%20-%201st.jpg)
I have no idea when or how I found my first 1966 cards, but I do recall being in a used book store in Bethesda, MD in the early 1990s and discovering a cardboard box with an assortment of loose mid-1960s Topps baseball and football cards. The proprietor said he was charging 50% of the low column in the current Sport Americana Price Guide (remember those?) for each. I grabbed probably close to 100 cards from 1964-1967, including maybe 40 or so from 1966 (to this day I could kick myself for completely ignoring the football cards), and they were all in great condition. I set about to build the set in the late '00s, mainly via eBay, and had it complete within a year or so. The high number cards were a killer.
Even though the Angels switched from "Los Angeles" to "California" for 1965, all 1966 Angels cards apparently feature older images as all either show players in capless poses, with cap logos airbrushed out, or in profile. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta for 1966. Cards in series 1-5 feature airbrushed caps or capless photos, but in series 6 and 7, some players who were photographed in spring training are pictured with the Atlanta "A" on their caps
The player's name and position are displayed on a wide colored bar along the bottom of the card, and his team is indicated on a similarly-colored banner running diagonally across the upper left corner of the image.
Backs are printed in orange and black against a white background. Some interesting factoid about the player is illustrated by a cartoon in the upper left.
The set is, honestly, pretty plain looking. It pales against both the bold 1965 design and the classic 1967 look which would follow it.
Wax packs contained 5 cards (plus a stick of gum) and sold for 5 cents each. Boxes contained 24 packs. Cases contained either 24 or 12 boxes.
Wax wrappers came in two basic designs - one labeled "All the Top Major League Stars" and another shouting "EXTRA Full-Color Rub-Off Photo in Each Pack".
Top Stars wrappers are known to have been accompanied by side-panel ads for baseball sunglasses (500 Bazooka comics or $1 and 20 comics) or charter membership in a secret club (with a wallet-sized membership card and certificate suitable for framing), and a ring with a secret compartment containing a stamp in the form of the initial of your choice (175 Bazooka comics or 35 cents and 5 comics). Oddly, Top Stars wrappers also came with instructions for the rub-offs, which didn't come in these particular packs.
Rub-Off wrappers can be found with the ring/club and sunglass offers as well as with instructions for applying the rub-off within.
Wax boxes came in a plain version and one which advertised the rub-offs.
The rub-offs were thin, fragile slips of paper bearing an image which, through rubbing, could be transferred to other surfaces. They were transparent, and the image could be seen 'correctly' when viewed from the rear. The set contains 120 rub-offs - 100 players and 20 team pennants.
From available evidence it is known the rub-offs were issued with at least series 1-4, and that they definitely were not issued with series 6.
New in 1966 were so-called 'grocery packs' - so-called due to their intended point of sale. These were 6 wax packs overwrapped in clear cellophane on a cardboard backer. They came 48 per case. Grocery packs in some form existed through the mid-80s. There is currently no available imagery of 1966 groceries.
%20-%203rd.jpg)
%20-%20Special%20Feature_edited_edited_edited_edited.png)
Cello packs were advertised to contain 12 cards and sold for 10 cents each. The number of cards actually included could vary - packs opened in recent years have yielded 10, 11, 13 and even 14 cards.
For 1966, Topps introduced 'rak-paks', a marketing variety which would be a staple in the hobby for decades to come. Raks contained three 12-card cellos overwrapped in plastic and secured by a cardboard header. Depending on the series, each individual cello contained a rub-off. They sold for 29 cents and were packed 48 per case. All 1st series rack cases came with a stand for store display.
500-card vending boxes were available as usual, but no imagery can currently be found.
The 1966 set contains 598 cards issued across 7 series. It contains 489 basic player cards and a variety of specialty subsets.
Included among the 489 basic player cards are 10 players from the 1965 Topps All Star Rookie team. Each is designated by a small gold trophy on their card.
72 - Tony Perez, Reds 1B
195 - Joe Morgan, Astros 2B
298 - Rico Petrocelli, Red Sox SS
376 - Paul Schaal, Angels 3B
35 - Ron Swoboda, Mets OF
460 - Curt Blefary, Orioles OF
505 - Jose Cardenal, Angels OF 137 - Pat Corrales, Cardinals C
78 - Frank Linzy, Giants RHP
155 - Marcelino Lopez, Angels LHP
Series 1: 1-109
Each series, was printed on a 264-card full sheet which was divided into 2 individual 'slits' or smaller, 132-card half sheets. In series 1, each slit contains 10 different rows of 11 cards for a total of 110 cards, but because the series 1 checklist is appears in 2 rows, the series contains 109 unique cards. Each slit features 2 rows, 22 cards, printed twice. This produced a total of 44 cards printed in 50% greater quantities than the rest. These over-printed cards are:
80 - Richie Allen
21 - Don Nottebart
84 - Braves Rookie Stars
103 - Dick Groat
32 - Adolfo Phillips
33 - Jim Pagliaroni
37 - Billy Herman
40 - Jim Grant
58 - Dave Wickersham
17 - Johnny Stephenson
50 - Mickey Mantle
30 - Pete Rose
78 - Frank Linzy
6 - Chuck Schilling
16 - Larry Brown
51 - Gordon Richardson
77 - Johnny Orsino
99 - Buc Belters
8 - Floyd Robinson
61 - Bob Bolin
95 - Pete Richert
101 - 2nd Series Checklist
53 - Bob Duliba
100 - Sandy Koufax
5 - Jim Fregosi
74 - Don Mossi
49 - Woody Woodward
68 - Hal Reniff
88 - Fred Whitfield
2 - Ted Abernathy
13 - Lou Johnson
56 - Sandy Valdespino
20 - Willie Horton
67 - Mets Rookie Stars
45 - Jim Gentile
12 - John Tsitouris
73 - Jerry Zimmerman
38 - Ron Nischwitz
87 - Don Napoleon
36 - Jim Hunter
93 - Jim Lonborg
46 - Howie Koplitz
90 - Luis Aparicio
107 - Athletics Rookie Stars
Of the 109 unique cards in series 1, 93 are basic player cards (including the Swoboda, Perez and Linzy All Star Rookies, above), and the remaining 16 belong to one of several subsets.
Series 1 contains three team cards - the Giants, Reds and Yankees. Card backs display the club's 1965 hitting and pitching leaders, and provide a detailed breakdown of each pitcher's record against the other 9 clubs in the league.
For unknown reasons, the set doesn't contain a team photo card of the Astros.
Three manager cards appear in series 1 - Sam Mele/Twins, Billy Herman/Red Sox and Red Schoendienst/Cardinals.
Card backs feature a narrative account of some the manager's career highlights.
The Chicago Cubs are not represented with a manager card in the set - they were between managers and did not hire Leo Durocher in time to include him in the set.
Series 1 includes six 2-player Rookie Stars cards featuring youngsters with little or no MLB experience. Included are cards for the Senators, Orioles, Indians, Mets, Braves and A's.
Series 1 features two star combo cards. Backs feature narrative descriptions of their accomplishments.
Series 1 includes the checklist cards for both Series 1 and Series 2.
1966 was the final year that checklists didn't solely list that series' cards. Beginning in 1967, the first and last cards on each checklists corresponded to the first and last cards in that series.
When Don Landrum's card (43) was first printed, Topps discovered to their horror that his button fly uniform pants suggested he was not completely, well, buttoned up. To protect the innocence of America's children, they set about to airbrush this indecency off the card, but it took them two tries to get it right.
Four players changed teams in time to have a blurb inserted on their card backs in later print runs to update their status. The affected players are Merritt Ranew (62), Bob Uecker (91), Dick Groat (103) and Alex Johnson (104).
Early printings of the second series checklist listed card 115 as Warren Spahn. Originally intended to be included in the set, the future Hall of Famer retired after being released by San Francisco, and Topps replaced him with Bill Henry. Somehow, they forgot to update the checklist before printing began. Once this oversight was realized, the checklist was updated to reflect Henry at card 115.
Buc Belters (99) can be found without the small black dot between the players' names (see above for comparison).
Series 2: 110-196
Series 2 contains 88 cards, arranged on printing sheets in 8 rows of 11. Each series 2 slit has all 8 rows plus a repeated block of 4 rows. Together, a full 264 card sheet contains each card exactly 3 times, with no over- or short-prints. With 87 unique cards (not counting a reprint of the series 2 checklist, a series 1 card), 75 are basic player cards (including All Star Rookies Corrales, Lopez and Morgan) while 12 belong to various subsets.
Series 2 contains the Angels, Mets and Senators team photo cards.
Series 2 contains three manager cards - Walt Alston/Dodgers, Lum Harris/Astros and Chuck Dressen/Tigers. Harris' card indicates he was let go from his position with the Astros on December 12, 1965.
Series 2 features four 2-player Rookie Stars cards. Included are the Pirates, Cubs, White Sox and Cardinals.
Series 2 has only a single star combo card.
The series 3 checklist is part of series 2, and can be found in two versions - one with larger type which extends to the bottom of the card front, and another with smaller type and a gap between above the card bottom.
The latter version was printed with series 2 and the former with series 3.
Series 3: 197-283
Like series 2 before it, series 3 contains 88 cards, arranged on printing sheets in 8 rows of 11. Each series 3 slit has all 8 rows plus a repeated block of 4 rows. Together, a full 264 card sheet contains each card exactly 3 times, with no over- or short-prints. The images above are mocked-up series 3 slits based upon analysis of miscuts. With 87 unique cards (not counting a reprint of the series 3 checklist, a series 2 card), 61 are basic player cards and 26 belong to various subsets.
Cards 215-226 depict the top 3 performers from each league in six statistical categories - HR, RBI, Batting Average, ERA, Strikeouts and Pitching (a.k.a. Victories) - from 1965. Card backs list the top 50 in each category.
A.L. cards (even numbers) feature a red banner, while N.L. cards (odd numbers) have blue.
Series 3 has five 2-player Rookie Stars cards featuring the Tigers, Yankees, Astros, Phillies and Twins.
Series 3 features team photo cards of the Cubs, Dodgers and Red Sox.
Three manager cards are included in series 3 - Hank Bauer/Orioles, Bill Rigney/Angels and Don Heffner/Reds.
Series 3 has two star combo cards.
Series 3 features the the series 4 checklist.
Series 4: 284-370
Series 4 follows the same pattern as series 2 and series 3 - it contains 88 cards, with each slit having all 8 rows plus a repeated block of 4 rows. Together, a full 264 card sheet contains each card exactly 3 times, with no over- or short-prints. The images above are mock-ups based upon available miscuts. With 87 unique cards (not counting a reprint of the series 4 checklist, a series 3 card), 76 are basic player cards (including All Star Rookie Petrocelli) and 11 belong to various subsets.
Series 4 features team photo cards of the Indians, Braves and Orioles.
Series 4 contains 3 manager cards - Johnny Keane/Yankees, Harry Walker/Pirates and Wes Westrum/Mets.
Series 4 includes four 2-player Rookie Stars cards - Dodgers, Reds, Senators and Red Sox.
Series 4 contains the 5th series checklist.
Both the Indians (303) and Braves (326) team photo cards can be found with and without the small dot between "5th Place" and the league name.
Series 5: 371-446
Series 5 continues contains 77 cards. Each slit contains the 7 different rows of 11 cards with 5 duplicate rows. This resulted in 33 cards being printed in 1/3 greater quantity than the other 44. The image on the left above is an actual image of one of the series 5 slits. The image on the right is a mock-up of what the other slit almost certainly looked like, based upon miscuts and population counts. The 33 over-printed cards are:
387 - Howie Reed
375 - Donn Clendenon
372 - Harvey Kuenn
401 - Ken McMullen
385 - Ken Boyer
441 - Tommie Sisk
377 - Turk Farrell
433 - Alvin Dark
371 - Lee Stange
374 - Bob Locker
403 - Fred Talbot
417 - Angels Rookie Stars
376 - Paul Schaal
384 - Al Downing
445 - Jim Kaat
415 - Max Alvis
395 - Len Gabrielson
404 - Pirates Team Photo
412 - Sam Bowens
418 - Phil Gagliano
394 - Ron Brand
408 - Lee Thomas
429 - Bill Monboquette
439 - Pedro Ramos
428 - Sandy Alomar
432 - Bob Heffner
373 - Giants Rookie Stars
390 - Brooks Robinson
430 - Don Drysdale
393 - George Brunet
379 - Cardinals Team Photo
420 - Juan Marichal
378 - Dick Tracewski
With 76 unique cards (not counting a reprint of the series 5 checklist, a series 4 card), 64 are basic player cards (including All Star Rookie Schaal) and 12 belong to various subsets.
Series 5 contains team photo cards of the Cardinals, Pirates and White Sox.
Series 5 includes 3 manager cards - Gil Hodges/Senators, Gene Mauch/Phillies and Alvin Dark/A's.
Series 5 includes five 2-player Rookie Stars cards representing the Giants, Cubs, Angels, Reds and Orioles.
The series 6 checklist can be found with card 456 listed as "Red Sox Rookies" or "R. Sox Rookies". One version was printed as part of series 5 and the other as part of series 6, but it is not known which was with which.
The Pirates team photo card (404) can be found with and without the small dot between "3rd Place" and "National League".
Series 6: 447-522
Series 6 A Slit Image Needed
Series 6 B Slit Image Needed
Series 6 was issued with 77 different cards (76 unique, because the 6th series checklist is a 5th series card). Each slit contains the seven different rows of 11 cards each with 5 duplicate rows each. The result is that 33 cards are printed in 1/3 greater quantity than the remaining 44. No known images of complete slits exist, and efforts thus far to reconstruct either slit have proven futile due to an absolute dearth of miscuts - this may have been the most flawlessly cut series in Topps history. Until and unless more information is acquired, it is impossible to say with any certainty which 33 cards are over-printed.
Though certainly more available than series 7 cards, those in series 6 are harder to find than, and can still command decent premiums over, those in earlier series. Of the 76 cards, 64 are basic player cards (including All Star Rookies Blefary and Cardenal) and the remaining 12 belong to one of several subsets.
Series 6 includes two team photo cards - the Phillies and A's.
Series 6 has three manager cards - Eddie Stanky/White Sox, Bobby Bragan/Braves and Grady Hatton/Astros. Hatton's card indicates he was hired by Houston in December, 1965, to replace Lum Harris who appears as the Astros' manager in series 2.
Series 6 features six 2-player Rookie Stars cards - Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs, Pirates, Giants and Braves.
The series 6 checklist can be found with card 529 listed as "White Sox Rookies" or as "W. Sox Rookies". It is currently not known which was printed as part of series 6 and which as part of series 7.
Some series 6 sheets were printed on lighter, brighter card stock. These cards have a whiter reverse than the cards printed using the regular 1966 stock.
Series 7: 523-598
Series 7 is one of the scarcest high-number series produced by Topps in the 1960s - due to distribution issues and low print runs, cards are hard to find and can command extreme premiums. The two images above were constructed after weeks and months of research and analysis of miscuts and population counts. It seems that four of the seven rows were printed three times each across the 264-card full sheet, while the remaining three rows were printed four times each. As with series 6, then, this means 33 cards were are 1/3 more common than the other 44. With a high degree of probability, these over-printed cards are:
585 - Tony Taylor
530 - Robin Roberts
560 - Joel Horlen
571 - Dave Roberts
542 - George Smith
595 - Larry Jackson
523 - Bob Sadowski
582 - Garry Roggenburk
597 - John Sullivan
592 - Andre Rodgers
549 - Senators Rookie Stars
594 - Chico Salmon
535 - Willie Davis
575 - Earl Wilson
580 - Billy Williams
550 - Willie McCovey
533 - Jerry Adair
579 - Orioles Rookie Stars
537 - Herman Franks
587 - Dick Bertell
531 - Joe Cunningham
553 - Rookie Stars
554 - Jim Northrup
568 - Athletics Rookie Stars
584 - Yankees Rookie Stars
581 - Tony Martinez
534 - Mets Rookie Stars
558 - Red Sox Rookie Stars
573 - Derrell Griffith
536 - Dick Egan
529 - White Sox Rookie Stars
572 - Bob Priddy
574 - Mets Rookie Stars
Because of the reprint of the series 7 checklist (a series 6 card), series 7 contains 76 unique cards. Of these, 56 are basic player cards and 20 belong to a subset.
Series 7 contains the Twins and Tigers team photo cards.
Series 7 includes two manager cards - Herman Franks/Giants and Birdie Tebbetts/Indians.
Series 7 includes four 3-player team-specific Rookie Stars cards - White Sox, Cardinals, Red Sox and Orioles.
Series 7 includes ten 2-player Rookie Stars cards for specific teams - the Giants, Mets (x2), Astros (x2), Senators, Twins, A's (x2) and Yankees.
Series 7 has a single National League Rookie Stars card with players from different teams, and a single generic Rookie Stars card featuring one player from each league.
Hall of Famers Jim Palmer (126), Ferguson Jenkins (254) and Don Sutton (288) debut in the 1966 set, as do Mickey Stanley (198), Roy White (234), Lee May (424), Bobby Murcer (469) and George Scott (558).
Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax (100) and Robin Roberts (530) make their final appearances, as do Bobby Richardson (490) and Bob Friend (519).
This beautiful 1966 Topps sell sheet provides valuable information - it shows that there were two versions of wax cases - one containing 24 boxes and another with 12 - and it offers evidence of grocery packs ('tray of six 5 cent packs') when any imagery is currently lacking.
The rub-offs were cut from large rolls.
The a rak-pak specific sell sheet.
