I could probably fill the rest of this page with my memories of the 1978 set because it was the first one I collected. I think most collectors maintain an affection for and an encyclopedic knowledge of their first set that eclipses almost anything else in the hobby for them. Suffice to say here I was in the 4th grade at Highland Elementary School in Cheshire, CT. when, in the spring of 1978, I subscribed to Dynamite Magazine as part of our annual Scholastic book orders. Shortly afterward, I received the April copy, with Mad's Alfred E. Neuman on the cover, and a panel of 6 uncut 1978 Topps cards stapled into the spine - Darrell Porter, Al Oliver and 2 each of Tony Perez and Cecil Cooper (my luck to hit the double print row!). I knew virtually nothing about the game at that point, other than that the Yankees had won the World Series the previous year, and cards were to become my entry into that world.
I passed hours reading - in fact probably memorizing - every word on those cards. Within a week or two my mother bought me my first wax pack at Morton's Pharmacy in Cheshire, and I opened them up in the waiting room of her chiropractor's office. I can clearly recall receiving Luis Tiant, the Sparky Lyle record breaker, Jose Baez (had to ask mom how to pronounce that one), Rick Manning and George Hendrick, but the other 9 are lost to me now.
I spent the rest of the year buying pack after pack - wax, cello and rack - slowly building towards a set. To this day I can page through the set in its binder and tell you which cards I obtained myself in packs and which I got from friends' extras - there's something about the look of the cards which, all these decades later, is slightly different to me in a way I can't fully articulate. I could go on about the last cards I needed for each team, but the dirty dozen, the ones that took me the longest, were Mike Jorgensen (A's), Bo McLaughlin (Astros), Bill Virdon (Astros), Ed Kirkpatrick (Brewers), the Mariners team checklist, Reggie Cleveland (Red Sox), Dave Garcia (Angels), Otto Velez (Blue Jays), Glenn Burke (Dodgers), Dan Meyer (Mariners), Checklist 485-605 and, the dirtiest of the dozen, Gary Ross of the Angels (click on the Baseball 1978 link above for the rundown on how I completed the set).
The 1978 set will always be my favorite. The player's image is surrounded by a fairly wide colored border, and a small baseball with the player's position inset in one of the upper two corners. The team name is written in brightly-colored cursive text in the lower left, and the player's name appears in a simple black font in the lower right. The images are, with few exceptions, outstanding. Like several other players, Jim Rice (shown here) is depicted radiating joy, as if saying "DAMN - I'm a big league ball player!!"
The backs were printed in orange and blue against gray, and feature a 'play' to be used in a card game which NO ONE I knew ever actually played.
In 1978, Topps began lettering each printing sheet. Every card, usually as part of the small print in the copyright line on the reverse, was marked A, B, C, D, E of F according to which sheet it was cut from .
"A" Sheet
"B" Sheet
"C" Sheet
"D" Sheet
"E" Sheet
"F" Sheet
In 1978, Topps upped the card count in the set from 660 to 726 - a difference of 66, or half the cards on a standard 12x11 sheet. Unable to print a new full 6th sheet (which would create 792 cards), they instead double-printed 66 cards across all 6 sheets. So, if you recall having an excess of certain cards this might be the explanation. Those cards which exist in twice the supply as the others are:
15 - Tony Perez
20 - Pete Rose
24 - Don Money
51 - Charlie Moore
53 - Phil Garner
68 - Steve Foucault
79 - Darrell Johnson
93 - Bobby Cox
135 - Ron Guidry
154 - Cecil Cooper
157 - Pete LaCock
177 - Gene Garber
186 - Bob Stanley
187 - Jerry Royster
202 - HR Leaders
204 - Steal Leaders
206 - K Leaders
207 - ERA Leaders
211 - Earl Weaver
225 - Don Gullett
228 - Manny Mota
242 - Barry Bonnell
244 - Expos Team
248 - Frank White
249 - Dave Goltz
250 - Graig Nettles
252 - Steve Swisher
265 - Sal Bando
271 - Randy Lerch
276 - Bill Bonham
281 - Eric Rasmussen
285 - Steve Yeager
297 - Warren Brusstar
311 - Jose Baez
316 - Henry Cruz
323 - Jim Fregosi
326 - Mike Lum
327 - Rick Langford
343 - John Wathan
349 - Rick Camp
366 - Larry Milbourne
388 - Bill Fahey
394 - Roy Howell
396 - Bob Stinson
414 - Darold Knowles
417 - Mike Garman
425 - Steve Rogers
436 - Vic Harris
449 - Tim Blackwell
461 - Rob Andrews
496 - Jim Clancy
518 - Tommy Boggs
539 - Vic Davalillo
543 - Larry Harlow
544 - Len Randle
548 - Billy Hunter
585 - Woodie Fryman
619 - Thad Bosley
621 - Craig Swan
624 - Gary Alexander
626 - Blue Jays Team
640 - Lee May
646 - Rick Auerbach
653 - Ron Hodges
703 - Rookie Pitchers
711 - Rookie Pitchers
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Wax packs contained 14 cards (along with a stick of gum) and sold for 20 cents each. They were packed 36 per box and cases contained 16 boxes each.
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Wrappers came with one of 3 advertisements - the uncut team checklist sheet ($0.50 plus one wrapper), the Sports Card Locker ($4.75 plus 75 cents and a wrapper), and a general ad for Smooth N'Juicy Bubblegum.
The card locker was the same model that was available from 1975-1982 - it contained plastic tiers for sorting cards by team and included stickers featuring team names.
The team checklist sheet came tri-folded and was printed on white stock which was thinner (and flimsier) than regular cards. With 27 slots and only 26 team cards, the 27th space was taken by a locker offer on the front and a Smooth N'Juicy ad on the reverse.
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Grocery packs consisted of 3 wax packs overwrapped together on a cardboard tray. These didn't carry a factory-set price but were likely priced at 60 cents in most places.
Grocery packs were packaged 24 per display tray, and cases contained two trays.
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The cardboard tray advertised the card locker on the reverse. Unlike the ads on the wax wrappers, the uncut team card sheets and the rack pack header card (below), these ads did NOT require the 75 cent handling fee.
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Cello packs contained 21 cards (along with a stick of gum) and retailed for 30 cents each. They were packaged 24 per box, and cases contained 15 boxes.
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Rack packs held 39 cards and sold for 59 cents each. Racks were packaged 24 per box and cases contained either 3 (above) or 6 (below) boxes.
Header cards had a card locker ad on the reverse.
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Dealers and other interested parties could purchase 500-count vending boxes directly from Topps. Vending boxes came in cases of 24 boxes each.
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Out of 726 total cards, the set contained 640 basic player cards, which included 17 cards with special All Star Shields (blue over red for the AL and red over blue for the NL). These included:
American League:
580 - Rod Carew, Twins 1B
620 - Willie Randolph, Yankees 2B
245 - Rick Burleson, Red Sox SS
100 - George Brett, Royals 3B
200 - Reggie Jackson, Yankees OF
40 - Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox OF
270 - Carlton Fisk, Red Sox C
160 - Jim Palmer, Orioles P
National League:
350 - Steve Garvey, Dodgers 1B
300 - Joe Morgan, Reds 2B
180 - Dave Concepcion, Reds SS
630 - Ron Cey, Dodgers 3B
420 - Greg Luzinski, Phillies OF
500 - George Foster, Reds OF
560 - Dave Parker, Pirates OF
700- Johnny Bench, Reds C
310 - Don Sutton, Dodgers P
Each of these players were starters on the 1977 squads, but Richie Zisk's card (110) was not marked even though he started in the outfield for the AL. His omission may have been due to the fact that while he played in the game as a member of the White Sox, he was acquired by the Rangers in the off-season, and his 1978 card is a paint job.
Also included in the 640 basic card count are 11 All Star Rookie cards, featuring members of the 1977 Topps All Star Rookie team. Small gold cups marked these cards, and for the first time (and last until 2018) a designated hitter was recognized. Continuing a tradition begun in 1960, 1978 marked the final year they were recognized until 1987.
267 - Doug Ault, Blue Jays 1B
23 - Bump Wills, Rangers 2B
196 - Bob Bailor, Blue Jays SS
139 - Wayne Gross, A's 3B
55 - Mitchell Page, A's OF
72 - Andre Dawson, Expos OF
141 - Ruppert Jones, Mariners OF
624 - Gary Alexander, Giants C
419 - Jerry Garvin, Blue Jays LHP
124 - Dave Rozema, Tigers RHP
36 - Eddie Murray, Orioles DH
Cards 1-7 feature record-breaking performances from 1977. Card backs present details of the accomplishments in a faux-newspaper format.
Cards 201-208 are 1977 League Leader cards. They depict images of the AL and NL leaders in 8 different statistical categories on the front, and a list of the top 10 from each league on the back.
Cards 411-412 featured highlights of the 1977 ALCS (411), NLCS (412) and World Series (413). Backs provided series statistics for the winning club in each series. Apart from a brief, awkward return 1981, this was the final time Topps featured post season highlights in their sets until the late 1990s. They had done so annually, with the sole previous exception of 1966, since 1961.
26 team checklist cards are scattered throughout the set. Each features a team photo on the front (except for the Cubs', which again depicted small player portraits) and a checklist of all the players depicted from that club in the 1978 set, as well as the manager.
For the first time since 1974, and last time until 1983, Topps included cards of MLB managers in its set in 1978.
Card fronts were the most elaborate ever for managers - a large color photo of the manager, set against a smaller black and white image (made to look torn from an old newspaper) of him as a professional ball player, either with a major league or minor league club.
Backs featured lifetime professional playing statistics and a small career highlights side panel.
25 manager cards were included in the set, with only the Brewers lacking such a card - as noted on the reverse of the Brewers' team checklist card, the club had not named a manager by the time the cards had to go to press.
Cards 701-711 each feature four rookies Topps presumably thought would go onto great things. Each card is categorized by player position - rookie pitchers, rookie catchers, etc.
6 checklist cards marked the set off in increments of 121: 1-121, 122-242, 243-363, 364-484, 485-605 and 606-726.
A full checklist of the 1978 set, including printable formats, can be found at the Trading Card Database HERE.
No Hall of Famers take bows in the 1978 set, and the only significant player to make his final appearance is the late, potentially great Lyman Bostock. Bostock was a rising star and outstanding young man who was finishing his first season as an Angel free agent signee when, following a game in Chicago on September 24, he was fatally shot while visiting friends in Gary, IN.
Card 520 of Larry Hisle is missing the stitches inside the baseball bearing his position marker.
Stiches caused issues on other cards as well.
Roric Harrison (536) has two versions - one with stitches printed solely in black and another with the proper red ink added in addition to, but not replacing, the black ink.
Jose Morales (374) has 3 variations - like Harrison there is a solely black stitch variety and a combined black and red version, but for Morales Topps did issue a version using only the proper red ink, although the stitching pattern on the bottom has a break.
One version of Bump Wills' card (23) bears a man-made circle which was probably applied to the card for some reason during the proofing process and forgotten about. The more common version lacks the circle.
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What...ME worry? Scholastic's 'Dynamite' magazine again offered small uncut strips of Topps cards to its readers in their April issue.
It was via this source I obtained the very first baseball cards I ever owned, and after hunting I was able to find the precise panel on eBay. I have no memory of getting 2 copies of Cooper and Perez, but obviously I must have.
In a rare item, here we see Topps photographer Doug McWilliams taking the image of Wayne Gross which would appear on his 1978 card.
Some years back I was able to purchase the original color photos used for Darrell Evans' and Kent Tekulve's cards from the Topps Vault on eBay.
Order your Topps cello (left) and rack (right) packs today - the kids love 'em!