top of page
topps1980-340F--74b06fd9b79779889caaa4b6eaefdacb7123259e.jpg
topps1980-602F--c204c7a439239d3942334f4b087b07090cea9fb9.jpg
topps1980-320F--4215ff47ad4d666e43a29369e889df95dd27c79e.jpg
topps1980-379F--43314f2aadc8467d04f9cb237bbfed64659392d0.jpg
topps1980-564F--36e023ce59f68a5d5da749fb79c713672626e711.jpg
topps1980-358F--9f5fab4c0d60df21b4636c4c33ea89d999daf858.jpg
topps1980-623F--f53da41718cdee5123ac8f7612b58939c3bfca7f.jpg
topps1980-248F--69bf6ba9d76371a1d4723e05b9deba11c8a86ea1.jpg
topps1980-432F--efc9a1e6ad06a0dcdebe084e35438bcdd6fb852f.jpg
topps1980-49F--2e7196cedb747a90f8c246526727258c80a86178.jpg
topps1980-710F--e47cdf0b5d43326fffeaaa57cb0b2ceba7d2bb0d.jpg
topps1980-143F--05eede4a9bdba343c9a250960a243cb7f97d9fe8.jpg
topps1980-581F--9e82006517e2c50db6618f0c1df91f5e95cabab1.jpg
topps1980-620F--23ff556acda9c3ec96279e750830e1819559235f.jpg
topps1980-639F--f400f216a8ba538134ea38da2b0fce439a2d8810.jpg
topps1980-395F--90ce3eccc2e7c054d747250006085ee8602cbdcd.jpg
topps1980-172F--6bd9af45f116335711233797ef0ccb0cb5e9f52c.jpg
topps1980-52F--8b1510c20df4e196915173a213d47046111cd0a3.jpg
topps1980-246F--8e29e45ba4bf590ac09235246b86767f11305bca.jpg
topps1980-464F--a3bd2e1e2119ff3e3cdc4b5dcef0d63e46bb4ec2.jpg
topps1980-545F--062722ff7943b5830d729404545a198d9278ecd0.jpg
topps1980-126F--7a6fff0444247b55dee916ca5cfddc410aafc475.jpg
topps1980-129F--4261943bd910329ebb133c13d0ba6bfe078b896b.jpg
topps1980-104F--b1d084d9522797db24f29a1cff61ff2c54aa0ce2.jpg
topps1980-598F--d338f3e399acf5ec983f52b70bc24506e2339a54.jpg
topps1980-279F--dd6c9a942c1e8df440cf3a1babaab8c5d6cfa146.jpg

Sometime early in 1980, I went to my friend Dave's house shortly after his family got home from the store.  He had purchased several packs of new 1980 cards and had some extras to give me.  Up to this point, I had not seen the 1980s yet, and to this day I recall he gave me Mike Caldwell, John Castino, Mike Edwards and Pete Rose (my friends and I NEVER traded cards; if we only had one of a particular card, we were keeping it; if we had doubles, we'd give them away).  

Within a few days, my own family had gone to the same Waterbury McCrory's store where I had discovered the 1979s the previous year and I came away with 4 or 5 rack packs.  The one card I definitely recall obtaining in that first haul was Joe Nolan of the Braves.

 

I don't have very many collecting memories from 1980, but one I do have is of my mom being in the hospital for a couple of days for an operation.  My dad and I went to visit her and she had a small brown bag on her lap in the bed from which she drew a wax pack.  After I'd opened it, she smiled a drew another.  This went on for several packs.  I recall that I got the Dodgers' Von Joshua that day (mom fully recovered and was fine). 

 

  

 

 

I absolutely love the design of the 1980 set - I've always been a sucker for the use of boldly-colored banners.  Card fronts feature the player's name atop a round-cornered box containing his photo and a facsimile autograph.  A small banner in the upper left contains his position, and a large banner across the lower right has the team name.  The images are generally very good - posed shots are bright and colorful and action shots are well-framed and interesting to look at.     

The backs were printed in blue and black against gray, and featured a small factoid about the player with an accompanying cartoon.  

topps1980-429F--74d73393ad3a89563e974f55f3f72b5f7ea10641.jpg
topps1980-429B--664b7d6e9eb7749a9442e2efdd789ec3add56b05.jpg

"A" Sheet 

1980B 1 PRYOR.jpg

"B" Sheet 

1980B 5 SANGUILLEN.jpg

"C" Sheet 

"D" Sheet 

Sheet C.jpg
Sheet D.webp

"E" Sheet 

"F" Sheet 

Sheet E.jpg
Sheet F.jpg

For the third of 4 consecutive years, Topps kept to a 726-card set in 1980 - a number which required the double printing of 66 cards across the 6 sheets which were lettered A-F (each card was marked with its sheet letter near the trademark information on the reverse).  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:

12 - John Curtis

32 - Julio Cruz

34 - Jeff Newman

38 - Dan Spillner

47 - Bill Bonham

51 - Joe Ferguson

71 - John Milner

72 - Fred Howard

93 - Dave Roberts

110 - Fred Lynn

122 - Dave Rosello

143 - Bruce Bochte

151 - Tom Hausman

157 - Willie Wilson

158 - Rob Picciolo

183 - Jim Anderson

184 - Steve Renko

198 - Dell Alston

211 - Dave Skaggs

213 - Mike Jorgensen

246 - Tim Foli

254 - Paul Dade

255 - Dusty Baker

263 - Dave LaRoche

270 - Mike Schmidt

271 - Dick Drago

284 - Larry Murray

286 - Darold Knowles

317 - Mike Anderson

327 - Ray Fosse

333 - Jim Norris

360 - Darrell Porter

373 - Dan Petry 

391 - Tony Armas

397 - Roy Thomas

399 - Mike Proly

403 - Pete Redfern

417 - Craig Chamberlain

418 - Roger Freed

427 - Tom Hutton

430 - Larry Hisle

459 - Mickey Lolich

462 - Mike Sadek

469 - Randy Niemann

471 - Hosken Powell

486 - Mike Tyson

489 - Preston Hanna

491 - Steve Mura

502 - Rich Wortham

513 - Tom Dixon

524 - Jim Wright

527 - Doug Rau

530 - Jim Sundberg

572 - Jerry Morales

598 - Fred Kendall 

603 - Jack Billingham

611 - Jerry Garvin

618 - Bob Montgomery

634 - Glenn Borgmann

642 - Ken Forsch

654 - Bruce Boisclair

687 - Mike Heath

692 - Rawly Eastwick

700 - Rod Carew

717 - Mickey Klutts

720 - Carl Yastrzemski 

Wax Box (36 15-Card Packs).jpg
Wax Pack (15 Cards)_edited.png

Wax packs contained 15 cards (along with a stick of gum) and sold for 25 cents each.  They were packed 36 per box and cases contained 20 boxes each. 

Wax Box open_edited.png
Wax Case (20 Boxes).jpg

Some wax packs came in a alternate version, advertising the "Hit to Win" game, for which a game card was including inside the pack.  It is uncertain whether these packs were issued throughout the season or only towards its end, but it seems clear from their availability today that they were less plentiful than the standard "15 Cards Inside" variety. 

Wax Pack Hit to win.jpg

Standard wrappers came with one of 4 advertisements - the traditional uncut team checklist sheet ($0.50 plus one wrapper), a baseball covered in facsimile autographs from the team of the purchaser's choosing ($4.25 plus $0.50 for postage and one wrapper), personalized baseball cards for which the bearer could send a SASE for more detailed information and the standard sports card locker ($5.25 plus $0.75 and one wrapper). 

Wax Wrapper 15 Cards Variations.jpg

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 an ad for personalized baseball cards on the front (a photo, biographical data, and $6.95 would get you a deck of 20) and a card locker on the reverse.

Team Checklists Back.jpg

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.  

127888245_1_x_edited.png
Team Checklists Front.jpg
user4257_pic3637_1306381261.jpg
Receipt_2024-02-22_133142.jpg

This young man from Boston took up Topps' offer and obtained his own personalized baseball cards (in actuality, it is likely a dealer submitted images of Hobson and at least some other Sox players to get his own novelty cards to sell before Topps got wise).   

Wax Wrapper Hit to Win.jpg

'Hit to Win' wrappers had a description of the game and its potential prizes.

'Hit to Win' game cards featured 3 lottery-ticket style scratch-off spaces - uncover a 'single' and you'd win a Topps Baseball Guidebook, a 'double' would net you a little league baseball, a 'triple' got you a bat and a 'home run' a Spalding glove.

 

Hit to Win Back.jpg
Hit to Win Front_edited.png
s-l400.jpg

By sending Topps 10 game cards and $0.70 cents, you could receive one of 6 different assortments of 'Supersize Glossy Photo Cards' - the same cards which were issued 5-per pack as their own stand-alone 60-card set that year.  Unknown is whether the cards obtained from the 'Hit to Win' game were the standard gray back versions or the rarer white backs.  

The Topps Baseball Guidebook measured about 3"x5" and contained 1980 rosters as well as standings and statistics from 1979

20240327_165314.jpg
Grocery Pack (3 Packs).jpg
Grocery Box (24 Packs).jpg

Grocery packs consisted of 3 wax packs packaged in one of two ways:  over a cardboard stiffening tray or in a simple plastic sleeve.  These didn't carry a factory-set price but were likely priced at 75 cents in most places.

 

Grocery packs were packaged 24 per display tray.  Cases likely contained either 2 or 3 such trays.  Larger cases of 192 packs were also available and these could be unfolded to create an in-store display stand.     

Grocery Pack Case_edited.png
Grocery Pack Back.webp

The cardboard tray advertised the card locker on the reverse.  Curiously, 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. 

Grocery Pack Plastic_edited.png

Cello packs contained  25 cards (along with a stick of gum) and retailed for 39 cents each.  They were packaged 24 per box.  

Cello Box (24 28-Card Packs).jpg
Cello Pack (25 Cards).png
Super Cello Pack (28 Cards).jpg
Super Cello Box Open.jpg
Super Cello Box (24 28-Card Packs).jpg
Super Cello Back.jpg
Game Card Back.jpg

Unlike in 1979, Topps widely distributed super packs in 1980.  Packs contained 28 cards along with a 3-piece package of soft 'Major League Bubble Gum'.  Packs retailed for 59 cents and were backed by a card with a scratch off baseball game on one side and an ad for the card locker on the other.  Boxes contained 24 packs and cases held 8 boxes. 

s-l1600 (4).jpg
2215a_lg_3bb80ffe-226a-4f28-801b-6a6844e16ac9 (1).webp
Rack Case (3 Boxes)_edited.png
14031a_lg_3d95f009-27a7-4699-9972-8a2bd4
Rack Pack with Header Card.png
Rack Pack (42 Cards).png

Rack packs held 42 cards and sold for 69 cents each.  Racks were packaged 24 per box and cases contained either 3 (left) or 6 (right) boxes.  In 1980, Topps began phasing out the use of header cards and some racks were issued with a plain plastic header section, which became the norm in later years. 

 

Header cards had either a card locker or personalized baseball card ad on the reverse.  

Rack Header Locker.jpg
Rack Header Card.jpg
K-Mart Box.jpg
Squirt Packs (3 Cards).jpg

3-card mini packs were available at K-Mart stores and at locations that sold Squirt soda.  

Some retail outlets stocked special large packages that contained 80 cards and a cardboard collecting box.  The back of the package contained a checklist of the entire set.  

Oddly, even though the package contained 80 cards, the box only held 50.

Blister Pack Back.jpg
Collecting Box.jpg
Blister Pack (80 Cards).jpg
Vending Case (24 Boxes)_edited.png
Vending Box_edited.png

Dealers and other interested parties could purchase 500-count vending boxes directly from Topps.  Vending boxes came in cases of 24 boxes each. 

Out of 726 total cards, the set contained 655 basic player cards, which included 17 cards with special All Star banners (purple for the AL and black for the NL).  These included: 

topps1980-580F--1f1a2f8e139c9dc171045175c45d07f7845fa30b.jpg
topps1980-210F--a76bb5ed4b70634cb3e79f4ca41ecaf50e69b941.jpg

American League:

700 - Rod Carew, Angels 1B

45 - Frank White, Royals 2B

570 - Roy Smalley, Twins SS

450 - George Brett, Royals 3B

110 - Fred Lynn, Red Sox OF

200 - Jim Rice, Red Sox OF

720 - Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox OF

360 - Darrell Porter, Royals C

580 - Nolan Ryan, Angels P

National League:

290 - Steve Garvey, Dodgers 1B

560 - Dave Lopes, Dodgers 2B

630 - Larry Bowa, Phillies SS

270 - Mike Schmidt, Phillies 3B

230 - Dave Winfield, Padres OF

310 - Dave Parker, Pirates OF

400 - George Foster, Reds OF

215 - Steve Carlton, Phillies, P

Each of these players were starters on the 1979 squads, but for some reason Bob Boone's card (470) was not marked even though he started at catcher for the NL. 

 

Yet again, the set did not recognize members of the previous season's All Star Rookie Team with small gold cups or trophies.  The 1979 Topps All Star Rookie Team as it might have been designated in the 1980 set consisted of:

(Danny Ainge, the 1979 All Star Rookie second baseman from the Blue Jays, did not appear in the set for some reason)

  22 - Pat Putnam, Rangers 1B

558 - Alfredo Griffin, Blue Jays SS

137 - John Castino, Twins 3B

106 - Jeffrey Leonard, Astros OF

458 - Billy Sample, Rangers OF

574 - Scot Thompson, Cubs OF

519 - Steve Nicosia, Pirates C

638 - Mark Clear, Angels LHP

138 - Ross Baumgarten, White Sox RHP

topps1980-6F--3214022095ed0dd5642d32b4d549f83d0454c878.jpg
topps1980-6B--df68c81a5ac2764aa17bd5792144b83c6032cfdd.jpg

Cards 1-6 feature highlights from the 1979 season, with newspaper-like descriptions of each on the reverse. 

topps1980-201F--0b4592b330fd576f8fb7fff7f718e532cabe7499.jpg

Cards 201-207 are 1979 Leage Leader cards and feature images of the AL and NL leaders in a particular statistical category on the front, and a list of the top 10 from each league on the back. 

topps1980-201B--e0ce5d7f6442637b8e2ddb09a058cd1ecdb43e39.jpg

26 team checklist cards are scattered throughout the set - each features a small inset photo of the club's manager on the front and a complete listing of all that team's players included in the set on the reverse.  The Cubs' again features a collection of small player portraits, and the Royals' lacks an image of manager Jim Frey on the front, though his name does appear.

topps1980-282F--181bd2b31f1c79a81e38fd8e9c6dc10b2608403b.jpg
topps1980-282B--6ea00b5888f5b5048ee3c0f553b0bdbdeb6555a9.jpg
topps1980-662F--a2fd44174a95e06a227a29d72548dfb5cb8c699a.jpg

Cards 661-686 are "Future Stars" cards, one for each club, each depicting 3 promising youngsters. 

 

Unlike in 1979, Topps mercifully used color pictures.  

topps1980-662B--2864957639a0d6d6cf5696be5fc4ba50e9a07ada.jpg
topps1980-241F--5e7daa60168bc662402bd5f378fdc587f0044ee9.jpg
topps1980-241B--cdc9fec07e61466003b38b57d27925c1f732b6aa.jpg

A full checklist of the 1980 set, including printable formats, can be found at the Trading Card Database HERE

6 checklist cards mark the set off in increments of 121: 1-121, 122-242, 243-363, 364-484, 485-605 and 606-726.

topps1980-482F--cae4a8cee9c3fee59cbab3a605ea67f1ff62cd4c.jpg

Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson (482) made his debut in 1980.  

 

Also making their first appearances in 1980 are Dave Stieb (77), Mike Morgan (671) and Jesse Orosco (681). . 

Hall of Famer Willie McCovey (335) took a bow in 1980, as did Rico Carty (46), Tim McCarver (178), George Scott (414), Mickey Lolich (459), Willie Horton (532), Jesus Alou (593), Ed Kranepool (641) and Roy White (648).

topps1980-335F--c51caf661a77c9442119d9dd9737a92c30df3705.jpg
82-557Bk.jpg
82-15745494Bk.jpg
topps1980-393F--1f54e5b6d212bf33fbf1ce02d77bb0c401115f7f.jpg

Card 557 - Mark Lee - exists with the proper print sheet designator (E*) as well as with an incorrect variant (E*F*).

Recurring printing flaws exist with certain player names.  As with Fred Stanley, below, names which were supposed to have been printed in red somehow missed the red ink pass resulting in almost invisible 'ghost' names.   This flaw occurred over all 6 printing sheets, in different locations, and to cards not necessarily adjacent to each other.   

image_763ae01e-c3e5-46bf-808c-0215075b989f.image1_.jpg

Also, some cards printed at the top of print sheets can be found with missing or partial names, as with Tom Donohue and Greg Pryor.

80 donohue.jpg
s-l40.jpg
topps1980-305F--dca320688791f5ab3a083cb9d673393519b0f842.jpg
topps1980-616F--f9dcc5fa49072374104ebafd59c51a51b761a2e9.jpg
topps1980-476F--7bf610afb2cdae690f3c1fb13661f2e64f1720c1.jpg

Three Padres cards - Bob Shirley, Gene Richards and Randy Jones - were erroneously printed with a red border around the image on the front instead of the proper blue border. 

s-l16.webp
f.webp

Scholastic's 'Dynamite' magazine again offered small uncut strips of Topps cards to its readers - but for some reason in 1980 they waited until their June issue to do so.  

c.webp
3402404019_42333c1007_b.jpg

Order your supply of 1980 Topps baseball today! 

 

Choose from wax (left) or cello packs! 

82Advert1265.jpg
bottom of page