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Specs
Year: 1981
Title: Topps Thirst Break
Size: 2 9/16″ by 1 5/8″ also seen 2 1/2” by 1-5/8”
Number in Set: 56
Overview
This set is a little different from those I usually feature on the Oddball Archive in that it’s actually a set of gum wrappers.
1981 Topps Thirst Break Comics were wrapped around a sort of soft and chewy version of Gatorade (I believe there was also a thing called Gator Gum in the late 70s/early 80s that was manufactured by Fleer). Topps only released this Thirst Break Sports Gum in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Each orange “foil” package of gum had five pieces and, therefore, five comics.
Each wrapper features a cartoon and a few words about a great moment in sports. “SPORTS FACTS” and the wrapper number (out of 56) are printed along the top. The Topps copyright is printed along the bottom with the product code along the side. The backs are blank.
The 628 product code on the comics matches the 24 CT. box pictured below and the orange 5-piece wrappers in the partial set pictured above.
Example
Key Cards
The key wrappers are Babe Ruth’s Best Clutch Hitter, Nolan Ryan/Tom Seaver/Steve Carlton, Oscar Robertson’s Free Throw Record, and Muhammad Ali’s Boxing Record.
Checklist
1 Shortest Baseball Game
2 Lefty Gomez
3 Bob Gibson
4 Hoyt Wilhelm
5 Babe Ruth
6 Toby Harrah
7 Carl Hubbell
8 Harvey Haddix
9 Steve Carlton
10 Nolan Ryan / Tom Seaver / Steve Carlton
11 Lou Brock
12 Mickey Mantle
13 Tom Seaver
14 Don Drysdale
15 Billy Williams
16 Wilt Chamberlain
17 Wilt Chamberlain
18 Wilt Chamberlain
19 Kevin Porter
20 Christy Mathewson
21 Hank Aaron
22 Ron Blomberg
23 Joe Nuxhall
24 Reggie Jackson
25 John Havlicek
26 Oscar Robertson
27 Calvin Murphy
28 Clarence Bevo Francis
29 Garo Yepremian
30 Bert Jones
31 Norm Van Brocklin
32 Fran Tarkenton
33 Johnny Unitas
34 Bob Beamon
35 Jesse Owens
36 Bart Starr
37 O.J. Simpson
38 Jim Brown
39 Jim Marshall
40 George Blanda
41 Jack Tatum
42 Jim Brown
43 Gerry Cheevers
44 Dave Schultz
45 Mark Spitz
46 Byron Nelson
47 Soccer Attendance Record
48 Tom Dempsey
49 Gale Sayers
50 Bobby Hull
51 Bobby Hull
52 Bobby Orr
53 Giorgio Chinaglia
54 Muhammad Ali
55 Gene Tunney / Rocky Marciano
56 Roger Bannister