Topps Topics: Studies in Uncut Sheet Arrays - 1961 to 1964

 

Presenting part three of an ongoing series examining the use of short prints and double prints by Topps in their vintage era; part one can be found HERE and part two HERE. Today Mark Pekrul is looking at the 1961 to 1964 press sheets for the annual Topps Baseball sets. Mark, who posts as “deweyinthehall” on Net54 Baseball  has dug into these along with a couple of other stalwarts over there and worked to reconstruct most of the print arrays for all Topps Baseball series from roughly 1955 to 1970 (1971 and 1972 are mostly known but will be covered here nonetheless).  This work has essentially been compiled independently of anything I’ve posted previously. Mark maintains a website that covers Topps Baseball sets from 1965 to 1994 in some commendable depth as well,  CLICK HERE to be transported.

As a reminder, from 1957 through 1995, all Topps standard-sized (i.e. 2.5 x 3.5 inches) sets (baseball, football, hockey, basketball and non-sports) were printed on sheets containing two large blocks of cards, 11x12 cards each.  This created groups of 132 cards each, in many cases giving us complete set counts which are very recognizable today – 132, 264, 396, 528, 660 and 792.  Some early hockey and football sets, as well as many non-sports sets, had only 66 cards – exactly half of 132.

Therefore, when we hear the term “uncut sheet” today, we typically think of a roughly 2' x 4'array of 132 cards. However, a full standard-sized uncut sheet was twice as large, and had 2 groupings of 132 cards (as above).  The outside margins were white (even for sets with colored borders, such as 1971 or 1962) and contained various notations including positioning and cutting guides and other errata.  They eventually even featured commodity codes, just like Topps used for cases, boxes and packs.

Down the middle ran a thick white space called the “gutter” – full sheets were sliced down the gutter before each half-sheet, or ‘slit’, was then fed into a cutter. 

Each slit contained 12 rows of 11 cards.   For ease of reference, we can label the rows A-L and columns 1-11. Any card position can then be designated as A-1 (far upper left), L-11 (bottom right), and so forth, as shown below.

             SLIT A                                                                      SLIT B

Let's dive in...

1961 Topps Baseball – 587 Total Cards in Set

In 1961, things got a little more complex.  For the first time, Topps included checklists as numbered cards in its main set.  The first series checklist was typically double printed with series 1, and every series included a checklist from the next series to whet the kids’ appetites for the next spate of new cards.   Except the last series…but that should be obvious.   Topps also chose 1961 to introduce League Leader and World Series cards.   Why they decided to lessen the overall number of individual player cards from the previous year at the same time as the leagues were expanding is hard to understand.  

While we’re on the subject of checklists, from 1961 through 1966 the checklist cards did not reflect each series correctly.  In these years, the series 1 checklist only listed cards 1-88.  The series 2 checklist listed cards 89-176, series 3 was 177-264, series 4 was 265-352, series 5 was 353-429, series 6 was 430-506, and series 7 was 507 to the last card in the set regardless of the number.  In 1967, Topps began having each checklist accurately reflect those cards in the series the checklist represented.  (NOTE-this has been covered here in the past to some degree, click HERE for a ton of info on how Topps lagged their checklists over they years.)

Why did they do this from 1961-1966?  It probably was another attempt to tease kids to be sure to keep buying packs as the year went on, although with the checklist for the next series already included in the previous one, it is hard to tell what else, exactly, they hoped to achieve.  What this arrangement did create was the belief, occasionally, that each series really did contain only those cards listed on the checklists.  Some folks did have the notion that series 1 only include cards 1-88, for example, and that the series 7 ‘high numbers’ began at card 507 instead of 523 or some other number.  This can even be seen in some price guides over the years. 

Anyway, back to our regular programming. 

Series 1: 1-109, 109 different cards plus an extra 1^st series checklist

Series 2: 110-196, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 2 checklist from series 1

Series 3: 197-283, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 3 checklist from series 2

Series 4: 284-370, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 4 checklist from series 3

Series 5: 371-446, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 5 checklist from series 4

Series 6: 447-522, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 6 checklist from series 5

Series 7: 523-587, 65 different cards plus a repeated series 7 checklist from series 6

The series 7 checklist lists the final card in the set, Warren Spahn All Star, as #587.  However, the card itself was erroneously printed as #589.  This gave rise for a time to the misperception that cards 587 and 588 “do not exist”, meaning they were supposed to be printed but for some reason never were, a la 1958’s Ed Bouchee.  But, 1961 series 7 was never meant to be anything more than a standard 65 card series, plus the repeated checklist. 

For series 1, research has reconstructed a single slit which features a row pattern of A. B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, H, I, J.  This is enough to let us know that 22 of the total 44 series 1 over-printed cards are in rows A and B.  Without knowing the arrangement of the other slit, we cannot be sure of the other 22.

                                             

 

The row A and B over-prints are:

A

Stu Miller (72)

Alex Grammas (64)

Jerry Staley (90)

Moe Thacker (12)

A.L. Pitching Leaders (48)

Al Pilarcik (62)

Harvey Haddix (100)

Jim Grant (18)

Lenny Green (4)

Bob Bruce (83)

Roger Maris (2)

 

B

Ron Piche (61)

Richie Ashburn (88)

Ted Kluszewski (65)

Wynn Hawkins (34)

Whitey Herzog (106)

A.L. ERA Leaders (46)

Ken Johnson (24)

Jim Davenport (55)

Curt Simmons (11)

Brooks Robinson (10)

Ruben Amaro (103)

 

Series 2-4 feature the standard 88-card pattern.

Series 5 and 6 feature seven 11-card rows – a number not previously utilized and one which creates its own problems that can only be resolved by even more differences in print quantities per series.

In a series with seven rows (a prominent feature in later years), each will appear three times, forcing Topps to print three one extra time to achieve the 24 total row requirement.  All 77 cards (including that pesky extra checklist) will appear three times, and 33 will appear four times.  Over the years, the 44 cards printed just three times have come to be referred to as short-prints.  Being something of a curmudgeon, I don’t think this is the correct way to consider them.  I don’t believe any cards can properly be considered to be short-printed when they make up the majority of the cards in the series.  In a 77-card series, I think it’s more accurate to say that the 33 are overprints.  By planting this flag, I know I am running against many years of entrenched hobby thought, but I will stick to my guns.  Every 77-card series features 33 over-prints.

Having said this, we do not have any images, original or reconstructs, of any 1961 series 5 or 6 slits, so we do not know the row arrangements, hence we do not know with any certainty which cards were overprinted (eBay card counts can help get us there, but they are not definitive). 

Series 7 used the typical 66-card pattern.

 

1962 Topps Baseball – 598 Total Cards in Set

Series 1: 1-109, 109 different cards plus an extra 1^st series checklist

Series 2: 110-196, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 2 checklist from series 1

Series 3: 197-283, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 3 checklist from series 2

Series 4: 284-370, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 4 checklist from series 3

Series 5: 371-446, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 5 checklist from series 4

Series 6: 447-522, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 6 checklist from series 5

Series 7: 523-598, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 7 checklist from series 6

Topps expanded its set size slightly in 1962 by adding one more row of 11 cards to series 6.  It seems they had reason to expand the sizes of their sets to an even greater degree, considering that between 1961 and 1962, four expansion clubs were added by MLB, upping the total player count by about 100.  However, a Topps set wouldn’t crack 600 cards until 1967 (and then only by 9 cards) and they wouldn’t break the 700-card barrier until 1970 after four MORE clubs were added in 1969!

One series 1 slit has been reconstructed and its row patter is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, A, B.  Therefore, while the pattern may be different from the known 1961 series 1 slit, the over-printed rows are the same, A and B. 

22 of the total 44 over-prints from 1962 series 1 are:

A

N.L. Win Leaders (58)

Tony Cloninger (63)

N.L. Batting Leaders (52)

Barney Schultz (89)

A.L. Home Run Leaders (53)

Carl Sawatski (106)

Carroll Hardy (101)

N.L. Strikeout Leaders (60)

Jack Baldschun (46)

N.L. Home Run Leaders (54)

Mike Rourke (87)

 

B

Cuno Barragon (66)

Dick LeMay (71)

Howie Bedell (76)

Phil Ortega (69)

Cliff Cook (41)

Tom Tresh (31)

Boog Powell (99)

Darrell Johnson (16)

Ted Savage (104)

Ray Washburn (19)

Series 2 Checklist (98)

 

Series 2-4 were arranged in the standard 88-card pattern.

Series 5-7 each feature 33 over-printed cards (there – I said it again!), but with one exception we don’t now know any of the row patterns.  The exception is that one series 6 slit has been reconstructed, and shows a pattern of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, F, G.  Even here, without knowing what the other slit looks like we cannot say for sure which cards were over-printed, other than to assume they aren’t likely to be from rows D or E, which only appear twice on the known slit. 

 

1963 Topps Baseball – 576 Total Cards in Set

 Series 1: 1-109, 109 different cards plus an extra 1^st series checklist

Series 2: 110-196, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 2 checklist from series 1

Series 3: 197-283, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 3 checklist from series 2

Series 4: 284-370, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 4 checklist from series 3

Series 5: 371-446, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 5 checklist from series 4

Series 6: 447-511, 65 different cards plus a repeated series 6 checklist from series 5

Series 7: 512-576, 65 different cards plus a repeated series 7 checklist from series 6

For 1963, we have a full image of one series 1 slit and a partial image of the other:

First of all, 1963 sheets and slits can make your eyes hurt because of the way the cards are flipped this way and that – a by product of the design used that year with a single colored bar at the bottom of card front – except for the checklists and 4-player rookie cards(!).

Nevertheless, from these images we know that the 44 over-printed cards from series 1 are:

A

Series 1 Checklist (79)

Ray Moore (26)

Tony Gonzalez (32)

Jim Umbricht (99)

Joe Gibbin (101)

George Thomas (98)

Dal Maxvill (49)

A.L. Home Run Leaders (4)

Ron Hansen (88)

Ed Lopat (23)

Phillies Team Card (13)

 

B

Curt Simmons (22)

Ryne Duren (17)

Bob Bruce (24)

Jim Gilliam (80)

Terry Fox (44)

Rookie Stars (29)

Pete Burnside (19)

Charley Maxwell (86)

Reds Team Card (63)

Jim O’Toole (50)

Joe Cunningham (100)

 

I

Birdie Tebbetts (48)

Series 1 Checklist (79)

Angels Team Card (39)

Ken Hubbs (15)

Lou Clinton (96)

Rookie Stars (54)

Veteran Masters (43)

Charlie Lau (41)

Elston Howard (60)

Bob Veale (87)

Cal Koonce (31)

J

Stan Williams (42)

Chuck Essegian (103)

A.L. ERA Leaders (6)

Bobby Bragan (73)

Bob Schmidt (94)

Bob Bolin (106)

Bill Virdon (55)

Bo Belinsky (33)

Tommie Aaron (46)

Jim Hickman (107)

Series 2 Checklist (102)

 

Series 2-4 were formatted in the typical 88-card pattern.  

For series 5, we have been able to reconstruct one of the slits.  The row pattern presented is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, A, B, C, D.  We can speculate with some assurance that rows E and F were not over-printed, but without the other slit we do not know for sure.

                                              

Series 6 and 7 featured the standard 66-card pattern.

1964 Topps Baseball – 587 Total Cards in Set

Series 1: 1-109, 109 different cards plus an extra 1^st series checklist

Series 2: 110-196, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 2 checklist from series 1

Series 3: 197-283, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 3 checklist from series 2

Series 4: 284-370, 87 different cards plus a repeated series 4 checklist from series 3

Series 5: 371-446, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 5 checklist from series 4

Series 6: 447-522, 76 different cards plus a repeated series 6 checklist from series 5

Series 7: 523-587, 65 different cards plus a repeated series 7 checklist from series 6

For series 1, we actually have an image of a full sheet – the oldest known such image:

This allows us to know the row patterns on each slit:

Slit A: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, A, B

Slit B: C, D, H, I, J, A, B, C, D, E, F, G

And to therefore identify with certainty the 44 cards in rows A, B, C and D which were overprinted:

A

Dave Nicholson (31)

Willie Davis (68)

Jim Wynn (38)

Hank Aguirre (39)

Billy O’Dell (18)

George Altman (95)

Felipe Alou (65)

Chuck Hinton (52)

Woody Held (105)

Moe Drabowsky (42)

Milt Pappas (45)

 

B

Willie Kirkland (17)

Earl Battey (90)

Carl Sawatski (24)

Jim Fregosi (97)

Mets Team Card (27)

Jerry Adair (22)

Elston Howard (100)

Giants Rookie Stars (47)

Ron Perranoski (30)

Gus Triandos (83)

Art Mahaffey (104)

 

C

Leo Cardenas (72)

Mickey Mantle (50)

Jim Davenport (82)

Boog Powell (89)

Angel Backstops (61)

N.L. Strikeout Leaders (5)

N.L. RBI Leaders (11)

John Boozer (16)

Steve Ridzik (92)

Jim Perry (34)

Friendly Foes (41)

 

D

Reds Rookie Stars (33)

Gino Cimoli (26)

Dodgers Rookie Stars (14)

Eddie Fisher (66)

Cardinals Team Card (87)

Sam Mele (54)

Rusty Staub (109)

Carl Willey (84)

White Sox Rookie Stars (107)

Bob Friend (20)

Series 1 Checklist (76)

  

Series 2-4 were arranged in the typical 88-card pattern. 

For the 77-card series 5, we have a composite image (made up of two partials) of what appears to be slit B.  An examination of card counts at eBay has allowed us to be all but certain that the 33 cards over-printed by 33% are:

A

Ron Santo (375)

Jim Umbricht (389)

Chuck Cottier (397)

Dennis Bennett (396)

Ken McBride (405)

Sam McDowell (391)

George Alusik (431)

Bob Miller (394)

Johnny Keane (413)

Bill Skowron (445)

Jim Pagliaroni (392)

 

B

Ed Bailey (437)

Dave Morehead (376)

Don Nottebart (434)

Bob Duliba (441)

Jackie Brandt (399)

Jim Maloney (420)

Norm Cash (425)

Tony Martinez (404)

Camilo Carreon (421)

Charlie Neal (436)

Orioles Rookie Stars (418)

 

E

Juan Pizarro (430)

Reds Team Card (403)

Tony Kubek (415)

Ken Harrelson (419)

Bob Bolin (374)

Jack Fisher (422)

Lee Maye (416)

Curt Simmons (385)

Bob Skinner (377)

Casey Teaches (393)

Wes Stock (382)

 

Both series 6 slits have been reconstructed.  The identified row patterns are slit A: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E and slit B: D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A.  Hence, the over-printed cards are:

A

Frank Baumann (452)

White Sox Team Card (496)

Ralph Terry (458)

Ted Bowsfield (447)

Fred Valentine (453)

Jesse Gonder (457)

Tommie Aaron (454)

Joeff Long (497)

Bob Purkey (480)

Joe Amalfitano (451)

Lou Jackson (511)

 

D

Angels Rookie Stars (502)

Bob Aspromonte (467)

Red Sox Rookie Stars (459)

Cookie Rojas (448)

Don Lee (493)

Jim Bouton (470)

Diego Segui (508)

Tom Haller (485)

Bob Gibson (460)

Yankees Rookie Stars (488)

Twins Rookie Stars (516)

 

E

Cardinals Rookie Stars (479)

Bobby Bragan (506)

Claude Raymond (504)

Al Jackson (494)

Cubs Rookie Stars (469)

Deron Johnson (449)

Indians Rookie Stars (499)

Dick Howser (478)

Charlie Smith (519)

John Edwards (507)

Dodgers Rookie Stars (456)

 

Series 7 is arranged in the typical 66-card pattern.

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Next time out Mark will be discussing arrays from 1965-1969, which will get into the super popular high numbers from 1966 and 1967.

BAA, BAA, BAA...

A long, long time ago, I took a look at the Topps Baseball Achievement Awards.  This was the reward system, still active in some form, that succeeded the more well-known (and so-called) Rookie Banquets that were documented in very collectible programs from 1959-66. These ceremonies were highlighted by the bestowment of the Rookie All Star Awards, as memorialized the following season, where the batter or top hat trophy was added to the winner's cards (except when Topps screwed up). They still hand out the award and put the little loving cup trophy on the card, although I don't know if there's still a banquet anymore.

Topps stopped with the Rookie All Star Team (proper name) programs in 1966 and then sometime thereafter changed the name to the Baseball Achievement Awards (BAA), likely due to the fact they started recognizing a wider circle of people, such as Team Scouts, and more players beyond the Annual Rookie Team winners. It's not clear when this initiated but by the late 1970's this was how the ceremony and associated recognition was handled. I believe it's this period that saw the BAA first have a program made up but can't be exactly sure which year marked the beginning.  I have several 1980's BAA programs in my collection but as we will see, 1978 seems to be the earliest year that can presently be traced. Like so:

You can see some of the various awards that were awarded during the ceremony on the cover, including the Rookie All Star trophy that Topps had been putting on the various winners cards from 1973, when the cup replaced the fancier (and likely more expensive) "top hat" trophy.

You can see the 1978 program was designed as a foldout:

We got your positional winners right here, ten in all.  Sorry for the blurry images, it's all I've got.  I can't really see any HOF level talent in the various Minor League Player -of-the-Month winner; a good chunk of these guys never played in the bigs.  Even Minor League Player of the Year Champ Summers, despite 11 seasons in MLB, had already played for the A's and the Cubbies, won the award as a 32 year old (not a typo) in AAA ball after being sent down by the Reds. He did play until 1984 with a couple good seasons mixed in but overall was undistinguished. His career WAR was 3.0, ouch!

There were ten winners as a lefty and righty pitcher were named, in this case John Johnson and Rich Gale, respectively. Johnson bounced around after his 1978 A's debut and last pitched in the majors for the 1987 Brewers. Gale also bounced to and fro, concluding with Boston in 1984.

The rest of the squad was a mixed bag. Bill Nahorodny had a 1976 cup of coffee in Philly, then another sip in 1977 with the White Sox. Mostly a backup catcher after his award-winning 1978 season, he last played with the Mariners in 1984.  As for Dave Revering at First Base, he started his career strong but after a midseason trade to the Yankees in 1981, flamed out a year later after splitting time in New York, Toronto and Seattle.

The strength of the selections was clearly up the middle in the infield. Paul Molitor at 2B and Ozzie Smith at SS was a HR for sure. Bob Horner at 3B was no slouch either and had a solid career, almost all with the Braves. He was the rare player who never spent a day in the minor leagues and once hit four homers in a single game, so not too bad a selection there.

The outfield was not nearly as talented as the infield. Bob Molinaro had come up with Tigers in 1975, drank coffee for them in '76 and again with the White Sox in '77. His 1978 season was OK but he simply had no power.  He was eventually picked up on waivers by Baltimore but curiously the Chisox grabbed him back off waivers two years later and he finished up where he started, with the Tigers in 1983.    

Rick Bosetti was in 13 games for the Phillies in 1976 and then 41 games for the Cardinals in 1977. His 1978 selection as a Blue Jay stretches the limits of "rookie" if you ask me.  Bosetti's last season was in Oakland, in 1982.  And around in right, we have Hosken Powell, who played six big league seasons  before hanging up his spikes in Toronto in 1983.

All in all, a fairly representative batch of players from the All Star Rookie selection committee.

You can see the the foldout nature of the program more clearly here:

Compared to the superb run of 1959-66 Rookie Banquet programs, the BAA versions were very much lacking in production values.

Topps Topics: Studies in Uncut Sheet Arrays - 1958 to 1960

 

Presenting part two of an ongoing series examining the use of short prints and double prints by Topps in their vintage era; part one can be found HERE. Today Mark Pekrul is looking at the 1958 to 1960 press sheets for the annual Topps Baseball sets. Mark, who posts as “deweyinthehall” on Net54 Baseball  has dug into these along with a couple of other stalwarts over there and worked to reconstruct most of the print arrays for all Topps Baseball series from roughly 1955 to 1970.  This work has essentially been compiled independently of anything I’ve posted previously. Mark maintains a website that covers Topps Baseball sets from 1965 to 1994 in some commendable depth as well,  CLICK HERE to be transported.

As a reminder, from 1957 through 1995, all Topps standard-sized (i.e. 2.5 x 3.5 inches) sets (baseball, football, hockey, basketball and non-sports) were printed on sheets containing two large blocks of cards, 11x12 cards each.  Creating groups of 132 cards each, in many cases this gave us complete set counts which are very recognizable today – 132, 264, 396, 528, 660 and 792.  Some early hockey and football sets, as well as many non-sports sets, had only 66 cards – exactly half of 132.

When we hear the term “uncut sheet” today, we typically think of a roughly 2' x 4' sheet of 132 cards. However, a full standard-sized uncut sheet was twice as large, and included 2 groupings of 132 cards (as above).  The margins were white (even for sets with colored borders, such as 1971 or 1962) and contained various notations including positioning and cutting guides and other errata.  They eventually even featured commodity codes, just like Topps used for cases, boxes and packs.

Down the middle ran a thick white space called the “gutter” – full sheets were sliced down the gutter before each half-sheet, or ‘slit’, was then fed into a cutter. 

Each slit contained 12 rows of 11 cards.   For ease of reference, we can label the rows A-L and columns 1-11. Any card position can then be designated as A-1 (far upper left), L-11 (bottom right), and so forth, as shown below.

             SLIT A                                                                      SLIT B

And away we go…

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1958 Topps Baseball – 494 Total Cards in Set

Series 1: 1-110, 110 different cards

1958 was the first of many times a set’s first series would contain 110 cards.  To accommodate 10 different rows of 11 cards on a 24 row full sheet, it was necessary for each row to appear twice and for either one of those rows to appear four additional times, two to appear two additional times, or four to appear one additional time.  

In later years, for which we have images of 110-card sheets, we know it was the rule that four rows would appear one additional time each.  While we have no images of 1958’s series one sheets and reconstructions have yet to be made, we do have several partial sheet images.  This permits us to identify with a high degree of certainty that two of the four over-printed rows, in which each card will appear in quantities 50% greater than the other series 1 cards, are arranged thusly, as per the head card in each:

Don Drysdale (25)

Jim Landis (108)

Don Mossi (35)

Del Ennis (60)

Billy Hoeft (13)

Bobby Richardson (101)

Hank Aaron (30)

Tim Thompson (57)

Duke Snider (88)

Early Wynn (100)

Willie Mays (5)

 

and

Jim Rivera (11)

Von McDaniel (65)

Giants Team Card (19)

Bob Lemon (2)

Billy Hunter (98)

Al Kaline (70)

Cal Neeman (33)

Billy Pierce (50)

Don Zimmer (77)

Gil McDougald (20)

Morrie Martin (53)

 More research is needed to identify which other two rows were overprinted.

Series 2: 111-198, 87 different cards.  What should have been the 88^th card, #145, Ed Bouchee, was never issued due to, um…legal problems he encountered in January, 1958.  Card #115, Jim Bunning took #145’s place on the series 2 press sheet, in addition to its own, and was printed in double the quantities of the other series 2 cards. 

Series 3: 199-286, 88 different cards

Series 4: 287-374, 88 different cards

Series 5: 375-440, 66 different cards

Series 5 was arranged in the 66-card pattern, and each slit was identical.  Here is an image of slit B, which also shows column 11 from slit A, with the gutter in between:

                                       

Series 6: 441-495, 55 different cards

As it is a 55-card series, one of the five rows had to have been printed only three times, to the other four rows’ four times each.  While we have images of each series 6 row, they are all disembodied from sheets or slits, and we do not have enough information to know which row of 11 cards was short-printed.

The series 5 press sheets do contain a curiosity, however.

Here are two rows – anything seem unusual?

 

                                                                                            

Notice how the All Star cards of Stan Musial (476) and Mickey Mantle (487) appear three times each on the same row.   Musial was a key last minute signing by Topps and we can only surmise that they wanted to provide kids with a greater chance of obtaining cards of two of the most popular stars of the day by making each of these cards available in greater quantities than the other series 6 cards. 

While no images exist, we know that for some of its total print run series 6 included only the usual one of each per row, and that the four other spaces were taken up in one row by Carroll Hardy (446) and Preston Ward (450) and in the other by Billy Harrell (443) and Gary Geiger (462).   So, these four are seemingly available in lesser quantities than other series 6 cards and possibly in far lesser quantities than the Mantle and Musial All Stars.

 

1959 Topps Baseball – 572 Total Cards in Set

Series 1: 1-110, 110 different cards

As with all other 110-card series, we know that 44 of these cards were over-printed by 1/2, but we have no images or reconstructions to allow us to know which specific cards these were.

 

Series 2: 111-198, 88 different cards

Series 3: 199-286, 88 different cards

Series 4: 287-374, 88 different cards

Series 5: 375-440, 66 different cards

Series 6: 441-506, 66 different cards

Series 7: 507-572, 66 different cards

Series 2-4 were arranged in the 88-card pattern, and those in series 5-7 in the 66-card pattern.

1959 was Topps’ largest set yet.  They increased from 1958 by nearly 100 cards, and added a 7^th series.  Topps sets would include seven series from here through 1970.

 

1960 Topps Baseball – 572 Total Cards in Set

Series 1: 1-110, 110 different cards

Series 2: 111-198, 88 different cards

Series 3: 199-286, 88 different cards

Series 4: 287-374, 88 different cards

Series 5: 375-440, 88 different cards

Series 6: 441-506, 66 different cards

Series 7: 507-572, 66 different cards

The 1960 set was constructed in exactly the same manner as the 1959 set.  Again, because we lack imagery from series 1, we cannot tell with certainty which 44 cards were over-printed and exist in quantities 50% greater than the other 66.

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Stay tuned, it get really interesting as we approach the expansion era.

 

World Baseball Classics

Well two more "1960" Venezuelan Topps Tattoos have surfaced recently and both are true heavy hitters. I'll go in alphabetical order, kicking off with Hank Aaron, courtesy of Friend o'the Archive Josh Alpert:

Also appearing in the US set, the Aaron popped up in a new batch of tats, a mere handful from what I know of it, which also included a third example of the Mantle (that has the same handwritten defacement).

However, the second part of the story is who was also unearthed, again courtesy of Mr. Alpert:

Say hey!  The handwritten names are unfortunate (and point to a single-owner collection) but this brings us closer, hopefully, to determining the full checklist. Presently, this now stands at a possible 35 subjects (16 from the U.S. set, 10 Venezuelan only including the sliver of what must be Versalles, and 9 possible Venezuelan's), assuming all the likely "Guernsey" examples will show up some day: 15/11/10

Hank Aaron

Bob Allison
Ruben Amaro (Venezuelan only)
Luis Arroyo (Venezuelan only)
Bob Clemente (Venezuelan only)
Rocky Colavito
Don Drysdale
Nellie Fox
Tony Gonzales (Venezuelan only)
Dick Groat
Glen Hobbie
Harmon Killebrew
Juan Marichal  (Venezuelan only)
Frank Lary
Vernon Law
Mickey Mantle
Ed Mathews

Willie Mays

Stan Musial
Juan Pizzaro (Venezuelan only)
Vic Power (Venezuelan only)
Pedro Ramos (Venezuelan only)
Tony Taylor (Venezuelan only)
Zoilo Versalles (Venezuelan only) inferred from a miscut sliver, not confirmed but it's somebody with a "Z" given name
Gene Woodling
Early Wynn

The possible Guernsey's subjects remain at 9:

Matty Alou
Luis Aparicio (previously surmised as a possible subject)
Chico Fernandez
Felipe Alou
"Clio" (Elio) Chacon
Felix Mantilla
O. "Cepida" the redrawn Baby Bull
Jose Pagan
Chico Cardenas

We may only be 13 subjects away from the complete list as it's possible, given the likely divisors of 8 and 24, that eight US and four Venezuelans subjects remain to get to 48. There could be more subjects than that, of course but right now 48 looks like a good number.

D'oh! Update 4/3/26: Rick Lyons alerted me I had the U.S. Cepeda in the confirmed list-that was a typo.  I've corrected various counts above to reflect this. Sorry folks!

Topps Topics: Studies in Uncut Sheet Arrays - Introduction and 1957

The use of short prints and double prints by Topps in their vintage era has always sparked interest from collectors.  Today will be the start of a series by Mark Pekrul looking at the 1957 to 1981 press sheets for the annual Topps Baseball sets. These have been studied here, sometimes in deep detail, sometimes not, by examining known uncut sheets, or portions of them, but never in this specific way. Mark, who posts as “deweyinthehall” on Net54 Baseball  has dug into these along with a couple of other stalwarts over there and worked to reconstruct most of the print arrays for all Topps Baseball series from roughly 1955 to 1970.  This work has essentially been compiled independently of anything I’ve posted previously. Here we go…

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As I began collecting baseball cards in 1978, it struck me that while 726 seemed like a nice, sensible amount of cards to be contained in a single set, 725 might have seemed even more sensible.  As the years went by, and I learned that older sets contained differing numbers of cards, I began to get confused – who decided on 787?  They couldn’t scrape up another thirteen players and call it 800?  598, 609 – couldn’t they have (more or less) split the difference and just made it 600? 

A short time later, I learned about short-prints and double-prints.  What sort of quality control did Topps have?  How could some cards be printed in greater or lesser quantities than others?  Was anyone fired because of this?

It was only years later that I discovered the reason behind all this: the press sheets. 

From 1957 through 1995, all Topps standard-sized (i.e. 2.5 x 3.5 inches) sets (baseball, football, hockey, basketball and non-sports) were printed on sheets containing two large blocks of cards, 11x12 cards each.  Creating groups of 132 cards each, in many cases this gave us complete set counts which are very recognizable today – 132, 264, 396, 528, 660 and 792.  Some early hockey and football sets, as well as many non-sports sets, had only 66 cards – exactly half of 132.

By focusing on Baseball we can explore how the way press sheets were arranged came to define how many cards were in a set (and even in each series within a set) and why short- and double-prints became an unfortunate necessity.  This series will focus on the years 1957-1981, using 1981 more or less as an endpoint for reasons which will be explained.  Finally, we will discuss the efforts of some to recreate how older sheets were arranged to help answer questions which linger to this day.

When we hear the term “uncut sheet” today, we typically think of a roughly 2' x 4' sheet of 132 cards. However, a full standard-sized uncut sheet was twice as large, and included 2 groupings of 132 cards (as above).  The margins were white (even for sets with colored borders, such as 1971 or 1962) and contained various notations including positioning and cutting guides and other errata.  They eventually even featured commodity codes, just like Topps used for cases, boxes and packs.

Down the middle ran a thick white space called the “gutter” – full sheets were sliced down the gutter before each half-sheet, or ‘slit’, was then fed into a cutter. 

Each slit contained 12 rows of 11 cards.   For ease of reference, we can label the rows A-L and columns 1-11. Any card position can then be designated as A-1 (far upper left), L-11 (bottom right), and so forth.

             SLIT A                                                                      SLIT B

In many cases, we have examples of even very old full- and half-sheets where we can see exactly how cards from any given series or set were arranged.  In other cases, no images exist, but careful review of miscuts, where portions of adjoining cards can be seen, can help us reconstruct what the press sheets looked like with close to 100% accuracy.

With very few exceptions, cards in any given row are fixed.  In other words, if one row of a particular set or series contained 11 known cards left to right, those cards would always appear in those positions on every sheet from which they were cut.  As we will see, the arrangement of those rows vertically often changed based on the total number of cards in the set or series.  Therefore, it is possible to find two miscuts of the same card, each featuring a different card above or beneath.

Even so, for many years, series with both 88 and 66 cards were always arranged in the same fashion. 

88-card series always featured a row pattern ensuring each card appeared three times across a full sheet (the “88-card pattern”):

Slit A: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, A, B, C, D

Slit B: E, F, G, H, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

66-card series always featured a row pattern which ensured each card appeared four times (the “66-card pattern”):

Slit A: A, B, C, D, E, F, A, B, C, D, E, F

Slit B: A, B, C, D, E, F, A, B, C, D, E, F

Now that we’ve discussed the general lay-out of Topps sheets, let’s take a look at each set to see how it all played out in practice, why sets had the number of cards they did, and why certain cards wound up in greater or lesser abundance than others.

NOTE: The “library” of actual sheet and slit images is very spotty until the late 1960s.  What follows will occasionally reference “images”, which means we have an actual image, or “reconstructions”, which means we have pieced together what the sheet or slit looked like by examining partial half-sheets, miscut cards and card counts at sites like eBay.   An ongoing effort to reconstruct what vintage sheets and slits looked like can be observed here: Net54 Baseball 1955-1970 Topps Virtual Sheets, and help is always welcome.  

1957 Topps Baseball – 407 Total Cards in Set

Series 1: 1-88, 88 different cards

Series 2: 89-176, 88 different cards

Series 3: 177-264, 88 different cards

Series 4: 265-352, 88 different cards

Series 5: 353-407, 55 different cards

Why only 88 cards for those first four series?  Throughout the years, Topps often kept their series at less than the maximum 132 cards permitted by their printing arrangement.  With only 16 clubs, 25 cards per team would place the set at 400 cards. They also wanted to ensure they had enough series “flow” to keep kids coming back and buying new cards all throughout the year. 

Series 1-4 were arranged in the typical 88-card series fashion outlined above as revealed on these series 2 slit images.  The cards in rows A-D and I-L on one slit appear in rows E-H on the other.

            

Then there’s series 5, with only 55 cards.  As they would until 1972, late and particularly final series always contained fewer cards than earlier series.  Again, it was a marketing decision.  These series would debut late in the baseball season, when interest was waning as kids turned their attention to football and other things.

So, a series 5 full sheet in 1957 would run:

Slit A: Rows A, B, C, D, E, A, B, C, D, E, A, B

Slit B: Rows B, C, D, E, A, D, E, A, B, C, D, E

55 different cards creates only 5 different rows.  With 24 total rows in a full sheet, this means one row had to be printed one time less than the others.  In series 5, this was row C, which appears 4 times when all the others appear 5 times.  Therefore, the 11 cards in row C appear 1/5 less than the cards in the other rows, creating a situation where these 11 cards are short-printed. 

The series 5 full sheet has been reconstructed, revealing the following pattern:

According to the work done at Net54, it is a near certainty that the cards which are SPs, row C, are (left to right):

391 Ralph Terry

365 Ossie Virgil

375 Jim Landis

390 Reno Bertoia

357 Earl Torgesen

405 Duke Maas

403 Dick Hyde

362 Roman Mejias

398 Al Cicotte

407 Yankees Power Hitters

406 Bob Hale

When we continue, Mark will examine the 1958-1960 sheets. In the meantime, he maintains a website that covers Topps Baseball sets from 1965 to 1994 in some commendable depth.  CLICK HERE to be transported!