Taking Stock

Well, we're on our to the next 1,000 posts here kids!  Recently I acquired a batch of hobby publications that included some issues of the annual Card Collectors Company  Price List that I was lacking. Eighty or Ninety percent or so of each catalog would regurgitate the last version, some newer stuff would work its way in and a rotation of certain other things would be offered.  Occasionally though, some interesting overstock would be offered.  Take a look at the January 15, 1971 list:

I don't have the 1970 edition yet so I can't tell if 1969 Topps Super Baseball was offered but I suspect it was as there was an alleged massive overstock and barrage of returns on the item.  Later, a large chunk of whatever CCC held of this release was famously burned up or singed in their 1975 warehouse fire and realistically, the "rarity" of the set and 1970's larger version was being overstated here.  And dig these Berk-Ross prices (that's their 1951 set) compared to the 1969 Supers-there's been a massive reversal of fortune and interest there, eh?

The January 15, 1972 Price List saw a massive expansion of these "miscellaneous issues" and tellingly there are no 1971 Supers offered, while 1969 and 1970 remain in stock despite their "rarity": 

The Bazooka cards would pop up in these lists occasionally, likely as Woody Gelman or Topps uncovered more somewhere in their respectively vast inventories. Too, it's worth noting they ran regular ads in the Sporting News, Boys Life and some hobby publications like The Trader Speaks, where they would offer various, newly-uncovered goodies, especially in the latter, which once offered the three pulled-from-production 1951 Topps Major League All Stars at auction.  

Back to 1972, there are some scarcer offerings here, namely in the upper right corner.  There you get both 33 Sticker sets of the Red Sox and Pirates for under three bucks combined-certainly indicating the test of these failed.  Those 1967 Pin-Ups would be offered for years, it's kind of curious why there was so much overstock on those as you would think Topps would know hoe many were needed to insert in the packs. But take a gander at the 1969 Mini Baseball Stickers, which are a tough issue to find nowadays. I'll take all you have at $3 a throw please! Ringside at that price, even for random lots of 60, were also a good deal at four bucks.

The rest of the offerings are older inserts that mirror the 1967 Pin-Ups and beg the question of why there was so much overstock available.  One interesting offering though, are the 1968 Game cards (Batter-Up), which may be the boxed set version (and may be why so many have the retail price blotted out on the box).

The January 15, 1973 Price List (the latest one I currently have) was offering items that are still tough today. A full set of 1971 Topps Greatest Moments for $19.95 was a steal even then due to the 22 short prints within. And 1964 Topps Stand-Ups at six bucks for the set?  What a deal! The 1967 and 1969 Stickers were still available and Ringside was right-sized to a lot of 25 for the same price as a year earlier.

As for those 1956 Baseball Buttons (not sure what the coins are from that year, maybe they had the pins removed?), Sam Rosen (Woody Gelman's Step-Father, who ran the proto-CCC), had ya covered back in the day (1958 actually):

What's old was new again.....

Wouldn't It Be Nice

Some more white wax test packs and wrappers today kids!  I'm really just scratching the surface but dig the look of these.

Captain Nice debuted and was cancelled by NBC, all in 1967.  Created by Buck Henry (Get Smart), the show, which always struck me as having a certain Don Martin-esque inspiration, never gained traction with viewers despite a pretty good cast (William Daniels, Amy Prentiss, Alice Ghostley).  A mid-season replacement show, fifteen episodes came and went in the span of four months, in a time slot that competed with The Lucy Show.  Topps tested a 30 card set based upon the show and it seems possible they just pulled the plug when it was clear it would not be renewed.  It's a tough test issue as such things go; I can't even find an unopened pack scan, just a wrapper:

Note how translucent the wrapper is, especially when you look at the left panel where the ingredients label is affixed. I suspect Topps could have burned off excess stock of these cards in 1967's Hallowe'en Fun Packs given the relative lack of wrappers out there.  Black and white images probably didn't help matters:

There was a little comic strip on the reverse that's far more colorful than the obverse's subject matter:

Speaking comic strip reverses, Topps tested a set of 55 cards in 1968 based upon the Irwin Allen TV series Land of the Giants.  I've covered these before but today's theme begs a repeat of sorts:

As noted above, the white test wrappers were fairly translucent, nicely evidenced here on the reverse of the pack (which is missing the ingredients label, a fairly common occurrence on surviving test pack examples of any flavor):

The cards were just as ridiculous as the show, where the premise was seven passengers on a commuter spaceship called the "Spindrift" went awry and crashed in a land of, well, giants with a decided mean streak:

The show was designed with all sorts of size-related gimmicks taking center stage. The first 44 cards had a comic strip on the reverse, just like Captain Nice:

All the online and print set checklists I can find indicate the next ten cards had a puzzle back and the final card had a checklist, possibly just of the comic strip backs but I've never seen any of those that I can recall; it's another really-hard-to-find test issue for sure. PSA pop reports don't indicate the last 11 cards are more difficult but it's kinda weird as the highest count of any card in the set over there is 10.  I wonder why LOTG got a 55 card tryout vs. only 30 for Captain Nice?  Perhaps there were licensing issues for certain actors in the latter?

The show and set were not a big hit here - it did better than Captain Nice though, lasting two full seasons from 1968-70 -  but A&BC released the series in the UK as a regular issue. The US test cards are scarce and have indicia with a USA printing notation.  The UK indicia references A&BC and are slightly smaller in size.

A year later, 1969 brought Baseball Mini Stickers, 25 in number with four stickers per card yielding 100 subjects.  These are hotly pursued by collectors today and while there are about five times as many overall compared to Land of the Giants, they are tough:

The random selection of stickers, which replicated the regular issue cards, could be bizarre:

More often than not, these are referred to as 4 on 1 Stickers and I've covered these extensively here. I think they look great but it seems they didn't test well.  Go figure...

1969 Is Fine - Part Two

Following last weeks' peek at the 1969 Decals,  today I'll be looking at the 1969 Topps Baseball Mini Stickers, more commonly known as 4 on 1 Stickers. 

Topps was pretty big on putting a "quad" of stickers on a card back in the 60's and early 70's, especially on the non-sports side. For some reason they decided to test a baseball themed mini sticker set in 1969, taking images from the 2nd series press sheet used for the regular issue. Perhaps Woody Gelman just liked the card design for '69! As an aside, the Football stamp stickers Topps issued in 1969, which had to be moistened to put into a mini album, are referred to as 4 in 1 Stickers. This makes me think it was more expensive to use true sticker stock but I digress....

In addition to the old standby of capless photos, Topps really broke out the airbrush in '69.  Kosco had come over to the Dodgers from the Yankees and Ollie Brown was, of course, selected in the expansion draft by the Padres (from the Giants) and had the honor of being the first player selected in MLB's third such crapshoot. Jim Bunning came over after the 1967 season from the Phillies to the Pirates and given his Philly duds, I would say Topps just didn't have a current picture of him. 

As Friend o'the Archive Keith Olbermann recently pointed out to me, Topps was facing a Major League Baseball Players Association boycott in 1967-68 and only a handful of new pictures were taken during that time.  Dexter Press and few other issuers tried to take advantage of this interregnum but the MLBPA worked out their differences with Topps after increased royalties were obtained for the players. They did start taking a lot of new photos in spring training in 1969 as a lot of tired old shots had been rehashed ad nauseum over the previous years.

Ron Reed was happily ensconced in Atlanta at the time, although he had been a player with the Detroit Pistons in the NBA  a couple of years prior. In addition to being one of a dozen MLB players who also played in the NBA/NBL, he played alongside former White Sox pitcher Dave DeBusschere while in Detroit and, in fact, was also coached by Double D, who was Pistons head coach from 1964-67!  In addition to dying on my 15th wedding anniversary, DeBusschere was also having a drink with an acquaintance of mine on the day he passed.  Anyhoo...

Topps indicia adorns the lower right card sticker of each quad, so 25 of these babies have such markings. The back is just a shade off true white:

Looks like the horizontal score line had a bit more oomph behind it during manufacture as you can't see the vertical companion.

I'll get into the teams and composition of the set momentarily, but one interesting variation from the regular issue Baseball set surfaces and gives us a window into the production timeline.

Clayton Dalrymple, shown with the Phillies in this set, while he has a team variation in the main set, having been traded from the Phillies to the Orioles on January 20, 1969. Here's the progression:

So at what point did Topps make him an Oriole?  We saw last time out that the Decals were composed sometime between 12/12/68 and 1/22/69 and the Mini Stickers fall into the same rough time frame. Once again Donn Clendenon helps with the dating. Remember he went through a crazy period where, as Wikipedia tells us:

"With first base prospect Al Oliver waiting in the wings, the Pirates left Clendenon unprotected for the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft, and he was selected by the Montreal Expos. On January 22, 1969, the Expos traded Clendenon and Jesús Alou to the Houston Astros for Rusty Staub. The Astros had recently hired Clendenon's former Pirates manager, Harry Walker, with whom Clendenon had a personality clash, to steer their club. Clendenon refused to report to his new team.

The Expos and Astros worked out a new deal, and Clendenon joined the Expos on April 19, 1969."

He's an Expo in the 4 on 1's It's easy to pinpoint the bookend dates for the Mini Stickers then. They couldn't have been approved for final design before October 14, 1968 (the day Clendenon was selected by the Expos from Pittsburgh) or after January 20, 1969 when Clay Dalrymple became an Oriole. Clendenon's regular issue card with the Expos shown also goes for about ten times the Houston version, while Dalrymple has many more Orioles cards available so the first regular issue print run was altered and subsequent runs had the majority of both player's cards with their new teams. I think it's good bet then that the Mini Stickers were printed just after the first run of the second series was composed.

A color process proof of the Mini Stickers exists and was auctioned for a song by REA a little while back:

These were taken from the "A" sheet, or left side of a 264 master uncut series 2 sheet, as iPhoned by Friend o'the Archive Anthony Nex; Clendenon as an Expo is third card in on rows 1 and 9, while Dalrymple is eight cards over on the 6th row:

You can clearly see how the top two rows of the regular press sheet are double printed and reappear near the bottom.  The rightmost column was excised for the Mini Stickers, which saved Topps from having checklists appear in the set but truncated the World Series subset by one subject in sticker form.  In fact, where else can you find a checklist of the cards NOT replicated as stickers?  Witness:

107  2nd Series Checklist

155  Pete Ward (White Sox)

167  World Series Game 6

172  Jerry Stephenson (Red Sox)

182  Bill Rigney (Angels)

183  Don Shaw (Expos)

211  Galen Cisco (Royals)

212  Tom Tresh (Yankees)

214  3rd Series Checklist

217  John Donaldson (Athletics)

Here's the "B" Sheet, from an old Huggins & Scott auction:

You can see how Topps sliced and diced the rows when compared to the "A" sheet.  That's how they rolled back then! If you count from the top down, the 8th and 9th rows, which are replicated as the 11th and 12th rows, are all extra prints, appearing three times over the two half sheets.

As with the 1969 Decals, I'll give you a checklist ordered by team.  Note all the of the designated rookie cards have two players apiece but I've shown each player individually:

LAST		FIRST		TEAM		REG #
REICHARDT		RICK		ANGELS		205
RODGERS		BOB		ANGELS		157
WEAVER		JIM		ANGELS		134
BAUER		HANK		ATHLETICS		124
NOSSEK		JOE		ATHLETICS		143
ODOM		JOHN		ATHLETICS		195
AARON		TOMMIE		BRAVES		128
BRITTON		JIM		BRAVES		154
HARRIS		LUMAN		BRAVES		196
MILLAN		FELIX		BRAVES		210
REED		RON		BRAVES		177
GIBSON		BOB		CARDINALS		200
HUNTZ		STEVE		CARDINALS		136
NELSON		MEL		CARDINALS		181
PINSON		VADA		CARDINALS		160
SHANNON		MIKE		CARDINALS		110
TORREZ		MIKE		CARDINALS		136
BECKERT		GLENN		CUBS		171
DUROCHER		LEO		CUBS		147
HANDS		BILL		CUBS		115
SMITH		WILLIE		CUBS		198
FAIRLY		RON		DODGERS		122
KOSCO		ANDY		DODGERS		139
LEFEBVRE		JIM		DODGERS		140
PURDIN		JOHN		DODGERS		161
SUTTON		DON		DODGERS		216
BATEMAN		JOHN		EXPOS		138
CLENDENON		DONN		EXPOS		208
FAIREY		JIM		EXPOS		117
GIBBON		JOE		GIANTS		158
HIATT		JACK		GIANTS		204
MAYS		WILLIE		GIANTS		190
SADECKI		RAY		GIANTS		125
EDWARDS		JOHNNY		HOUSTON		186
GILSON		HAL		HOUSTON		156
McFADDEN		LEON		HOUSTON		156
RADER		DOUG		HOUSTON		119
WILSON		DON		HOUSTON		202
ALVIS		MAX		INDIANS		145
AZCUE		JOE		INDIANS		176
SNYDER		RUSS		INDIANS		201
WILLIAMS		STAN		INDIANS		118
CARDWELL		DON		METS		193
COLLINS		KEVIN		METS		127
HENDLEY		BOB		METS		144
MARTIN		J.C.		METS		112
DILLMAN		BILL		ORIOLES		141
JOHNSON		DAVEY		ORIOLES		203
MAY		DAVE		ORIOLES		113
PHOEBUS		TOM		ORIOLES		185
BROWN		OLLIE		PADRES		149
McCOOL		BILL		PADRES		129
PENA		ROBERTO		PADRES		184
SELMA		DICK		PADRES		197
CALLISON		JOHNNY		PHILLIES		133
DALRYMPLE		CLAY		PHILLIES		151
HISLE		LARRY		PHILLIES		206
JACKSON		GRANT		PHILLIES		174
LERSCH		BARRY		PHILLIES		206
WISE		RICK		PHILLIES		188
DAVIS		TOMMY		PILOTS		135
HANEY		LARRY		PILOTS		209
MORRIS		JOHNNY		PILOTS		111
OYLER		RAY		PILOTS		178
BUNNING		JIM		PIRATES		175
CANNIZZARO		CHRIS		PIRATES		131
PAGAN		JOSE		PIRATES		192
SISK		TOMMIE		PIRATES		152
LAHOUD		JOE		RED SOX		189
PETROCELLI		RICO		RED SOX		215
STANGE		LEE		RED SOX		148
THIBDEAU		JOHN		RED SOX		189
YASTRZEMSKI		CARL		RED SOX		130
ARRIGO		GERRY		REDS		213
ROSE		PETE		REDS		120
WAGNER		LEON		REDS		187
WOODWARD		WOODY		REDS		142
ADAIR		JERRY		ROYALS		159
BUNKER		WALLY		ROYALS		137
HARRISON		CHUCK		ROYALS		116
BALDWIN		DAVE		SENATORS		132
BRINKMAN		ED		SENATORS		153
FRENCH		JIM		SENATORS		199
HOWARD		FRANK		SENATORS		170
WORLD SERIES		GAME 4		SPECIAL-WS		165
WORLD SERIES		GAME 3		SPECIAL-WS		164
WORLD SERIES		GAME 7		SPECIAL-WS		168
WORLD SERIES		GAME 2		SPECIAL-WS		163
WORLD SERIES		GAME 1		SPECIAL-WS		162
WORLD SERIES		SUMMARY		SPECIAL-WS		169
WORLD SERIES		GAME 5		SPECIAL-WS		166
FACE		ROY		TIGERS		207
HORTON		WILLIE		TIGERS		180
McLAIN		DENNY		TIGERS		150
TRACEWSKI		DICK		TIGERS		126
GRZENDA		JOE		TWINS		121
PERRY		JIM		TWINS		146
ROSEBORO		JOHN		TWINS		218
UHLAENDER		TED		TWINS		194
CHRISTIAN		BOB		WHITE SOX		173
NYMAN		GERRY		WHITE SOX		173
PAVLETICH		DON		WHITE SOX		179
WOOD		WILBUR		WHITE SOX		123
CLOSTER		ALAN		YANKEES		114
CUMBERLAND		JOHN		YANKEES		114
McDANIEL		LINDY		YANKEES		191

EDIT 4/17/16: A further tip of the cap to Keith Olbermann, who pointed put the first version of this post had Dalrymple shown with the wrong team on the Mini Stickers. His catch has helped tighten up this post considerably.