Copy That

One of the things I noticed early on when diving deep into the Topps canon was that they borrowed (or perhaps were inspired by) many issues from the 1930's. One such instance even stretches back to the early 1920's. I'm  not sure if it had to do with Woody Gelman's all seeing eye (he would have been too old to be a kid collector in the 1930's), Sy Berger's childhood memories (he would have been the perfect age or maybe just past it) or maybe the four Shorin boys' own kids but somebody at Topps was clearly influenced by the gum sets of the Depression.  I thought I would look at a few today.

One of the earliest Topps sets to crib an earlier one was 1948-49 Magic Photo.  Patterned after a number of self-developing issues of the 1920's and 30's, a couple of series of circa 1921 strip cards seems to be the earliest of these:

(Legendary Auctions)

(The Trading Card Database)

Magic Photo of course was a major early Topps release:

It was followed in 1955 by Hocus Focus:

I am struggling to find the link or a scan but there was an obscure 1930's set Called Hokus Fokus, if I recall correctly, that operated under the same principle of wetting the blank surface, rubbing against a piece of paper with a developing chemical and then exposing to sunlight.

Another series, American Chicle's Thrilling Stories (R25) was a small pulp booklet with a colorful, sensational cover:

(Legendary Auctions)

While R25 sported text stories, other similar issues from the 1930's did not and featured traditonal comic art. Topps seized upon these for a couple of jokey issues in 1967 and 1970 respectively:

Of a slightly sturdier construction, Goudey came out with some flip movies of baseball players in 1937 and '38; other companies issued similar fare as well in this time frame:

Topps of course came out with Flip-o-vision in 1949:

(Heritage Auctions)

The 1930's also gave us 4 on 1 Exhibits (1929-38) and 1935 Goudey Baseball:

While 1969 gave us Topps Mini Stickers (a.k.a. 4 in 1's) and Football Stickers:

There are other issues as well this can be done with.  I'll dig out a few more and maybe some of my faithful readers have a few doppelgangers of their own to share.

Order Up!

BFF o'the Archive Jeff Shepherd sent along a nice scan recently of a 1951 Topps order form:

The order form, as you can calculate, offers Topps products at 60 cents on the retail dollar. This figure is more amazing when you realize the order form was for a wholesaler (or jobber in the parlance of the trade) who then would have to resell the purchased items to a retailer. Actually, it looks like a slight sale on Bazooka was occurring, whereas Baseball Candy was full price. If you have been paying attention, then you know there were five subsets to Baseball Candy: Red Backs, Blue Backs, Team Cards, Connie Mack All Stars and Major League All Stars. Red and Blue Backs would have been in the one cent packs, a mix of panelized versions of those cards and the others would have been in the nickel packs.

All well and good but that's not why I am posting about this today.  Instead I want to explore the phrase "New Baseball Candy" and even more specifically the font used for same.  Let's turn things upside down to get a better look:

Look at how the phrase curves and has rounded, almost balloon-like lettering.  If you remember back a bit, I had posted a comparison of the playing field that came with 29 cent bagged sets of Red Backs (likely a blowout item issued well after the initial Baseball Candy run) with those that came with the Ed-U-Cards Batter Up baseball game. The fonts look similar but are not an exact match, as this detail from the bagged set shows:

However, the font is closer to that used in the 1949-50 Ed-Cards game:

Still, it's not exact as the bars on the E for example, don't all penetrate to the left of the stem like the order form shows. Nor does the 1957 version from Ed-U-Cards match up either, although it is a match for the bagged setplaying field.:

I'm not sure what to make of all this.  There are three different fonts used between the playing fields and the order form, although they all bear a nodding resemblance to each other.  I was hoping for an exact match but that's not in the cards....

A Nice Custom

Well buccaroos, I finally managed to lasso a specimen of Topps True Fact Mini Comics and can report on some additional findings.  As we have seen here in the past there are five known titles and I believe it quite possible this comprises a full set.  To recap, the checklist is:

1) The Story of Baseball and Football
2) The Wright Brothers
3) Prehistoric Beasts
4) The Great Explorer
5) They Served the Nation

In their natural, folded, state, the comics measure 4 3/8" x 2 1/2" and there are 16 pages counting the cover. The comic is made of cheap pulp, which comes as no surprise As you can see below, they are prone to a slight diamond cut and the centering is quite off, a phenomenon I have observed in scans of other numbers:

Custom Comics was a division of American Comics Group and was the only thing left when the parent company folded up all other operations in 1967. They had a familial, capital and distribution tie in with National Periodical Publications, better known today as DC Comics (although it's now part of Marvel--heresy to those of use born in the 1960's!). Custom Comics published bespoke comics from 1954 until 1977 according to the Grand Comics Database. The database has 27 titles published by Custom Comics but does not list the True Fact series. The piece above has to date from 1966-77 because, as all of my faithful readers know, the "curved-t" Topps logo debuted that year and lasted until 1980-81.

There is a little bit more information inside.  Here's an interior shot:

The indicia at the bottom left of the left page reads:

So the copyright belonged to Topps, which I find interesting. 

I found a scan of three other books and already had one of #1, so might as well show the others here to keep them all in one easy spot:

Clearly the format is the same for each number.  While the series may be complete at five, the year and method of issue remains an open question.  Benjamin states it was confirmed they were a retailer item, but for what purpose is hard to fathom. Most Topps retailer bonuses were certificates that could be accumulated and put toward consumer items.  What retailer would want some undersized comic book?

Benjamin also has the same five subjects listed. As for the year, I have a note somewhere it was 1974 but since I can't find the reference anymore, I can't say how correct that is. I also recall there being some commentary somewhere years ago that these were a reissue of an earlier edition.  I'll put that in the hearsay category until further information is developed.

Super Duper, Man

The 2013  Topps 75th Set was pretty nice but when it came to providing new information there wasn't much to write home about.  Actually, I'm pretty sure some of the details on the card backs describing each set came from my book and this blog but fair's fair-I've been using their material for years,  Anyhoo-one set that did have some new info revealed was the 1965 Superman issue.

Topps has it as a 1966 issue, which is possible but the show was syndicated in 1965 and a generation of late boomers grew up watching the Man O' Steel after school each day. No matter, it's from 1965-66 either way but the big news was confirmation the white back version, which is one of the tougher Topps issues, has 44 subjects.  The two orange backed varieties, which are common, both go to 66 but the last 22 cards make up a puzzle while the first 44 have text.  So the 44 card count for the white backs makes a lot of sense.  I'm not sure every one of those numbers has been confirmed but that number seems good.

The fronts are all similar, except the clarity on the white backs is better.  I've shown a lot of this before but it's worth revisiting:

The white backs are subject to toning unfortunately.  There are two types of orange backs, like so, three (or four!) if you count the puzzle:

You will note the WATCH SUPERMAN ON T.V. tag line; we'll get back to that momentarily. Here is one of the two puzzle backs but there's a catch-there are two types because one is a photo and one is a drawing. This one is from the latter puzzle.

You can see both puzzle backs at the Net54 Gallery, totally worth the click.

There are also two wrappers, one with gum and one without, plus some other differences:

 

So obviously the orange backs that have the TV tagline came in the packs with the same wording on the wrapper.  And if you look closely, the "TV" packs did not come with gum.  This makes me think the cards without the TV tagline were sold first by Topps, since they were in the gum business after all, then they either worked out some kind of deal or got dragged into a fight between the comics publisher (National Periodical Publications) and the TV production company.

It's all a bit strange but it might explain why there are two types of puzzle as well.  I have to check and see if the puzzle pieces are harder to find.  If there are no white back puzzle pieces, then maybe it was a 44 card set to start out with. Great Caesar's Ghost!  This is way more complicated than it has any right to be.

Redating Game

One of the more interesting facets of the 2013 Topps 75th set has been the dates of issue attributed by Topps to certain issues.  I've found about a number of dates that differ from mine, so let's take a look at each:

Fighting Marines - I say 1952 but Topps attributes this issue to 1953 although there is a box with a 1952 copyright and the set was featured in a Topps ad in the 1953 American Card Catalog, published in February 1953.  I am going to keep this as a 1952 issue in my records but it certainly seems like it was sold well into 1953.

Davy Crockett - I have this as 1955-56 on the basis the first series of orange backs came out in '55 and the second series of green backs in 1956. There were two motion pictures that spawned the craze and the first, Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier, was released in the spring of 1955, so it seems like a stretch both series were issued a year later.  Retail box indicia is silent and the wrappers for the orange backs advertise the first Crockett movie so I am going to stick with my dating.

Space Cards/Target Moon - Topps has both of these as 1957.  The 1957 Space Cards date seems right but Topps states Target Moon, which was a retitled reissue, came out at the end of that year.  I once thought it could have been an early 60's release but since came around to it being from 1958.  Based upon the Bazooka ad on the Target Moon wrapper, I am sticking with 1958 for the reissue, toward the end of the year.

Civil War News - 1961 per Topps, 1962 according to every other source I have ever seen.  Material at the end of a Len Brown interview about CWN indicates Mars Attacks (a 1962 issue) was influenced by the earlier set.  So right now, I am unsure but 1961 seems possible.

Superman - I'm going to devote an entire post to this set next time out as the Topps 75th card has some new information but this is described as a 1966 issue.  I have it as 1965 but am not sold on the earlier date and have previously mused it could have been from early 1966.  Going to say 1966 now.

King Kong - 1966 according to Topps.  I have seen 1965 or '66 in many references and it's probably a fine line as to which year it came out.  However the story is that Topps could not issue the set because Donruss had a set out already and that was a 1965 issue so it makes some sense that Kong came out in '65, but only if that story is true or the Donruss date is correct! The Donruss date of issue is likely derived from the RKO copyright on the cards, just like the RKO copyright on the Topps set. The back of the Topps 75th card says that King Kong did not get a full release as it tested poorly. Right now it's a push.

Soupy Sales - Topps is saying 1967 for the b&w version.  I have seen that date in a number of places and it may apply to the color cards only as there was an issue of Topps Fan Magazine dedicated to ol' Soup that came out in 1965. In addition there was a second issue of said magazine featuring The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and the card set from that show is a 1965 release.  The tie-in makes me think the black and white Soupy Sales set came out in 1965.

Superman In The Jungle - This rare test set is a 1966 issue based upon Topps writeup on the card back. I've always thought it came from 1968 based on a British version that came out that year and suspect the Topps 75th dating comes from the regular Superman set and could be a typo.

As an aside, where's the love for the tatoo issues in Topps 75th?  They would have made a great insert!

Four Front

Right when I thought it was safe to declare the 1971 Topps Winners checklist complete at a truncated 15, four more subjects have popped up.  I received cell phone photos of four additional winners last year that for a trusted source, although that source wishes to remain anonymous (and is not one of my "usual suspects").

The four new subjects are:

Philip T. Edgerly

Patricia I. Cox

Carl R. Scatena


Steven M. Wilkie


There's a reason for the secrecy, which may be revealed this year but mum's the word right now.  We have 19 identified subjects out of a possible 25 and I am now thinking the other 6 could be lurking out there (or not, Topps and its mysterious ways and all....).

Here is the updated checklist:

Mark D. Audia
April T, Bole
Lisa C. Bole
Patricia I. Cox
Allen G. Csuk Jr.
Philip T. Edgerly
Theresa D. Faulkner
Vernon Grover
Tim J. Harlan
Jeff Hooper
Darren K. Lazzari
Jeffrey M. Mihalik
Jerry R. Nachtrieb
Ricky E. Nobile
Brucette C. Rumenyak
Carl R. Scatena
Fred A. Sinopoli
Christine Ulicny
Steven M. Wilkie

Topps continues to surprise, even more than 40 years later!

Warm Thoughts On A Cold Day

Well it's about a bazillion below zero outside as I type this post here at the Main Topps Archive Research Complex and my thoughts have turned to a warmer place, namely Mexico.

Past posts here on Topps activities in Mexico have focused on the four known sets issued in 1977: US Football, Charlie's Angels, Star Wars and Six Million Dollar Man.  While the last of those carries a 1974 copyright, (and was a 1974 US issue)  I believe it to be of 1977 vintage in the Mexican market as well, or at least within a few months either way.   I've located some scans and information that build on previous posts (here and here) and it's definitely a good day to revisit Mexico.

Let's start with the '77 US Football.  A retail box was recently offered on eBay and some excellent scans were provided that yield some good manufacturing information.  The box mirrors the US issue graphically:

To avoid confusion you will see the little graphic in the upper right that states "American Football League Players". The back is a goldmine of information

As we shall see momentarily, while the non-sports sets were licensed to a Mexican manufacturer, the Football cards were a Topps de Mexico product.  Naucalpan is just northwest of Mexico City by the way. The cards look like they were "produced" there while the gum was made in Mexico City proper, at least that's what I am getting off of Google Translate.

While Football was a full release of 528 cards the Star Wars cards only number 66 blue bordered subjects. Here's a wrapper:

The manufacturing information along the left side of this wrapper (there are three variants, Darth Vader and C3PO also were used) shows Laboratorios y Agencias Unidas S.A., and their logo (which looks like a pop top from an aluminum can to my eyes) is an easy identifier.  S.A. stands for Societe Anonyme in case you were wondering, it's roughly the same as "Inc." or "PLC" and comes from the French originally.  In Mexico it's Sociedad Anónima.

Rather than borrowing his images, just go to Paul's vintage Star Wars page to look at much, much more on Mexican Star Wars, including images of the rare header card and packaging. 

Charlie's Angels  also was produced by Laboratorios y Agencias Unidas S.A, as the logo on this unopened pack indicates:

There were three cards in these packs (Star Wars had only two) and this is clearly a new series. There were four series issued in the US, with a total of 253 cards (plus 44 stickers). based upon numberings I have seen, at least three of the four series were marketed in Mexico and I suspect all four made it into the country. Star Wars and Charlie's Angels don't seem to have been issued in the loosely perforated manner that Football and Six Million Dollar Man were so I think it possible Topps de Mexico used a different printer.

Speaking of Steve Austin, Six Million Dollar Man to my mind was also a 1977 issue in Mexico as Topps presumably must have taken advantage of Mexican rebroadcasts of the show and reissued their 55 card US test issue with Spanish captions and backs:

The wrapper shows this to be a Topps de Mexico production:

"Rompecabezas" means "puzzle" in Spanish.

I'm not sure if Six Million Dollar Man was also issued in South America; apparently it was quite popular in some countries.  I am sure though that I want to explore more of Topps international issues this year.  They expanded into Canada in 1947 almost as soon as the war was over and by the end of the 1950's had a vast, it burgeoning international network established, so there's plenty to investigate.

Stay warm muchachos and muchachas!