i suppose it will be a pack of 2023 topps that i will purchase at some point later this year that will make things official, but with the calendar turning i can say that 2023 marks the 45th anniversary of my first card pack purchase, and is therefore my 46th year as a baseball card collector. you could even say 47th year as i was given a pack of 1977 topps cards back in the summer of sam and star wars.
of course, the first packs that i bought with my allowance were from the 1978 topps set, and i have held that set near and dear to my heart ever since. i am always on the lookout for cards featuring the design as i try to assemble some sort of "master set". one of the first custom card efforts i undertook after purchasing photoshop was to complete my 1978 topps dodger set with cards that i thought were missing from the actual set, along with a couple other cards that would never have been but i appreciated seeing.
although topps seemed to ignore the 1978 set for a long time, they couldn't hide from it in 2011 when they celebrated 60 years of topps. here's what they had to say about the set then:
i don't know if it is truly one of the "most adored issues of the '70s" for a lot of collectors, but it certainly is for me.
the front of that card is a reprint of gary carter's card from the 1978 set
as for that "master set" i mentioned up top, i figured i would go through the checklist of cards that i have compiled and completed. the checklist itself is not complete in terms of all non-1978 topps cards that feature the 1978 design, and it only focuses on cards that are different from the actual 1978 set - different teams or photos. so, for instance, there are only a few cards from the 1978 topps burger king sets represented, and i do not include any direct reprints (other than the carter card above which i include more as a header). so, here is what i have in my "master" 1978 topps set:
1978 topps zest #5 willie montanez
1978 topps burger king astros # dave bergman
1978 topps burger king astros # jesus alou
1978 topps burger king rangers #5 jon matlack
1978 topps burger king rangers #8 fergie jenkins
1978 topps burger king rangers #10 reggie cleveland
1978 topps burger king rangers #17 al oliver
1978 topps burger king rangers #21 john lowenstein
1978 topps burger king rangers #22 bobby thompson
1978 topps burger king tigers #7 jim slaton
1978 topps burger king tigers #13 lou whitaker
1978 topps burger king tigers #15 alan trammell
1978 topps burger king tigers #16 steve dillard
1978 topps burger king tigers #6 jack billingham
1978 topps burger king tigers #8 jack morris
1978 topps burger king yankees #10 rich gossage
1978 topps burger king yankees #11 rawly eastwick
1978 topps burger king yankees #16 jim spencer
2001 topps archives #305 lou whitaker
2001 topps archives #80 jack morris
2003 topps all-time fan favorites #78 jim rice
2003 topps all-time fan favorites #99 jack clark
2003 topps all-time fan favorites #118 ron guidry
2003 topps all-time fan favorites #123 mark fidrych
2003 topps all-time fan favorites #ffa-dde doug decinces autograph (no base card)
2004 topps all-time fan favorites #33 keith hernandez
2004 topps all-time fan favorites #97 eric gregg
2005 topps all-time fan favorites #44 dusty baker
2005 topps all-time fan favorites #110 rick monday
2005 topps all-time fan favorites #132 bob boone
2006 topps walmart blaster insert #wm47 carlos delgado
2012 topps archives fan favorites autograph #ffa-gf george foster
2012 topps archives fan favorites autograph #ffa-gl greg luzinski
2013 topps archives #226 larry bowa
2013 topps archives #239 dave parker
2014 topps future stars that never were #fs-3 eddie murray
2017 topps throwback thursday 1978 topps record breaker design #122 cody bellinger
2017 topps throwback thursday 1978 topps record breaker design #123 giancarlo stanton
2017 topps throwback thursday 1978 topps record breaker design #124 aaron judge
2017 topps throwback thursday 1978 topps record breaker design #125 edwin encarnacion
2017 topps throwback thursday 1978 topps record breaker design #126 j.d. martinez
2017 topps throwback thursday 1978 topps record breaker design #127 joey gallo
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #1 mike trout
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #2 bryce harper
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #3 mookie betts
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #4 kris bryant
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #5 francisco lindor
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #6 aaron judge
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #7 jose altuve
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #8 clayton kershaw
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #9 carlos correa
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #10 manny machado
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #11 buster posey
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #12 chris sale
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #13 adrian beltre
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #14 gary sanchez
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #15 charlie blackmon
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #16 jacob degrom
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #17 corey kluber
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #18 george springer
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #19 luis severino
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #20 noah syndergaard
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #21 andrew mccutchen
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #22 paul goldschmidt
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #23 shohei ohtani
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #24 rhys hoskins
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #25 christian villanueva
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #26 walker buehler
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #27 ronald acuna
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #28 gleyber torres
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #29 ozzie albies
2018 topps on demand inspired by 1978 #30 juan soto
2021 topps 70 years of topps #70yt-28 shohei ohtani
2021 topps 70 years of topps #70yt-28 cal ripken jr
2021 topps update 70 years of topps #70yt-28 carlos correa
2022 topps archives #101-200
a couple of notes on the 2006 delgado above. as far as i am aware, that is the first card to be issued after 1978 using the design that didn't fall under the archives/fan favorites umbrella as well as the first card using the design to feature a player who was not active in 1978. heck, even eric gregg was umping back then. with all of that, the first thought i had back when i first obtained the card was that the topps logo certainly seems out of place!
i know that topps used elements of the 1978 design on the backs of the super home team release in 1981 as well as the squirt cards from 1981 and the cracker jack cards in 1982. i have the dodgers from those sets, but don't count them as part of this "master" set endeavor. the 2018 online set is pretty much where i draw the line.
to be clear, the cards listed and shown above are the cards that i currently have in this "master" collection, in addition to the complete 1978 topps and o-pee-chee sets themselves. i am ignoring the 1978 burger king cards that were identical to the flagship topps versions and the 4-in-1 rookie cards that were short printed as part of the 2018 on demand set along with the parallels and inserts from that set. same goes for the refractor inserts and autograph parallels from fan favorites (aside from a couple of dodgers and a mark fidrych auto that i pulled from a pack) and all the parallels and variations from 2022 archives (other than the two shown). just too much to try to track down. i also don't include my 1978 topps burger king dodgers that should have been custom cards (or those of others) in the "master" set - just official topps releases - although thanks to gavin and gio i have many 1978 customs printed and in sheets as well.
i know that other more recent uses of the design exist - in 2019 topps issued some autographed cards featuring the 1978 record breaker design as an insert to their archives release, but i don't think i will ever land any of those - the subjects included the likes of juan soto, ohtani, mike trout, and sandy koufax. there was also a 2016 throwback thursday set that featured the managerial design from 1978 in a "then and now" theme, and in 2019 topps again produced a throwback thursday set using the 4-in-1 rookie design. i don't have any of those cards, either.
i am fully aware that my tenure in the hobby is not as long or as fervent as others and i am not trying to make it seem as though i am in any way special or unique as a collector. this has truly been as close to a lifelong hobby as i will have, and i am glad that i stuck with it when others typically abandoned it. i do plan to scale back in 2023, although i have had those thoughts before. i anticipate good things from 2023 topps heritage and i will, as always, be on the lookout for new steve garvey cards, along with dodgers - primarily clayton kershaw - and cards that fit in to my mini-collections.
best of luck to all with your collections in 2023!
Those full bleed versions look alot like '91 Topps.
ReplyDeleteDid any of the baseball card magazines do '78 style in the late 80s/early 90s?
Hope to see you actively collecting and blogging throughout the year!
And I just saw on Dime Boxes a Cracker Jack card (Harmon Killebrew) that's clearly based on the '78 design.
DeleteIt must be nice to have such a strong connection to a particular set. And I guess it's a good thing for you that the design has been used for other cards over the years, as it always gives you something else to chase.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. I've been chasing ATFF refractors the past year or so, and love snagging the '78s, with the Jim Rice being among my favorites.. that one really looks awesome shined up.
ReplyDeleteI'm only a few years behind you. I think the first baseball packs I purchased were either 1981 Topps or Donruss. They were definitely the first ones I opened, but there's a chance my mom bought them for me. If that's the case, then it'd be 82 or 83 Topps.
ReplyDelete