Check All Of The Above - The Theory of Checklist Relativity Part 1

Back to the subject of Checklists today campers, specifically from 1958, the year major league baseball became bi-coastal and the Topps cards really started to show their colors. It also marks the beginning of what I call the Theory of Checklist Relativity, or TCR for short.

As we know, Topps started printing cards on 132 card half sheets in 1957. These were always arrayed in 12 rows of 11 cards each. You would think this would lead to nice, even 132 card series but it never, ever did in the baseball sets. Without looking at an uncut sheet it would be hard, if not impossible to see which cards were printed with each other. However, thanks to the way Topps printed their checklists we have a window to peer through.

I managed to track down my tearsheet from the January 22, 1999 issue of Sports Collectors Digest which detailed Mr.Mint's October 1998 "Philly" find of about 200 uncut sheets (mostly partials but some 132 card half sheets were found) from the second series of 1957 baseball cards. If you remember or saved that issue, just beware that the sheets shown on the cover were reconstructed as virtually all sheets from the find were damaged, some quite heavily.

We can see how both halves of the full 264 card sheet when reconstructed yield three copies of each card, in what I call an A B A / B A B pattern, with each letter representing a distinct group of 4 rows of 11 cards. This is one half sheet (Mantle is rightmost in the second and tenth rows, so he appears in the A grouping):



So the pattern is A B A. Here is the other half sheet sheet with Mantle rightmost in the sixth row, with a B A B array. You can see how the A B A / B A B pattern works when comparing the two:



There was a closeup detail or description of about a dozen cards which show they ran from numbers 90 to 170 so I feel safe in saying the 88 cards from the second series were all printed together and that the first four series in 1957 were 88 cards each, which exactly matches the checklists. The fifth and final series of 55 therefore also checks out using this reasoning.

I am not certain if Topps co-mingled series in 1957. I suspect they may have but don't have access to unopened pack runs. It does seem certain that they were seeing if the checklists would be a good way to advertise the next upcoming series.

In 1958 they did something different and started a trend that would continue through 1972, occasionally refined, where the series runs didn't match what was on the uncut sheets. In addition, the team card backs became home to player checklists which continued through 1960.

The information on the 1958 checklists in the major price guides gives us the following series runs and totals:

Series 1: 1-110 (110 cards)
Series 2: 111-198 (88 cards-#145 Bouchee pulled so an extra print of someone added)
Series 3: 199-286 (88 cards)
Series 4: 287-374 (88 cards)
Series 5: 375-440 (66 cards)
Series 6: 441-495 (55 cards)

The checklists tell a different story though, revealing five 88 card series on the backs of the team cards:





Those show numbers 177-264 belonging to series three and a look at all five confirm that the first five checklists had 88 cards listed on them. This is why I call it the Theory of Checklist Relativity; they are showing series that are different relative to the uncut sheets or what is shown in the major price guides.

What does it all mean? Well, I'm going to be a tease and put that part of the discussion off until my next post, which will delve into the '58 uncut sheets and their assorted mysteries. Not gonna leave you totally hanging though, let's look at series "6" before we go.

The four team cards that appear after #440 (Redlegs, Orioles, Braves, Tigers) come two ways as you can find a numerical checklist or an innovative alphabetical one:

The alphabetical cards that showed the numbers of your favorite players spread out over four cards so you could track them down:



They only go up to #440 though, or exactly five runs of 88 cards each. As you can see on this numerical checklist back, something was afoot in the sixth series:



So, where oh where is the checklist for the Sport Magazine All Stars? Why on the back of the All Star Managers card,of course!





That is from checkoutmycards.com kids, the only site I could find with a back scan.

Those all star cards are one of the reasons I am holding off the rest of this discussion until next time. See you soon!

Darth of Information

Well, Chris Stufflestreet has come through again. Our man of the hour last time out has been able to track down scans of the 1980 Empire Strikes Back Collecting Box. You will recall this was previously featured as part of a Topps Presentation Board for this set.

A classic Darth Vader image adorns the box front:




C3PO gets the reverse:



What, no love for R2D2?

Here is the box assembled:



Chris actually bought one of these at retail at the time of issue in 1980 and recalled they only held 50 cards or so. These may not be scarce but you don't see too many out in the world these days. 1980 was when Topps was trying different packaging combinations in earnest that included a "kicker" that included things like this box. The 1980 Baseball Scratch Off Game is another example of this.

The Star Wars Series was a huge smash for Topps in 1977 and TESB followed suit three years later. Stay tuned for a look at another stellar set featuring the 1980 movie soon.

Can You Tell Me How To Get To Stufflestreet?

Trick question as I already know the answer.

One of my old online buddies, Chris Stufflestreet, has started a new blog (his fourth!) called Vintage Sportscards. Chris has been writing about cards for a good while now and had an online newsletter that ran close to 60 issues before he shut it down. Unlike your blogmeister, Chris touches on way more then Topps cards. Click the link, you'll see!

Chris has also made some comments on recent posts here and rather than make you dig them out I'll just linky-dink them within his comments.

In Back In Black, I showed a Topps Presentation Board covering an Empire Strikes Back mockup with a collectors box. Well, Chris actually bought one of the darn things and had this to say about it:

"There was a collectors' file box included with some early releases of ESB Series 1 product. Though 30 years' worth of intervening time has made things a little hazy, my first purchase of those cards was something like a cello/rack pack and a little red box with Darth Vader's image (like the one on the Series 1 checklist card) was included with it. I think the box only held maybe 50 cards. I remember thinking it was useless to have a box that couldn't hold the complete series."

I have to confess I had never realized the box was an issued product, although as we get closer to the 1976-1980 my attention span tends to shrink.

Concerning my Berger Boss post Chris has shared this about the 1977 Lou Piniella card:

"From "The Bronx Zoo" by Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock (1979), page 133:

(dated June 19, 1978)

"Steinbrenner was really pissed after the game...George loves Lou and hates it when he doesn't play. Lou is also George's son's idol. Last year when Burger King put out a set of baseball cards with the pictures of the Yankee players on them, they forgot to include Piniella, and Geroge called them up, reamed their ass, and made them print a special Piniella card to add to the set." "

And finally, Chris proves that a good pair of eyes beats a bad pair any day, when he pointed out the 1948 Magic Photo card of Connie Mack discussed in Presto! did indeed display his name on the front.

"The letters are certainly present in Mack's card...look at his legs and you'll see parts of the letters "C" and "A." "

Sure enough, Chris is right; I'm just too contrast-challenged to have seen it. So much like a politician on the wrong side of the polling, I'll go negative to show you what I mean:



It's even more noticeable on this close-up neg:



Well, two mysteries solved and an amplification of a loud Steinbrenner nugget; not a bad day Chris!

Bigger, Longer, Uncut

I have received a couple requests to show some more uncut sheets here and with time scarce at the Archive (indeed, as it is every spring) I am more than happy to oblige. Today will bring a look at the "big boys", the 1952-56 baseball sets.

I previously showed a 1948 Magic Photos sheet here and have not ever seen uncut Blue Back or Red Back sheets from 1951, although the uber-scarce Major League All Stars exist in partially uncut form and there is evidence the Connie Mack All Stars and Team Cards were printed together and shown in older posts here so will start off with a 1952 quadrant (not mine, probably from an auction as the only uncut sheet I own is from 1982):



Note there is a double printed row (1 and 3 are the same). There are 80 cards in the first series in '52, where this sheet came from, so another DP row would be in there somewhere. But, as we know from last time it is far more likely two different sheets were composed. No full '52 sheets are known.

Here is a smaller '52 panel:



Strips of 1953's are famously known and some reconstructed sheets are presented here for your consideration:





You can see the two sheets are arrayed differently. There is a lot more on the printing of the 1952 and 1953 sheets here (just click on THE LIBRARY and you will see George Vrechek's Closer Look at these).

Full 100 card 1954 half sheets are known, although I do not have a color scan but sometimes black and white just seems right:


( from Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide, 3rd ed.)

Here are a couple of partials, shown previously: and which match the bottom five rows of the bigger sheet:



The 100 card sheet has a gap in the numbering of the cards printed upon it. #126-150 and #176-250 are displayed and I have to think #51-125 and the #151-175 are on the other half sheet as #1-50 were almost certainly the entirety of the first series that year. This means Topps either intentionally left a gap or printed (and sold) both runs together. I don't think there is any way around it but after the shenanigans they pulled a year prior, I would love to see the other sheet. Given the lackluster Bowman cards in '54, Topps looks to have altered what would likely have been a four or five series set to stimulate sales.

After 1954 we move from 100 card half sheets to 110 cards as Topps increased their printing capabilities. Full 1955 sheets are known but I do not have a good scan at the moment, although I thought I did. Here is a '55 partial:



Very colorful cards!

We conclude our golden age journey with a 1956 sheet:



It looks like two columns (rightmost) are double prints but they are really rows if you reorient the sheet.

I'll pick up with a look at the the "tween era" sheets next time out.

Cut Up

I talk a lot about uncut sheets here but never really show any. That will change today, with a short object lesson.

My fascination with uncut sheets began about 25 years ago when I reconstructed, using a grainy b&w photo from one of the numerous hobby papers at the time and my trusty Sport Americana Team Checklist, a 1967 Topps high number sheet, which had several anomalies when compared to the known list of short prints. A little while later it dawned on me that Topps had printed two sheets of high numbers, each different than the other.

What I did not realize at the time was that what I thought was a full uncut sheet of 132 (12 rows of 11 cards each) was actually a half sheet. A full Topps press sheet is actually 264 cards, divided into two halves.

Here is a fairly standard looking 132 card half sheet, from the first series in 1971:



It looks a little weird due to the black borders. Now here is a full 264 card press sheet from 1964 (sorry about the duct tape), another first series beauty:



For some reason, more uncut sheets seem to survive from the first series of Topps baseball cards. I don't know why that is. You can see how the two halves would be separated into 132 card sheets. Also note the left and right sides, while containing the same cards, have different arrays. Topps would use different orders for the rows on each side. When you have a 66, 88 or 132 card series, then the different structure of each sheet would not matter (allowing for the next series checklist card "preview" usually printed with the prior series and likely the reason for so many checklist variations over the years).

However, when you had a 110 card series, you would get into "overprints", which are usually from first series sheets. An overprint is really a triple print in such circumstances. Where you had 55 and 77 card series the fun would begin as the opposite effect would take place and yield short prints.

A lot of this had to do with how Topps packaged their cards and I still do not know why those 1967 high numbers have such crazy quilt short prints, although I do have a theory which will be expanded upon here real soon.

I am fairly certain the 264 card full press sheets began in 1957, along with standard sizing. Working our way back, in 1955 and '56 a 220 card full sheet most likely was printed. In 1953 & '54 either two 100 card half sheets or 200 card full sheets were printed, I can't quite tell.(Update: 6/28/23-1954 used a 110/220 array as it turns out).  In those four oversized years, the effect was the same no matter what, with planned overprints and also some intentional gaps in numbering on the sheets. The 54's have crazy holes that lead me to believe they only came out in two series. There is more on that story here.

1952 probably just had similar 100 card half sheets that almost certainly were printed in 10 x 10 format but the largest known uncut 52's are in 25 card quadrants, arrayed 5 x 5. A full uncut 1952 sheet would be quite the find!

As is stands, full 264 card uncut sheets are very difficult to find in the wild. I also have a theory many uncut baseball sheets that exist in the hobby (through 1965, when the last of Topps baseball cards were printed in Brooklyn) were either top and bottom protectors for pallets of uncut sheets where the top or bottom few sheets would bear the brunt of the metal or twine bands holding the stacks in place as they were shifted around. The sheets used for such purposes may have been rejected from earlier printings for whatever reason. These protective sheets were then discarded into the legendary Topps dumpsters, where friendly sanitation and production department workers salvaged them.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

That's Just Cricket!

Back across the pond today lads, as we look at a couple of Cricket issues issued by the eventual Topps subsidiary A&BC Gum.

1959 saw the release in England of A&BC's 48 card Cricket, or Cricketers issue. The cards are beautiful, measuring 67 x 96 mm (about 2.64 x 3.78 inches):



The colors are stunning and remind me of nothing less than the N162 Goodwin Champions set from 1888. The backs are more workmanlike:



A stone is 14 pounds (or about 6.35 kilograms) in case you are weighing along at home. I am searching for a wrapper image but can't find one at the moment and suspect they are scarce.

After skipping a year,A&BC returned with another 48 card set in 1961. I had to nick these and the rest of the scans below from Ebay but so it goes:



Colorful alright but not nearly as charming as the 59's. A Test Series is essentially the long form of Cricket, which takes days to play. The backs are off kilter for some reason, which seems intentional:



The 61's come in two sizes: 64 x 90 mm (about 2.52 x 3.54 inches, very close to American standard size) and 68 x 94 mm (about 2.68 by 3.7 inches).

After 1961 A&BC produced no further Cricket series. For that reason I assume they did not sell well which may also explain the lack of a wrapper scan again.

The first A&BC Cricket cards though were issued in 1954 as part of a set called All Sport,which was exactly that; a set of 120 multi-sport, blank backed black and white cards that were designed to be pasted into an album:



I wanted to show a Cricketer but that scan is rough. Here is another scan from the set of a Cycle Speedway Star:



The cards measure 47 x 76 mm (about 1.85 by 2.99 inches) and come with either glossy or matte fronts. Surprisingly, I was able to find a wrapper scan for these:



The coupon was how you got the album:



The album is proving elusive at the moment.

A&BC had only produced two sets previously, both in 1953 so this is one of their earlier efforts. For more on this great company you can go to Nigel's Webspace and bone up.

For the record, Blogger will not let me put an & in the Labels-sorry, I had to compromise!

Sunday Hot Links

A hot link or two for a sunny Sunday morning-Enjoy!

Hopefully everybody knows about 1971 Topps Greatest Moments, a sort of homage to the golden days of sports reporting, bordered in black and quite tough to find, especially in nice shape with full bleed borders front AND back:





I'll get into the vagaries of this oversized, 55 card set someday bit for now just wanted to link to Fleerfan's blog post on this set, which is a highly worthwhile way to spend five minutes or so.

Next up is a Facebook page belonging to Mark Newgarden. Mark took a shot of the entrance to Topps' Bush Terminal offices in 1987 that is linked here. Not sure if you need to be on Facebook to see it or nor but I don't want to poach it. Topps had various offices and plants at Bush Terminal over the years and after moving most production to Duryea, PA in 1965 still maintained a corporate office in Brooklyn until a move in the 90's to Manhattan. Great shot!