, or we would never have got this set because, as I said earlier, they were mediocre in 1977! Now, a lot of folks won’t consider the individual Tigers rookie cards TRUE rookies since they weren’t nationally released, but that doesn’t make them any less popular.
PSA has graded over 2500 cards from the set, with Trammell having the most, followed by Whitaker and Morris. And they’re pricey cards now. A PSA 10 Trammel changed hands for $2k in May 2020, a PSA 9 Whitaker sold for $519 in February 2023, and a PSA 10 Morris sold for $1374 in June 2019.
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers #15 Alan Trammell – Front and Back
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers #13 Lou Whitaker – Front and Back
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers #8 Jack Morris – Front and Back
Besides the rookies featured on their own cards, other variations from the base set include Jack Billingham, Jim Slaton, and Steve Dillard, who were all pictured on different teams.
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers Checklist:
1 Ralph Houk
2 Milt May
3 John Wockenfuss
4 Mark Fidrych
5 Dave Rozema
6 Jack Billingham
7 Jim Slaton
8 Jack Morris
9 John Hiller
10 Steve Foucault
11 Milt Wilcox
12 Jason Thompson
13 Lou Whitaker
14 Aurelio Rodriguez
15 Alan Trammell
16 Steve Dillard
17 Phil Mankowski
18 Steve Kemp
19 Ron LeFlore
20 Tim Corcoran
21 Mickey Stanley
22 Rusty Staub
No Number Checklist
Despite the nearly identical design, these four regionally distributed 1978 Topps Burger King sets augment the base set well. This is particularly noteworthy when considering the updated images and individual rookie cards of famous players.
The Burger King promotion wasn’t the only one Topps ran in 1978. Later this week, I’ll continue highlighting the collectibles accompanying the 1978 Topps baseball flagship product when I highlight the team checklists that Topps distributed via a wrapper redemption.
The 1978 Topps Baseball set, much like other ’70s releases when Topps didn’t really have any competition, suffered from quality control issues, but took off in popularity in the early 80s when the rookie-card hobby craze boomed for its inclusion of Eddie Murray, Jack Morris and the multi-player rookie prospect gem featuring Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell, among others. Along with the 1975 and 1971 releases, 1978 Topps remains one of the most popular sets of the decade today. In the following sections, I’ll provide:
A set profile
Production details
Advertising examples
A distribution summary
An overview of the key rookie cards and Hall of Fame stars
And some key set sales for the 1978 Topps baseball set
This article also kicks off a series exploring some accompanying sets to the 1978 Topps baseball flagship. In the coming days, I’ll share articles about the 1978 Topps Burger King cards, 1978 Topps Team Checklists distributed via a wrapper redemption, 1978 Topps Zest Soap cards, and 1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels. But before highlighting these companion sets’ distinctive qualities, let’s explore the base set’s place in the broader hobby.
1978 Topps Baseball Set Profile
The 1978 Topps baseball set has 726 standard-sized (2-1/2″ by 3-1/2″) cards, up from 660 the year before and the largest since 1972 or since Topps transitioned to single-series printing in 1974. However, since Topps printed the cards on 132-card sheets, 66 were double-printed, including Jack Morris, Pete Rose, and Tony Perez (one row of cards per sheet). 726/132 is 5.5, so Topps needed to fill all six sheets with extra cards.
Topps also included quite a few interesting subsets.
They kicked off the set with seven record-breaker cards.
1978 Topps #4 Brooks Robinson Record Breaker
Topps included League Leaders cards that historically lead off their sets on cards 201-208.
1978 Topps #202 Home Run Leaders
They highlighted the league playoffs and World Series on cards 411-413.
1978 Topps #413 World Series Reggie Jackson
Eleven Multi-player Rookie Prospect cards were included as cards 701-711, including one featuring Lou Whitaker, one of Joe Posnaski’s most underrated players.
1978 Topps #704 Rookie 2nd Baseman
Topps also included a few other subset-esque series in their 1978 base set. First, they had six checklists, the first starting at #74. Here’s an example for cards 243-363.
1978 Topps #289 Checklist 243-363
The 1978 Topps set also included Team Cards, distributed out of packs, with all the player’s cards from that team checklisted on the back.
1978 Topps #66 White Sox Team
And lastly, Topps included manager cards highlighting the coach as a player and manager.
1978 Topps #189 Tom Lasorda
The front of the base cards used a slightly larger photo than previous Topps card releases. The player’s name and team were printed along the bottom. Each card’s upper right-hand corner had a small white baseball with the player’s position printed within it, but starters from the 1977 All-Star game had a red, white, and blue shield instead.
1978 Topps #20 Pete Rose – Front
The backs of 1978 Topps baseball cards had typical player vitals and statistics—some of the cards also included a paragraph of biographic information. Six hundred and ten cards in the set also had “Play Ball” outcomes printed on them so two kids could play a game if they had enough cards; the rules are printed on 30 of the 726 cards. Check out this article on SABR’s Baseball Cards Research Committee blog for more.
1978 Topps #20 Pete Rose – Reverse
As I wrote in the introduction, Topps didn’t have any real completion in the baseball card market beyond a few oddballs, so they didn’t take quality control very seriously, leading to a pretty condition-sensitive set, particularly from a centering perspective. Don’t let PSA’s population report lead you astray; yes, of the ~210k cards they’ve graded from the set, the most common grades returned are a 9, followed by 8s and then 10s/7s. However, most common player’s cards aren’t worth submitting unless they’re a 9/10. Since a lot of 8s sale prices don’t even cover grading costs.
The Trading Card Database shares two errors/variations: one for Bump Wills’ card 23 with and without a black circle and another for Jose Morales’ card 374, one with black overprint on red stitching and one with red stitching on the position baseball in the upper right corner of the front of the card; the “Red Stitching on Position Ball” is the scarcer copy.
1978 Topps Baseball Card Production and Distribution
Before the 1978 Topps baseball cards were put in packs for the market, they had to be printed. And Topps printed the set on six sheets of 132 cards each. As I wrote in the overview, this meant that 66 cards had to be double-printed. Again, the set had 726 cards, which would only fill 5.5 sheets or over six sheets, with 121 cards on each sheet. So Topps filled the remaining 11 cards (an entire row) on each sheet with duplicates. 121*6 = 726, plus the 66 double-prints gives us 792 total printed cards over six 132-card sheets. Each sheet is assigned a letter designation (A, B, C, D, E, or F), and each card bears the same letter designation as the sheet it was printed on, appearing on the back of the card.
Knowing that sheet designation is the low-hanging fruit in cello and rack pack validation, but this part of the hobby can get pretty complicated when you look at the card placement (front/back on cellos and Panel on rack packs), packing material, product code, and card appearance. I’ll write more about this later when I discuss the 1978 Topps baseball unopened material.
In May 2015, Heritage Auctions sold a 1978 Topps baseball complete set in uncut sheets for $1314.50.
1978 Topps Complete Set on 6 Uncut Sheets Fronts – Heritage
1978 Topps Complete Set on 6 Uncut Sheets Backs – Heritage
A few years later, in October 2018, Robert Edward Auctions (REA) sold a complete set of six uncut sheets for $3900.
1978 Topps Complete Set on 6 Uncut Sheets – REA
However, before the final sheets were printed for cutting and distribution, many proofs were made as the set was finalized and the printing process was verified and validated. And many of these proof sheets and cards that were held in the Topps Vault have made their way into the hobby.
For example, in April 2015, REA sold a pair of uncut sheets from the 1978 Topps baseball set; one was an early-stage production proof, and the other was a final-issue sheet, for $1080.
1978 Topps Production Proof Sheet – Front
1978 Topps Production Proof Sheet – Reverse
The production proof was described as noteworthy because “it features pitcher Mike Torrez with the New York Yankees in the top row of the sheet while the final-issue sheet depicts Torrez with the Boston Red Sox. The New York Yankees version was never issued as Torrez signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Red Sox during the 1977 offseason, and Topps was able to update his trading card prior to releasing the 1978 Topps set.” The production proof has five rows of eleven cards and has a stamp on the back that says “August 1989 Topps Auction NYC,” which means it was sold as part of the 1989 Guernsey’s auction. The final issue sheet has 66 cards in six rows of eleven cards (half of a 132-card sheet).
1978 Topps Final Issue Sheet – Front
1978 Topps Final Issue Sheet – Reverse
There are also a bunch of interesting individual proof cards that collectors can get their hands on.
First, REA sold this Andre Dawson blank-back proof in July 2019 for $450. They noted that while the card appears to be “just” a blank-back proof, it’s actually a bit more interesting because it is missing the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy that you can see on the final-issue card. The card is encased in a Topps Vault holder.
1978 Topps Andre Dawson Proof and Regular Issue
1978 Topps Andre Dawson Proof – Front
1978 Topps Andre Dawson Proof – Reverse
Another couple of interesting proofs I’ve run across are this 1978 Topps 4-Color Film Positive Proof of Willie McCovey’s card and a pair of color separation proofs of the Red Sox team card – both from the Topps Vault with Certificates of Authenticity.
1978 Topps 4-Color Film Positive Proof – Willie McCovey
1978 Topps 4-Color Film Positive Proof COA – Willie McCovey
1978 Topps Red Sox Team Color Separation Proofs
Topps also had to proof and produce original artwork for their 1978 Topps baseball wax box. This display box side-panel artwork was sold for $1860 in REA’s Fall 2020 catalog. The piece is 5.5 x 4.25 inches and features art used for both side panels of the wax box.
1978 Topps Wax Box Side-Panel Artwork – Front
1978 Topps Wax Box Side-Panel
1978 Topps Wax Box Side-Panel Artwork – Reverse
1978 Topps Baseball Packs and Boxes / Distribution
This wax box side-panel art piece leads us perfectly into discussing the 1978 Topps baseball product distribution. Topps made the 1978 baseball cards available to collectors in quite a few different forms, but the most significant change they made from 1977 was to the standard wax pack. The number of cards went from 10 to 14 per pack, but the price went from 15 to 20 cents. Here’s a quick overview of all the products:
1978 Topps Baseball Wax Pack
Wax: 14 cards per $0.20 pack that came with 36 packs per box
Cello: 21 cards per $0.30 pack that came with 24 packs per box
Rack: 39 cards per $0.59 pack that came with 24 packs per box
Wax Trays: 3 wax pack trays often meant for grocery stores.
Vending: 500 cards per box meant for insertion into vending machines
PSA authenticates and slabs both wax and cello products, and they’ve encapsulated quite a few 1978 Topps baseball products: 776 wax packs and 917 cello packs.
Here are the current market prices for 1978 Topps baseball unopened products:
Wax Packs: PSA 8 (the most common grade) packs sell for ~$200 (without stars showing)
Cello Packs: PSA 9 (the most common grade) cello packs sell for between $180 and $ 300.
Rack Packs: BBCE-authenticated rack packs sell for between $200 and $250 if they have non-premium stars showing (Carlton or Niekro, for example).
Rack Boxes: BBCE-authenticated 1978 Topps baseball rack boxes, from a sealed case, sell for between $5k and $6k.
Wax Boxes: BBCE-authenticated 1978 Topps baseball wax boxes have dried up a bit in the past few years after a surge in availability, so they now command prices around $4.5k.
1978 Topps Baseball Wax Box
Unfortunately, quite a few known fakes regarding 1978 Topps baseball unopened products exist. As I wrote earlier, card placement is the low-hanging fruit, at least when it comes to cello and rack pack authentication. In 1978, Topps only put cards with a D, E, or F notation on the top of cello packs. And for rack packs, Topps put cards from sheets A and B in the section closest to the header, sheets C and D in the middle section, and sheets E and F in the end sections. Again, card placement is just the low-hanging fruit when it comes to pack authentication; there’s a lot more to be aware of.
1978 Topps Baseball Advertising
Topps didn’t have the Internet to drum up interest in their products, so they distributed sell sheets to dealers and local retailers to promote them. They also printed flyers showcasing the product and informing dealers about the cost of upcoming releases.
Dealer sell sheets for 1978 Topps baseball are surprisingly scarce, particularly compared to those from the following year’s release, but I have managed to track down three variations. What’s funny is none of them showcase the card’s design.
This first one has “Topps 1978 Baseball” printed along the top with five player action photos. The ad copy reads, “Like the players they idolize, millions of youngsters are gearing up for another exciting season of Major League Baseball. And that means the beginning of another super selling season for Topps Baseball Picture Cards…selling right on through the summer months! So be sure you’re ready for the ‘counter action’ by keeping plenty of Topps ’78 Baseball Cards in stock.” This sheet has an advertisement for 24-pack cello boxes. The text is hard to make out along the bottom, but it points out each pack has 21 cards. And it looks like the cost was $4.32 per box ($64.80 per 15-box case).
And this final 1978 Topps dealer sell sheet doesn’t have any product specifics printed along the bottom, but the photo is of a cello box, and the sentence refers to 30-cent cello packs coming 24 per display box. The #372-78 product code is printed on 1978 Topps Cello Cases.
1978 Topps Baseball Dealer Sell Sheet – Cello No Details
1978 Topps Baseball Key Rookie Cards
The 1978 Topps set was known for its hoard of rookies, some already performing and some still with high expectations during the rookie-crazed hobby boom of the early and mid-’80s. Today, the set is still known for its excellent rookie card class, including Eddie Murray and Detroit Tigers stars Jack Morris, Lou Whitaker, and Alan Trammell, who shared a card with Hall of Fame Paul Molitor. Dale Murphy also found his way onto a rookie prospect card, despite his true rookie card coming out the year before. Here’s a basic rundown of the Hall of Fame rookies.
1978 Topps #36 Eddie Murray
1978 Topps #36 Eddie Murray
Eddie Murray got a dedicated card in the 1978 Topps baseball set after a strong performance with the Baltimore Orioles in 1977, during which he hit .283, smacked 27 home runs, and drove in 88 runs. PSA has slabbed >14k of these cards, with nineteen graded Gem Mint 10s. There are also 704 PSA 9s and 3735 8s in the Pop Report. The Gem Mint 10 pictured above sold for $50400 in February 2023. PSA 9s sell for around $1300, and 8s sell for around $150.
1978 Topps #703 Rookie Pitchers Jack Morris
1978 Topps #703 Rookie Pitchers Jack Morris
Jack Morris shares his rookie card with Larry Andersen, Tim Jones, and Mickey Mahler, all of whom were high draft picks, but Morris would be the only one to make the Hall of Fame after finishing his career with 254 wins, a 3.90 earned run average, and 2478 strikeouts, Morris also won four World Series Titles and made 5 All-Star Games. PSA has graded nearly 6k Rookie Pitchers cards, with 113 slabbed as Gem Mint 10s, 1119 as 9s, and 2151 as 8s. The pictured 10 sold for $1110 in June 2023, 9s sell for around $75, and 8s sell for around $25.
1978 Topps #707 Rookie Shortstops Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell
1978 Topps #707 Rookie Shortstops Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell
The 1978 Topps Rookie Shortstops card is the hobby’s crown jewel of multi-player rookie cards. Molitor was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004, finishing his career with a .306 batting average and 3319 hits. Trammell joined Molitor in the Hall of Fame in 2018, finishing his career with a .285 batting average and 2365 hits. Trammell also won 4 Golf Gloves. Their 1978 Topps rookie card has been graded almost 10k times with 30 Gem Mint 10s, 450 PSA 9s, and 2262 PSA 8s—the Gem Mint 10 example above sold for $66k in January 2023. PSA 9s have risen in price lately, selling for between $1100 and $1500, while 8s are more affordable between $150 and $200.
1978 Topps Baseball Key Cards
1978 Topps baseball isn’t just about its fabulous crop of Hall of Fame rookie cards. A lot of the base cards are hobby classics as well. There are great cards for Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, Thurman Munson, Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt, Dave Winfield, and Rod Carew, along with a slew of expensive and rare high-grade commons that set chasers covet. But the big three base cards in the set belong to Hall of Famers George Brett, Reggie Jackson, and Nolan Ryan, who all got key numbered cards in the set, 100, 200, and 400.
1978 Topps #100 George Brett
1978 Topps #100 George Brett
George Brett’s 1978 Topps card doesn’t include the most exciting photo of the Hall of Famer, but it still attracts high prices. The PSA 10 pictured sold for $12600 in February 2023. It’s a pop 10 card in the grade. It’s a condition-sensitive card, probably a result of being card 100 and kids handling it a lot, but of the almost 2800 graded examples, there are also only 229 PSA 9s meaning less than 10% of the cards are in that ultra-high grade 9/10 range. However, there are 1051 PSA 8s. The 9s tend to sell for around $450, and the 8s are far more affordable, around $40.
1978 Topps #200 Reggie Jackson
1978 Topps #200 Reggie Jackson
Unlike Brett’s image, Topps included a more exciting shot of Reggie Jackson on his 1978 base card. And, as you saw in the sell sheet section, Topps featured Jackson on the set’s advertising. It’s been graded almost 2600 times with 23 PSA 10s, 360 9s, and 997 8s. The pictured 10 sold for $3550 in September 2017, and today, 9s sell for between $250 and $300, while 8s sell for around $55.
1978 Topps $400 Nolan Ryan
1978 Topps #400 Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan’s 1978 Topps base card is the toughest Gem Mint 10 star card in the set, with just three examples on the market. The pictured 10 sold for $14899 in April 2019. However, there are 140 PSA 9s and 1377 PSA 8s. The 9s sell for a little under $2k, while the 8s sell for between $150 and $200. Perhaps the lack of 10s is due to Ryan’s card being printed in the first column of a sheet, the second from the top.
1978 Topps Baseball Set Sales
With many key cards selling for thousands of dollars in high-grade, it’s no surprise that high-grade complete sets sell for quite a bit. REA sold a complete set in April 2015, which at the time was #3 on the PSA Set Registry and included 602 PSA 10s for $48k.
Cards From 1978 Topps PSA-Graded Set
However, I mentioned in the introduction that the cards suffered from quality control issues during the printing process, and Topps produced a ton of cards; I mean, nearly 200k have been graded. So if you want to pick up a low-grade complete set, they’re pretty widely available and not that expensive. Really nice raw sets (Nr-Mt/Mt) can push $1k from auction houses that command premium dollars, but you can pick up Vg or VgEx sets on eBay for under $200, like the following example.
1978 Topps Baseball Complete Set
The 1978 Topps Baseball set holds an important place in the hobby, standing alongside other popular releases from the ’70s. The set gained popularity in the early ’80s due to its inclusion of notable rookie cards for Eddie Murray, Jack Morris, Paul Molitor, and Alan Trammell. Today, it remains one of the most sought-after sets of the decade.
But that’s not all. In 1978, Topps teamed up with other companies for additional promotions to complement their flagship baseball collection. Follow along on the blog for details about four other 1978 Topps baseball sets and partnerships I’ll highlight in the coming days.
The 1965 Topps Bewitched set was never actually issued—even in a test market—but some blank-backed sheets made it out. Topps also released a few singles directly from the ‘Topps Vault,’ including these eight, which were offered together in 2004.
Here’s the full auction lot description that accompanied the cards:
These super-desirable items are the product of Topps’ very brief attempt to capture the 1960’s television classic, Bewitched, in trading card form. Offered is a collection of eight different 1965 Topps Bewitched cards. The 2-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ cards feature black and white photographs from the series, and each one pictures either Elizabeth Montgomery, as Samantha, or Agnes Moorehead as her mother, Endorra. Printed on grey cardboard stock and blank-backed (as are all of the very few known examples from the prospective series), the cards grade NM to NM/MT. The cards’ titles include: “Elizabeth Montgomery,” “Endorra,” “Jinxing a Batter,” “Mother and Daughter.” “Protest March,” “Ready for Action,” “Thinking Wicked” and “Which is Witch?” These sought-after and very rare collectibles originate from the Topps Vault, and are accompanied by individual LOA’s from that company.
Additionally, The Non-Sports bible shared that two cards of the 26 in the unreleased set appear to be overprinted based on multiple copies being printed on uncut sheets (Pretty Witch & Practicing Witchcraft). Also, cards with printing on the back have yet to be reported. REA sold the following sheet for $2700 in the spring of 2017 before selling the same one again in August 2024 for $4,920.
Here’s REA’s description for the Rare 1965 Test Issue ‘Bewitched’ Complete Set on Uncut Sheet (28):
Extremely rare uncut sheet of twenty-eight 1965 Topps “Bewitched” test cards based on the popular television series. “Bewitched” is one of the rarest sets of all 1960s Topps test issues. The set was never actually issued to the public, and we believe that all known items related to this series have originated over the years from the Topps Vault. The black-and-white cards feature the star of the show Elizabeth Montgomery and other cast members in various scenes from the television show. This 28-card sheet represents the complete set of twenty-six known cards from the set plus two duplicates (Practicing Witchcraft and Pretty Witch). Aside from a couple of creases both near the two lower corners, the sheet (22 x 17.5 inches) remains in Near Mint condition. The sheet is blank-backed. This is an extraordinary high-grade uncut sheet from this unbelievably rare Topps test issue.
I wrote about Alan “Mr. Mint” Rosen’s first book, The Insider’s Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles, previously on the blog – and had really wanted to get a copy of his second book, published three years later in 1994, but resellers on eBay and Amazon had wanted $70-100 for a copy for a few years. I just wasn’t willing to pay that much. Eventually, one of them dropped their price, and it was a race to the bottom. I finally picked up a copy of True Mint – Mr. Mint’s Price & Investment Guide to True Mint Baseball Cards for $10. And just like I did with his previous release, here’s my quick book report and a few scans from this hobby library gem.
True Mint – Front Cover
Flipping over the first page, you’re greeted with the Table of Contents, and nothing stands out quite like the title of Chapter 2, and it’s fitting the author’s nickname.
True Mint – Table of Contents
You can see that there’s some sort of intro about the art of the deal, a focus on mint cards, things for buyers to be aware of, stories of Mr. Mint’s hobby buys and shenanigans, collections of known folks, a look ahead, and then Mr. Mint’s version of a price guide.
Chapter 1 – The Art of the (Baseball Card) Deal
Rosen starts Chapter 1 with a short autobiography and an interesting story about how he got the nickname Mr. Mint. It wasn’t from his dealer days – he didn’t ONLY buy and sell mint cards, but rather, it was from his collecting days since his friends knew him as being fussy about condition. However, Rosen knew that the name would help him promote his business, so it stuck.
He sold his personal collection in the pages of Sports Collectors Digest, took the money, and became a full-time dealer in 1982. Rosen knew, before many, that making outrageous, nonsensical pronouncements would help his ads stand out, so he wrote things like “Sell me your cards or I’ll jump out of a plane.” He then parlayed that notoriety to get a leg up on his competition at shows, too. He knew advertising didn’t cost; it paid. He also focused on having a good table location at shows.
Rosen knew he needed to know the market well and have a strong rolodex of other dealers, or the advertising wouldn’t pay off. Rosen also was happy to make 10 or 15% on his money but turned it quickly – some dealers lamented that he sold too cheaply. He shared that he never made more than 20% profit in any calendar year, which might sound tight until you realize how significant his volume was (~$6M in 1990).
Interestingly, Rosen didn’t keep any cards. He liked them and would look at them and examine them for a while, but then he’d take a picture to keep before selling it. Rosen mentions a photo library of 25-30k photos.
Chapter 2 – If It Ain’t (Mint), It Ain’t
Rosen explains that by mint, he means as manufactured, so an off-center card can be mint, though it won’t sell for as much. He explains that another mistake is allowing the age of a card to matter in evaluating its condition. Rosen didn’t care if the card was 100 or 5 years old; mint meant new as manufactured. Also, the scarcity of the card didn’t matter towards the condition. He then explains that when it comes to mint cards, he had never seen one go down in price – at least those under $5k because of the minuscule amount of available mint cards. The point is that when you buy quality, when it comes time to sell, you will get the most for your card, which will also be more liquid.
Later in the chapter, you’ll come across this list of Topps and Bowman sets ranked in difficulty for finding mint cards to complete a set, along with two pages explaining it.
True Mint – Collector’s Notebook
Rosen closed the chapter explaining that he didn’t only buy mint cards; he’d buy anything he could make a living on.
Chapter 3 – Buyer Beware
Chapter three has a few paragraphs about each of the following topics: counterfeits, trimming, bleaching, centering, rough cuts, print dots/lines, plastic sheets, slabbing (he wasn’t a fan), and unopened packs.
True Mint – Baseball Boxes and Packs
Chapter 4 – Every Collector’s Fantasy (The True Life Adventures of Mr. Mint and the Most Famous Finds in the Hobby)
This was by far my favorite chapter in the book, chronicling a lot of the famous finds you hear about. He covers the 1952 Topps find in great detail, along with a few others like the 1948 Leaf Rare Numbers Find, the 1932 US Caramel Find, the Kansas City Bowman Find, Dan Wells Florida Find, and the purchases of a lot of famous collections like those of Ted Koch, Herb Ross, Dan Wells, and others. However, I’ll highlight a few photos he included from the Paris Tennessee Find(s) since I had written about it on the blog before. If you want to know about the others, pick up a copy of the book or wait for me to write another article!
True Mint – Paris Find Damaged Cards
True Mint – Paris Find 1954 Bowman Football Boxes
True Mint – Paris Find Cards and Boxes
Chapter 5 – Card Styles of the Rich and Famous
Chapter 5 starts with Rosen describing the reunion show he put together with 32 members of the 1961 Yankees team. He paid them $7k for doing the show, but Mantle, Berra, and Ford got more. They laid out $725k for the show and wound up making $10k (they mistakenly held it on Mother’s Day). The chapter continues with stories about purchases and interactions with folks like Del Webb (one of the owners of the Yankees from 1947-1964), Lou Boudreau, Dale Mitchell, Leslie Wagner-Blair (granddaughter of Honus Wagner), and Al Downing, among others.
Chapter 6 – Around the Corner
This chapter is only three pages long and sort of mimics the hobby’s position today. In 1994, Rosen wrote that card sales were terrible at the time and that folks selling cards from 1981 to the present were going out of business left and right. His numbers were down to $3M from $6M in sales a few years earlier. He said the avalanche of new cards was the primary reason for this.
Rosen wrote that the lack of finds at the time also hurt things, noting that most of his were from before 1991. However, if you check out sites like Sports Collectors Daily, you’ll find those have spiked again.
Mr. Mint wrote that he saw positive signs for the vintage card business, highlighting the 1952 Topps Mantle, which has surged in popularity in the last few years.
Chapter 7 – Mr. Mint’s Price Guide
Pages 89 – 302 are Mr. Mint’s price guide. Each set has a description, some of his thoughts and insights about value/availability/scarce cards, a checklist and prices for mint cards, and a photo or two.
True Mint – 1971 Topps
He even included a ton of less mainstream but collectible oddball-esque sets like Wilson Franks.
True Mint – 1954 Wilson Franks
Conclusion
As I wrote in my review of Rosen’s previous book, this one also included a ton of sound, practical, and applicable advice to collectors, even thirty years later. What sets this one apart, particularly for fans of the hobby history, are the collections of stories from his finds, relationships, and shows. I highly recommend grabbing a copy – it’s a quick read too!
