This 1964 Topps Salesman’s Sample Ad Card featuring Mickey Mantle was auctioned off in August 2006.
It’s encapsulated as “authentic” by PSA and was used to drum up interest and give a sneak preview to dealers and collectors for the 1964 Topps Baseball series. The triptych (a picture or carving in three panels side by side) measures 7-9/16” x 3-1/2” with Mickey Mantle, Jim Davenport, and Boog Powell on the front. While the auction didn’t include a photo of the back, they described it as having information about the prospective series’ special features and insert products and also had a Mantle card back as a design example.
Heritage resold the same item in December 2020 for $7,200; they wrote, “One of the fuels that drove the Topps machine was the salesman sample. They featured three cards but had Topps sales propaganda or a sticker selling the set on the reverse. For their 1964 effort, they wisely picked baseball’s best in HoFer Mickey Mantle to promote the upcoming 587-card series. Mantle is joined by fellow major leaguers Jim Davenport and Boog Powell but it is Mantle’s card used for the reverse example.”
If you own any salesman samples, I’d love to chat with you about them for my research.
When you ask a collector to name a Larry Bird card, odds are they will either mention the 1980 Topps Bird, Erving, Johnson triple, or his 1986 Fleer card since they’re two of the most expensive. But collectors who tackle multiple basketball sets will tell you what a tough find a nice 1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird is.
1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird Front
1987 Fleer Larry Bird #11 Reverse
It’s widely accepted that the 1987 Fleer set was printed in significantly lower quantities than its 1986 Fleer predecessor. So that already limits the population of Larry’s card in what is a pretty popular set. Then, when you inspect the population report, you will find that the card is super tough to find in high-grade condition.
Of 3075 graded (August 2024), there are only 33 10s (387 9s and 1195 8s). Less than 1% of Bird’s 1987 Fleer cards are Gem Mt 10s. When you compare that to other cards in the set with over 1k regular grades, you can see that only Barkley has a (slightly) more difficult hit rate with PSA 10s. However, the Bird is slightly tougher when combining PSA 9 and 10 populations.
25/3000+ Barkley’s have graded PSA 10, 46/2000+ Ewing’s, 58/3200+ Johnson’s, 215/19500+ Jordan’s, 153/2400+ Malone’s, and 40/3000+ Olajuwon cards.
The Larry Bird is such a tough grade because so many copies have poor centering and registry issues. But why is that? The common belief has to do with the set being printed in 132-card sheets, with 12 rows of 11 cards across. Bird, card #11, was believed to be the last card in the top row (upper right corner), which means it was susceptible to cutting problems.
Despite my reach on social media and throughout the hobby, I couldn’t find a photo of an uncut sheet for a long time. But then I was forwarded a link to a bunch of images from Christopher Sanchirico’s collection, and he owned one! Unfortunately, the image size is small, but you can see the Bird in the upper right corner. In the image’s description, he wrote, “This is one of the only uncut sheets to ever have surfaced from this year (correct me if I’m wrong). Super rare, very colorful, and over 30 years old!”
1987 Fleer Basketball Uncut Sheet
Next, you can see a pair of miscut Bird cards.
1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird – Off Center / Miscut
1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird – Off Center / Miscut
Even the first of the three PSA 10 Birds pictured below looks surprisingly off-center for a perfect 10 grade.
1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird
1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird
1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird
With the surge and dip of the basketball card market over the past few years, it’s a bit tough to say what these high-grade 1987 Fleer Birds are valued at now. PSA’s Auction Prices Realized for the card show the last two sales being $3,300 in November 2022 and $3,750 in September 2022, but they were over $5k in February 2021 (up to $7500). Those 10s were between $1000 and $1500 between August and November 2020 and about $1200 in May 2020. PSA 9s sold for between $260 and $339 this summer, but they were around $140 in May 2020. PSA 8s have settled around $45, which is where they were in May 2020.
Larry Bird is one of the NBA’s all-time greats who achieved every career highlight or award the league has. His popularity continues today, as seen in the demand for his cards. And while you can’t go wrong adding a 1980 Topps or 1986 Fleer Larry Bird card to your collection (they’re pretty liquid in high grade), his 1987 Fleer card will be a bit more challenging for the condition-focused collector.
Christie’s offered this incredible Junge’s Bread For Energy advertising poster in their October 1993 Sports Memorabilia catalog auction. These are some of the toughest cards to find in the hobby.
Christie’s described the Bread For Energy Label Advertising Poster as follows:
The scarcest of all sports bread end label sets is the 48 label “Bread For Energy” set. It includes 16 Movie Stars, 16 Western Stars and 16 Sports Stars four each of boxing, basketball, wrestling, and football. This rare advertisement for Jungle Bread contains an uncut sheet of 16 labels in color including the following sports subjects, Johnny Lujack, Buddy Young, Kid Gailan, Joe Fulks, Gene Stanlee and the very rare Rocky Marciano. In excellent to mint condition.
The expected price was $1,800-2,200.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available about the set. While Christie’s said the set has 48 labels, Beckett’s online directory says the set has 44 cards, while the seller of the following sheet on eBay says 42. And if this is the D290-12 set, my American Card Catalog says there are 64 cards.
That seller on eBay wrote,
This 14 inch by 22 inch magnificent piece of sports and movie nostalgia is the only known, uncut bread-end label sheet and advertising poster for the 1950-51 D290-12 “Bread For Energy” series of 42 different multi-sport and Hollywood celebrities. The labels were distributed on the ends of loafs of various brands of breads & bakeries. Junge’s Bread was not previously known as a D290-12 bread label bakery brand and this advertising poster is as fresh and beautiful as the day it was printed and prepared in 1950.
A 16-card, 11 inch by 11 inch, uncut sheet of 16 different bread labels, which were originally exclusively identified with Fischer’s bread, have been affixed to a cardboard poster. These Junge’s Bread, “Bread for Energy labels” are brand new except for a slight crease that runs from Bing Crosby’s head to the bottom of the William Bendix label. The Kid Gavilan, Edgar Bergan, Joe Fulks are all affected. The sheet contains 3 of the 5 keys to the set including Johnny Lujack, Joe Fulks, and most importantly, a rookie issue of Rocky Marciano.
Curiously, they wrote that their poster, with an asking price of $10k, is the only known piece, when there is another one on eBay with an asking price of $6k, and none of the three, compared to Christie’s, look the same.
Also, Leland’s has sold three of these Junge’s Bread-style posters. The first two have the same look as the previous three I’ve shared; the first sold for $1,364 in December 2020, and the second sold for $1,240 in February 2021 (this appears to be the $10k eBay one).
However, Lelands also sold this Junge’s Bread for Energy poster for $1,364 in April 2021. Notice that it has a few different cards on it!
If you want to see more examples of the cards, BMW Sports Cards has a nice directory. If you know anything else about them, please get in touch with me.
Today, I’m wrapping up my five-part series of articles focused on 1978 Topps baseball and its associated sets and promotions. Here are the previous four articles, in case you missed them:
In this one, I’ll discuss the six-card 1978 Topps uncut panels that came inside issue 47 of Scholastic Inc’s Dynamite Magazine. As a hobby library guy, I find this collectible super appealing.
Dynamite Magazine 101
Scholastic Inc.’s Dynamite Magazine launched in March 1974 and continued to be released through March 1992 (165 total issues). It was Scholastic’s most successful publication and inspired four other magazines you might be familiar with if you were a kid aged ~8-14 at the time; Bananas, Wow, Hot Dog!, and Peanut Butter. It was a bit of a pop culture update and included articles, comics, puzzles, and other interactive content like puzzles, games, masks, etc. They’d often contain inserts like stickers, glow-in-the-dark items, 3-D posters with glasses, and of course, baseball cards.
Dynamite Magazine Issue 47, April 1978, Happy Birthday, Mad!
The issue that included 1978 Topps baseball cards was number 47, released in April 1978, titled “Happy Birthday, Mad!” This edition has over a dozen features, with the headline being “a look at the MADmen and their MAD magazine on its 25th birthday.” Other blasts included a feature about the magazine’s one-year-old horse, how to decorate bicycles, and mini-skits that kids could perform. Shorter pieces, “bombshells,” included cartoons, sneak peek calendars, jokes, puzzles, and advice. The magazine also had a bike poster and, of course, “Free Baseball Cards!”
Dynamite Magazine – Issue 47 – Front Cover
Dynamite Magazine – Issue 47 – Back Cover
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Details and Examples
The 1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels are the same as regular 1978 Topps cards. They’re a six-card strip from an uncut sheet, then folded to fit in the magazine. No one’s really sure if the whole set made it into the magazines. While my 2010 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards wrote that just three six-card panels of 1978 Topps baseball issues had been found at the time, there are definitely more than that, but likely not the entire set because an 11-card wide sheet doesn’t make an even number of 2×3 card panels.
Of the four examples I’ll share, three are cut from Sheet A and one from Sheet B. The Standard Catalog shares two other examples, one with Steve Kemp, Reggie Smith, Roguish Jackson, Rick Burleson, Duane Kuiper, and Davey Lopes, and another with Toby Harrah, Gary Carter, Jeff Burroughs, Fred Lynn, Bucky Dent, and Jim Rice. Both are Sheet A cards. If you’ve seen some from other sheets, please let me know in the comments.
Here’s the example in my library; it features Wayne Garland, Lerrin LaGrow, Enrique Romo, Rick Waits, Rick Manning, and Jim Kern. I bought it for $15.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 1 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 1 – Image 2
Here, you can see where the six-card panel was on a regular 1978 Topps uncut sheet (Sheet A).
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 1 Highlighted
This second example includes Ellis Valentine, Steve Stone, Willie McCovey, Mark Belanger, Willie Montanez (of Topps Zest Fame), and Mitchell Page.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 2 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 2 – Image 2
This panel was cut from the left edge of Sheet A.
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 2 Highlighted
This third example is the most famous one and was documented on The Chronicles of Fuji blog in June 2013 after the author sniped it off of eBay for $22.50 + $3.95 shipping. It features Eddie Murray, Amos Otis, Ruppert Jones, Bobby Bonds, John Mayberry, and George Scott.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 3 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 3 – Image 2
The Eddie Murray panel was cut from the lower right corner of Sheet B.
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 3 Highlighted
By the way, ToddUncommon on Twitter mentioned that there’s a cottage industry of hand-cutting Murray cards from sheets and passing them off as pack-pulled since the in-card pack Murray’s are often terribly off-center.
The following example is slightly inconsistent with the other three, which is interesting since it features superstars Dave Winfield and George Brett, Roy White, Bobby Murcer, Jim Barr, and Cesar Geronimo. It’s been listed on eBay for $49.99 before.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 4 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 4 – Image 2
You can see that it’s also a Sheet A cut panel, but it seems to have been inserted oppositely. The first three examples all look the same, with a pair of cards over the edge of the poster on top of the magazine’s index.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels – First 3 Examples
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 4 Highlighted
If you’re looking for individual panels, they’ll all have a bend across them, just like this 1983 Topps Hot Dog Magazine example.
1983 Topps Hot Dog Magazine Panel and Sheet Placement
A handful of examples advertised as Dynamite or Hot Dog panels without bends are probably legitimate cards but not magazine inserts.
Topps partnered with Scholastic for many years, so you can also find examples for other baseball (and football) sets.
1978 Topps Series Wrap Up
That wraps up my 1978 Topps baseball series! From the base set to partnerships with Burger King and Zest Soap, the mail-in checklists, and these six-card panels, Topps certainly maximized their brand’s reach! And I acknowledge that I COULD have included a review of the 1978 O-Pee-Chee baseball set in this series. Do you think I should have?
In this article, I’m continuing my series through the world of 1978 Topps baseball cards with a look at the unique little oddball set Topps released in partnership with Zest Soap. The set was limited to just five cards; they look nearly identical to the regular Topps base cards and remain popular with a small group of collectors. In this article, I’ll explore the 1978 Topps Zest Soap promotion details, distribution, packaging, printing, and the current market for these intriguing cards.
Before we get started, though, here are the previous three articles in the 1978 Topps baseball series:
Topps produced this set of five standard-sized cards featuring Hispanic baseball stars as a promotion for Proctor & Gamble in 1978. The five players included were:
#1 – Joaquin Andújar
#2 – Bert Campaneris
#3 – Ed Figueroa
#4 – Willie Montanez
#5 – Manny Mota
A hobbyist on the Collectors Universe Message Boards wrote, “Proctor & Gamble targeted Zest Soap towards Latin American men because of its unique pH formula for Dry Skin. Looking for an incentive to get Latino men to try Zest, P&G coupled with Topps to produce the Zest Baseball Card Set. The Latin American women already had Camay Soap and the Latin American Children had Ivory Soap.”
The cards have the same design as the base 1978 Topps cards, and except for Willie Montanez, who was traded from the Braves to the Mets, the fronts use the same images too.
The backs are a little different. First, they’re bilingual (Spanish and English). Second, the 1978 Topps Zest cards don’t have the play ball game on the back; it’s been replaced by MLB and MLBPA logos. Third, the card numbers are different. It’s funny though that Zest isn’t mentioned anywhere on the cards.
The five cards were issued as complete sets in a cello package via a mail-in promotion requiring two zest soap wrappers and a certificate. While the set is tough to find, it’s not expensive, perhaps due to the player selection.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack
1978 Topps Zest Soap Promotion, Distribution, and Packaging
We have one key advertising product that explains how the 1978 Topps Zest promotion worked. In their Spring 2018 catalog, Robert Edward Auctions sold this 1978 Topps Zest Soap Store Advertising Display and a complete set in its original packaging for $270.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Advertising Display
Here’s how they described the lot:
Enormous point-of-sale advertising display for 1978 Topps “Zest Soap” Baseball Trading Cards, accompanied by a complete set of five cards still in their original package as issued. This extremely rare advertising display is designed with all five giant-versions of the issued cards from the set pictured at the top and the text printed in Spanish. This is the first example of this advertising display that we have ever offered or seen! Due to its size and shape, as expected, the display (24 x 39 inches at its widest points) has some obvious flaws including creases and edge wear. Overall in remarkable condition, especially for a store advertising display of this type, the piece presents as Excellent and is perfect for display, as intended. The original mail-order slips are still intact. This is an outstanding example of this seldom-seen advertising display, and one that would be at home in any advanced baseball-advertising collection.
The top of the display translates (I used Google Translate) to Zest Baseball Stars with the word free below it; then, we have the pictures of the five cards. Next to the two bars of soap, the following terms say, “5 baseball cards with the purchase of 2 “bath size” zests.” The ad then explained that you could get a Cesar Cedeno poster by mail with the purchase of 8 “bath size” Zest soaps. The fine printed said to see the required certificate for complete details, that the offer was good from August 1, 1978, to November 1, 1978, and that there was a limit of 2 posters per name or address.
The same Collectors Universe Forum Thread that explained why P&G targeted Zest Soap towards Latin American men also had the following scans of the mail-in card for the set, which is written entirely in Spanish.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Mail-In Card
It explained to send two full-size Zest bath-size wrappers for each set of five cards and that the certificate was required to be included with the order. The additional details along the bottom mentioned that the offer was only valid in 27 states, that the offer was limited to two sets of five cards per name or address, and that you’d get the cards in about 6-8 weeks. The back also showed that the offer card was printed in May 1978, long after the base set was released, helping explain how Topps could update the Montanez image in this set.
Regarding the pack that was sent, almost every 1978 Topps Zest cello pack I’ve seen has Manny Mota on top and Montanez on the bottom, but I have seen a single example with Andujar showing.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack Lot of 4 – Mota on Top
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack Lot of 4 – Montanez on Bottom
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack – Mota Top & Montanez Bottom
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack – Mota Top & Montanez Bottom
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cello Pack – Andujar Top
I’m unsure if some cards got flipped in packaging, but you can see on this YouTube break of a pack that had Mota face up on top and Montanez on the back that each card was face up in the pack. After Mota, you had Figueroa, but it was upside down. Campaneris came next, positioned in the same direction as Figueroa, followed by Andujar, upside down, then Montanez on the bottom, upside down once again.
I’ve also seen another peculiarity: the Topps Archives mentions that the cards were unavailable with the product in stores. But in my research, I encountered a set shrink-wrapped around three bars of soap. This offer is slightly different since it came with a three-pack of soap, while the mail-in offer only required two wrappers. If you know more about this example, please contact me or leave a comment.
Zest Soap Three Pack with 1978 Topps Zest Set – Image 1
Zest Soap Three Pack with 1978 Topps Zest Set – Image 2
1978 Topps Zest Soap Printing and Today’s Availability
Lelands offered two 110-card full-production uncut sheets featuring the five different 1978 Topps Zest players in an auction in December 2003.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Uncut Production Sheets
Lelands paired the two Zest sheets with a 1974 Topps Traded Baseball Uncut Sheet, and it appears the auction’s reserve wasn’t met. The odd thing about the 1978 Topps Zest sheets is that while most uncut sheets have 132 cards, these only have 110. It’s like they’re missing two extra rows of 11 cards. However, they do look complete from a bordering perspective.
As I wrote earlier, the promotion only lasted a few months, from August to November 1978, so the distribution was limited. Hence, the cards are a little challenging to come by today. PSA-graded copies are also scarce, with only 89 total examples across the five-card set.
1978 Topps Zest Soap PSA Population Report
1978 Topps Zest Soap Cards and Sales
While the cards are scarce, they’re not that pricey. In 2019, the following five PSA-graded cards were sold on eBay for $129.99: a PSA 9 (OC) Andujar, a PSA 9 Campaneris, a PSA 9 Figueroa, a PSA 9 Montanez, and a PSA 6 Mota. From a raw perspective, complete sets sell for between $10 and $25.
1978 Topps Zest Soap 2019 PSA-Graded Set Sale
PFP Cards have the highest graded set on the registry, with all five cards being PSA 9s.
PFP Cards 1978 Topps Zest Soap Set – First Four Cards
PFP Cards 1978 Topps Zest Soap Set – Manny Mota
Now, I’ll share more details about each 1978 Topps Zest Soap card and show the player’s base 1978 Topps card.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #1 Joaquin Andujar
1978 Topps Zest Soap #1 Joaquin Andujar
1978 Topps #158 Joaquin Andjujar
PSA has graded 18 Joaquin Andújar cards, including a single PSA 10 example, which was recently listed on eBay as a Buy It Now item for $699.99 in the summer of 2023.
Ten of the other graded Andujar cards are PSA 9s, but they haven’t sold for much historically. One 9 sold for $8.49 in August 2020, and one of the two PSA 8s sold for $10.99 in August 2017. Just last month (July 2024), a PSA 8 was sold on eBay with a best-offer buy-it-now sale of $42.90.
A few raw copies have also been available for just a few dollars.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #2 Bert Campaneris
1978 Topps Zest Soap #2 Bert Campaneris
1978 Topps #260 Bert Campaneris
PSA has graded 16 Zest Soap Campaneris cards, including five PSA 9s and eight PSA 8s. One of the 9s sold for $75 in June 2020, an 8 sold for $4.99 in August 2020, and another 8 sold for $10.99 in December 2017.
Just like the Andujar last month (July 2024), a PSA 8 Campaneris was sold on eBay with a best-offer buy-it-now sale of $42.90.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #3 Ed Figueroa
1978 Topps Zest Soap #3 Ed Figueroa
1978 Topps #365 Ed Figueroa
PSA has graded 17 Figueroa Topps Zest Soap cards with three 9s and nine 8s. However, no examples appear on the auction prices realized page for the card.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #3 Ed Figueroa PSA 8
In the past, raw Ed Figueroa cards have been listed on eBay for between $.90 and $12.99.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #4 Willie Montanez
1978 Topps Zest Soap #4 Willie Montanez
1978 Topps #38 Willie Montanez
There are twenty PSA-graded Montanez Zest Soap cards, including five 9s and ten of 8s. An 8 sold for $4.99 in August 2020, another 8 sold for $22.99 in April 2020, and a 9 sold for $13.5 in September 2016.
Again, just like the Andujar and Campaneris last month (July 2024), a PSA 8 Montanez was sold on eBay for $42.90, with a best-offer buy-it-now sale.
1978 Topps Zest Soap #5 Manny Mota
1978 Topps Zest Soap #5 Manny Mota
1978 Topps #228 Manny Mota
Mota has 18 PSA-graded cards, including a single 10, four 9s, and eleven 8s. But one of those 8s sold for just $1.36 in September 2020.
1978 Topps Zest Soap Wrap-Up
I’m surprised this set hasn’t become more popular, given the larger number of Hispanic players in the majors and collectors in the hobby today, along with its uniqueness. I guess it’s just not mainstream enough for most collectors; however, if you’re looking for a nice post-war set that would be affordable and display well with an unopened pack, this is a great set to go after.
In addition to their base set and partnership with Burger King in 1978, Topps offered a full sheet of team checklists as a wrapper redemption. The cards share the same design as the team checklists distributed as part of the base set, with just a few card stock differences. Topps designed the cards for collectors to cut out individually, so uncut sheets are pretty tough to come by – individual cards aren’t that common, either! In this article, I’ll give a basic overview of the 1978 Topps Team Checklists, discuss the wrapper redemption offer, share a few surviving uncut sheets and compare them to the base set’s uncut sheets, and finish by sharing individual card details.
1978 Topps Team Checklists Overview
Topps offered collectors another way to keep track of all their 1978 baseball cards, tell at a glance which cards to trade and learn about players’ positions and team line-ups. They did this by offering kids an uncut sheet of the 26 team checklist cards. The sheet also had another offer, a collectors card box, printed on it to fill out a 3×9 grid. From a design perspective, the cards on the sheet were the same as the team checklists that Topps distributed as part of the base set.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Reverse
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front Section
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Back Section
1978 Topps Team Checklist Wrapper Offer and Distribution Details
There were three 1978 Topps baseball wrapper variations; one offered collectors the 26 team checklist cards.
1978 Topps Baseball Wrapper
Here’s a centered image of the specific offer.
1978 Topps Baseball Wrapper – Checklist Offer
You can see in the image that for 50 cents and a wrapper, Topps would send back a tri-folded sheet of all 26 team checklist cards. The picture indicates that Topps intended for fans to cut the cards out.
The redemption ran for quite a long time, ending in December 1978. So perhaps this helped Topps sell more base cards later in the year, motivating collectors to complete the set.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Uncut Sheet and Printing Details
As I said, the uncut sheet was tri-folded and included all 26 baseball team checklists. The cards were identical to the base set, but Topps printed them on a thinner stock, making them easier to cut. The card stock on the back also appears super white, which is the obvious way to identify the handout cut cards from those distributed in the base set.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front
Unlike the base set team checklists, each team was only single-printed. For the base set, 24 team checklists were printed on sheet F.
1978 Topps Baseball Uncut Sheet F
But the Expos and Blue Jays team cards were double-printed on sheet D.
1978 Topps Baseball Uncut Sheet D
As I shared in the deep dive of the 1978 Topps base set, each card’s back has the sheet it was printed on listed on the back. That’s no different for the redemption team checklists; they have the same sheet numbers on the back despite being printed on the same wrapper redemption sheet.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Front
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet – Reverse
I’ve only been able to track down a single sale of an uncut sheet panel, and Heritage sold it in June 2019 for $44. However, it’s a weird one, and the misprint of colors doesn’t align with the team checklist cards. The sheet measures 10 1/2″ by 22 1/2″.
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet Heritage Auctions – Front
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet Heritage Auctions – Reverse
1978 Topps Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut Cards
Each team in MLB had a checklist card. First, here’s an example of a hand-cut card for the Phillies.
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut
And here is a Phillies’ example from the base set,
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team Checklist
And here are the two Phillies card backs for comparison.
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team Checklists Backs
You can see the white background of the card that Topps distributed as part of the wrapper redemption. I’m sure, in hand, you can also see obvious signs of cutting/trimming that aren’t apparent on factory sheet cut cards.
Next, here’s a Kansas City Royals hand-cut example; notice the Sheet F designation on the back.
1978 Topps #724 Royals Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut
I found a Blue Jays hand-cut example, and it’s a little tough to make out, but you can see the D next to the copyright information along the right-hand side, just like on the base Blue Jays card.
1978 Topps #626 Blue Jays Team Checklist Sheet Hand-Cut – Reverse
1978 Topps #626 Blue Jays Team Checklist Base Set – Reverse
Compared to how many individual team checklists PSA has graded from the base set, there are relatively few sheet hand-cut graded examples, just 365 in total, including one advertising card! The population distribution is pretty varied, with 69 PSA 10s, 78 PSA 9s, and 52 PSA 8s as the most common grades. The most graded specific cards are the Angeles (36), Royals (33), Reds (30), Yankees (29), and Phillies (26).
Here are some individual card sales data:
1978 Topps #328 Brewers Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 10: $79 in May 2023, and another for $99.99 that same month
1978 Topps #214 Angels Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 10: $48 in July 2021
1978 Topps #626 Blue Jays Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 9: $179.99 In August 2021
1978 Topps #96 Orioles Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 4: $35 in October 2020
1978 Topps #282 Yankees Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 8: $55 in July 2020. A PSA 10 Yankees example sold for $109 in October 2018
1978 Topps #724 Royals Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 9: $56 in February 2017
1978 Topps #381 Phillies Team – Team Checklist Sheet Handcut PSA 9: $27 in February 2017, a PSA 10 graded Phillies Team Checklist sold for $97.99 in February 2021
Conclusion
The 1978 Topps baseball team checklist mail-in redemption was a cost-effective way for kids who couldn’t afford to rip a ton of 20-cent packs to get a bunch of their favorite teams’ cards for just 50 cents. It also made a great display piece and probably motivated a lot of collectors to buy more packs to complete their sets. But these checklists and the Burger King cards weren’t the only promotions Topps ran; I have two more articles to share in the coming days highlighting the 1978 Topps Zest Soap set and the six-card panels Topps included in a specific release of Scholastic’s Dynamite Magazine.
I kicked off my exploration of 1978 Topps Baseball and its accompanying sets last week with a comprehensive guide to the 1978 Topps base set. This article will explore Topps’ 1978 collaboration with Burger King. Topps kicked off their partnership with the national fast food chain in 1977 with a set of cards devoted to the New York Yankees, and in 1978, they expanded that partnership to four cities and their teams: the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers.
First, I’ll provide an overview of the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Series. Then, I’ll compare the Burger King and base Topps set designs before discussing the distribution and packaging of 1978 Topps Burger King cello packs, wrapping up with details for each of the four team sets.
1978 Topps Burger King Set Profile
Topps’ history with Burger King launched in 1977 and continued through 1980. But in 1978 specifically, they issued four sets of 23 standard-sized cards (22 player cards + the checklist) in major metropolitan areas. So, kids 14 and under in Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, and New York could get a pack of three cards plus an unnumbered checklist by purchasing any Burger King Sandwich.
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Team Checklist – Front
The partnership focused on pretty big markets, so despite the Tigers finishing the 1977 season 26 games behind the Yankees, with a 74-88 record, they still got a set. This was lucky for us collectors since the Tigers had a trio of great rookies in Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris. This meant we got solo rookie cards for them rather than the multi-player cards Topps included in their base set.
1978 Topps Burger King Alan Trammell and 1978 Topps Rookie Shortstops
1978 Topps Burger King Lou Whitaker and 1978 Topps Rookie 2nd Basemen
1978 Topps Burger King Jack Morris and 1978 Topps Rookie Pitchers
1978 Topps Burger King Design
The 1978 Topps Burger Kind cards looked identical to Topps base set cards with one major and one minor distinction. The major distinction was the different card numbers on the back. The minor difference is that the back of the Burger King cards don’t have the sheet designation next to the copyright on the back that the base cards do. Also, a few cards used different player mages, and I’ll highlight them in the team overviews below, but the design was the same. The back of the cards also highlighted the “Play Ball” game from the base set. But you would need to eat a heck of a lot of Burger King sandwiches to get enough cards to play!
Here’s the front and back of the 1978 Burger King #21 and base Topps set #200, Reggie Jackson cards.
1978 Topps Burger King Reggie Jackson and 1978 Topps Reggie Jackson – Fronts
1978 Topps Burger King Reggie Jackson and 1978 Topps Reggie Jackson – Backs
1978 Topps Burger King Distribution and Packs
As I said, Topps and Burger King distributed the cards in cello packs of three cards plus a team checklist. Topps got the cards to Burger King packed in plain white boxes since they weren’t meant for sale that way. However, here’s an example of a box of 48 3-card New York Yankees 1978 Topps Burger King cello packs authenticated by the Baseball Card Exchange.
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees 48 Pack Cello Box – BBCE – Top
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees 48 Pack Cello Box – BBCE – Reverse
And here’s another 1978 Topps Burger King Yankees box I saw on Facebook showing how Topps arranged the packs in the box and all the packs displayed individually.
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Box With Packs
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Cello Packs From Box – Side View
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Cello Packs From Box
From an individual pack perspective, PSA has authenticated and slabbed 14 from the New York Yankees series, 47 from the Detroit Tigers, and two each for the Astros and Rangers series. 28 of the Tigers packs feature one of the big-3 rookies showing on the back.
For example, here’s a PSA 7-graded 3-card cello pack featuring Jack Morris.
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers Cello Pack – Jack Morris Back
Examples with stars showing have been selling for quite a bit on eBay lately. A PSA 7 with Whitaker on the back sold for $109 in July 2023, a PSA 9 pack with Trammel showing went for $199 in July 2023 (a PSA 7 sold for $129 in July 2023, too), and a PSA 8 with Morris on the back sold for $219 in May 2023.
Back in 2016, Collect Auctions offered this lot of nine unopened three-card packs of 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers cards, five with Trammell showing and four featuring Whitaker—the auction closed for $124.
Collect Auctions Lot of 9 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers Cello Packs – Fronts
Collect Auctions Lot of 9 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers Cello Packs – Backs
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros
Today, the Houston Astros cards are the least desirable and expensive of the four teams. A complete team set on eBay costs less than $10, including shipping.
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Team Set
And, PSA has only graded 120 cards among the Astros Topps Burger King set, which is fewer than any of the Tigers stars individually. There are two interesting tidbits related to the Astros players in this set. First, Dave Bergman got his own card, rather than being part of a multi-player Rookie Outfielder card in the Topps base set, and Jesus Alou was included here but didn’t have a card in the base set.
1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Team Checklist Card – Front and Back
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Houston Astros Checklist:
1 Bill Virdon
2 Joe Ferguson
3 Ed Herrmann
4 J.R. Richard
5 Joe Niekro
6 Floyd Bannister
7 Joaquin Andujar
8 Ken Forsch
9 Mark Lemongello
10 Joe Sambito
11 Gene Pentz
12 Bob Watson
13 Julio Gonzalez
14 Enos Cabell
15 Roger Metzger
16 Art Howe
17 Jose Cruz
18 Cesar Cedeno
19 Terry Puhl
20 Wilbur Howard
21 Dave Bergman
22 Jesus Alou
No Number Checklist
1978 Topps Burger King Texas Rangers
The Rangers’ team set is a little pricer than the Astros cards, as a team set costs between $10 and $15 on eBay.
1978 Topps Burger King Texas Rangers Teams Set
PSA has also graded several more Rangers than Astros cards, with 294 in the pop report, but again, that’s less than Trammel alone.
Topps changed the images of quite a few of these cards: Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, but also Jon Matlack, Reggie Cleveland, Al Oliver, and John Lowenstein, are all pictured on different teams in the base set; Bobby Thomson wasn’t included in the base set but has a Burger King card; and Bump Wills’ Burger King card doesn’t have a rookie cup logo on the front.
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Texas Rangers Checklist:
1 Billy Hunter
2 Jim Sundberg
3 John Ellis
4 Doyle Alexander
5 Jon Matlack
6 Dock Ellis
7 Doc Medich
8 Fergie Jenkins
9 Len Barker
10 Reggie Cleveland
11 Mike Hargrove
12 Bump Wills
13 Toby Harrah
14 Bert Campaneris
15 Sandy Alomar
16 Kurt Bevacqua
17 Al Oliver
18 Juan Beniquez
19 Claudell Washington
20 Richie Zisk
21 John Lowenstein
22 Bobby Thompson
No Number Checklist
1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees
The Yankees team set will cost you a bit more; they are the Yankees and were coming off a World Series win in 1977.
PSA has graded more than 1,000 Burger King Yankees cards; Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson are the most graded, and most are PSA 8s and 9s.
1978 Topps Burger King Yankees #21 Reggie Jackson – Front and Back
Three cards in the Burger King set have different front poses compared to the base set: Goose Gossage (close-up vs. action shot), Rawly Eastwick, and Jim Spencer were on different teams.
PSA 10 Reggie Jackson Burger King cards have surged in price lately, commanding prices between $550 and $650 compared to just $200 and $250 a few years ago. A PSA 10 Munson sold for $365 in 2020.
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King New York Yankees Checklist:
1 Billy Martin
2 Thurman Munson
3 Cliff Johnson
4 Ron Guidry
5 Ed Figueroa
6 Dick Tidrow
7 Catfish Hunter
8 Don Gullett
9 Sparky Lyle
10 Goose Gossage
11 Rawly Eastwick
12 Chris Chambliss
13 Willie Randolph
14 Graig Nettles
15 Bucky Dent
16 Jim Spencer
17 Fred Stanley
18 Lou Piniella
19 Roy White
20 Mickey Rivers
21 Reggie Jackson
22 Paul Blair
No Number Checklist
1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers set is the most significant team set in the 1978 Burger King Series because of the inclusion of individual rookie cards of Alan Trammel, Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris. Thank goodness Detroit was a big market in the late 70s, or we would never have got this set because, as I said earlier, they were mediocre in 1977! Now, a lot of folks won’t consider the individual Tigers rookie cards TRUE rookies since they weren’t nationally released, but that doesn’t make them any less popular.
PSA has graded over 2500 cards from the set, with Trammell having the most, followed by Whitaker and Morris. And they’re pricey cards now. A PSA 10 Trammel changed hands for $2k in May 2020, a PSA 9 Whitaker sold for $519 in February 2023, and a PSA 10 Morris sold for $1374 in June 2019.
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers #15 Alan Trammell – Front and Back
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers #13 Lou Whitaker – Front and Back
1978 Topps Burger King Tigers #8 Jack Morris – Front and Back
Besides the rookies featured on their own cards, other variations from the base set include Jack Billingham, Jim Slaton, and Steve Dillard, who were all pictured on different teams.
Here’s the entire 1978 Topps Burger King Detroit Tigers Checklist:
1 Ralph Houk
2 Milt May
3 John Wockenfuss
4 Mark Fidrych
5 Dave Rozema
6 Jack Billingham
7 Jim Slaton
8 Jack Morris
9 John Hiller
10 Steve Foucault
11 Milt Wilcox
12 Jason Thompson
13 Lou Whitaker
14 Aurelio Rodriguez
15 Alan Trammell
16 Steve Dillard
17 Phil Mankowski
18 Steve Kemp
19 Ron LeFlore
20 Tim Corcoran
21 Mickey Stanley
22 Rusty Staub
No Number Checklist
Despite the nearly identical design, these four regionally distributed 1978 Topps Burger King sets augment the base set well. This is particularly noteworthy when considering the updated images and individual rookie cards of famous players.
The Burger King promotion wasn’t the only one Topps ran in 1978. Later this week, I’ll continue highlighting the collectibles accompanying the 1978 Topps baseball flagship product when I highlight the team checklists that Topps distributed via a wrapper redemption.
