I can't recall how I acquired my first 1981 cards or what cards they were. I would have been in 7th grade at Dodd Junior High School in Cheshire, CT. However it happened, it happened, and like I did the last few summers I spent 1981 ripping packs and building a set.
I do know that 1981 was the first time I ever visited a card store. It was called Bayshore Enterprises in West Haven, CT. - somewhere off 1st Ave., right down by the Sound. I remember grabbing one of the few remaining cards I needed - Johnny Oates of the Yankees - from a drawer full of just 1981 Topps Yankees. I recall the proprietors seemed older and I have the sense now they had been in the hobby for a long time at that point.
Other than that Oates, the only other card I can remember obtaining was the Brewers' Reggie Cleveland, via a grocery pack at the IGA South in Cheshire.
The 1981 set offers novel design elements. The player's image is surround by a wide colored border, with a small version of his team's cap in the lower left with the team name and position. The player's name appears in colored type in the lower right of the border, and a small baseball containing the word "Topps" (not even the company logo) is at the lower right corner of the image.
It is an interesting and somewhat cool looking design, but the set lacks in execution - far too many grainy, soft-focused or otherwise less than sharp images as well a lot of action shots that are dark and/or where the player's face is hidden by shadows.
The backs were printed in shades of red and black. Unlike most sets, they don't offer anything apart from the standard personal data, stats and a few words about the player.
"A" Sheet
"B" Sheet
"C" Sheet
"E" Sheet
"D" Sheet
"F" Sheet
In 1981, for the final time, Topps' set consisted of 726 cards. The following year would see it grow to 792, but for now they still needed to double print 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:
9 - Pete LaCock
11 - Jim Wohlford
27 - Champ Summers
31 - Checklist 1-121
42 - Jerry White
51 - Bill Robinson
63 - Steve Renko
68 - Matt Alexander
70 - Al Oliver
72 - Barry Evans
82 - Astros Future Stars
91 - Tim Stoddard
93 - Ed Glynn
94 - Harry Spilman
128 - Gary Allenson
138 - Rich Dotson
151 - Claudell Washington
168 - Don Robinson
178 - Jim Essian
183 - Dick Davis 209 - Dickie Thon
226 - Manny Sanguillen
239 - Rick Miller
241 - Checklist 122-242
246 - Ed Ott
247 - Glenn Hubbard
290 - Bob Boone
294 - Mike Tyson
296 - Bill Nahorodny
306 - Juan Beniquez
310 - Vida Blue
323 - Jim Morris
332 - Lee Lacy
342 - Eric Rasmussen
346 - Larry Christenson
352 - Dick Tidrow
365 - Graig Nettles
383 - Eric Soderholm
391 - Dave Lemanczyk
414 - John Pacella
437 - Mike Heath
443 - Jim Beattie
447 - Junior Kennedy
450 - Dave Kingman
453 - Rob Wilfong
472 - Dyar Miller
481 - Bob Lacey
484 - Max Venable
501 - Tim Foli
519 - John Tamargo
536 - Bob Owchinko
540 - Mike Schmidt
542 - Larry Bradford
564 - Ron Hassey
569 - Al Williams
594 - Preston Hanna
598 - George Vukovich
606 - Reds Future Stars
611 - Rick Matula
644 - Ramon Aviles
657 - Mike Cubbage
694 - Bud Harrelson
704 - Bill Travers
709 - Alan Trammell
710 - Ron LeFlore
717 - Jim Barr
Wax packs contained 15 cards (along with a stick of gum and a 'Hit to Win' gamecard) and sold for 30 cents each. They were packed 36 per box and cases contained 20 boxes each.
Wrappers came with one of 4 advertisements - the traditional uncut team checklist sheet ($0.75 plus one wrapper), the always popular sports card locker ($5.75 plus 75 cents for shipping and a wrapper), one of those popular-for-a-hot-minute Classic Stripes caps ($8.00 and a wrapper) and a package of 5 Topps collecting boxes ($1.00 and a wrapper). On all 4 the opposite side panel described the 'HIt to Win' game.
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The card locker was the same model that was available from 1975-1982, and included stickers featuring team names.
Not one of the handsomest MLB caps ever produced...
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 collectors' box ad on the front and a card locker ad on the reverse.
The collectors' boxes were stock remaining from 1980.
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'Hit to Win' game cards featured 3 lottery-ticket style scratch-off spaces - uncover a 'single' and you'd win a Topps baseball book, a 'double' would net you a professional model baseball, a 'triple' got you a Wilson bat and a 'home run' a Wilson glove.
A total 8,875 prizes were available - 2,000 gloves, 12,000 bats, 25,000 balls and 500,000 books.
For four 'walks' and 40 cents, you could receive one of 5 packs of glossy oversized cards. These were actually 5 cards from a 15-card set catalogued as "1981 Topps Home Team Photos National" which were issued separately as a stand-alone Topps product in 1981.
The Topps baseball book was a pocket sized paperback which highlighted the careers of the game's most prolific HR hitters to that time.
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So-called 'grocery' packs were available primarily at, well, grocery stores. These were 3 individually wrapped small cello packs of 12 cards each (each with a stick of bubble gum) sealed in a plastic sleeve. The did not carry an MSRP.
For the first time, there was no cardboard backing and instead the reverse of the plastic sleeve contained an ad for the sports card locker.
Grocery packs were packaged 24 per 'box'. Cases included 3 boxes, and larger cases contained 192 packs and could be used as store display stands.
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Cello packs contained 28 cards (along with a stick of gum) and retailed for 49 cents each. They were packaged 24 per box and 16 boxes per case.
1981 super packs contained 28 cards and a 3-pack of SuperBazooka bubble gum. They retailed for 59 cents and were packed 24 per box. Despite a lack of images it is reasonable to assume cases contained 8 boxes as in 1980. The cardboard backing in 1981 was plain with no ads or other printing.
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Rack packs held 48 cards and carried no MSRP. They were packaged 24 per box and cases contained either 3 or, in all likelihood, 6 boxes.
On the reverse there was an ad for the sports card locker.
As usual, Topps also produced 500-count vending boxes which came 24 per case.
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Out of 726 total cards, the set contained 648 basic player cards, which included 21 cards with special All Star banners (red for the AL and green for the NL). These included:
American League:
100 - Rod Carew, Angels 1B
300 - Paul Molitor, Brewers 2B
650 - Bucky Dent, Yankees SS
700- George Brett, Royals 3B
400 - Reggie Jackson, Yankees OF
720 - Fred Lynn, Red Sox OF
480 - Carlton Fisk, Red Sox C
520 - Steve Stone, Orioles RHP
130 - Larry Gura, Royals LHP
460 - Rich Gossage, Yankees CL
National League:
530 - Steve Garvey, Dodgers 1B
50 - Dave Lopes, Dodgers 2B
465 - Bill Russell, Dodgers SS
540 - Mike Schmidt, Phillies 3B
75 - Reggie Smith, Dodgers OF
450 - Dave Kingman, Cubs OF
640 - Dave Parker, Pirates OF
600 - Johnny Bench, Reds C 430 - Jim Bibby, Pirates RHP
630 - Steve Carlton, Phillies LHP
590 - Bruce Sutter, Cubs CL
Each of these players were starters (as well as opposite-armed pitchers and closers) on the 1980 squads, but neither the cards of Jim Rice (500), who was the third elected AL outfielder, nor of Ben Oglivie (415), who started in his place due to an injury, are marked.
Yet again, the set did not recognize members of the previous season's All Star Rookie Team with small gold cups or trophies. The 1980 Topps All Star Rookie Team as it might have been designated in the 1981 set consisted of:
195 - Rich Murray, Giants 1B
488 - Damaso Garcia, Blue Jays 2B
21 - Ron Oester, Reds SS
349 - Glenn Hoffman, Red Sox 3B
13 - Joe Charboneau, Indians OF
177 - Rick Peters, Tigers OF
317 - Lonnie Smith, Phillies OF
161 - Dan Graham, Orioles C
162 - Doug Corbett, Twins RHP
412 - Britt Burns, White Sox LHP
Cards 1-8 1980 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.
Cards 201-208 highlight record-breaking performances from the 1980 season, with newspaper-like descriptions of each on the reverse.
Cards 661-686 are team checklist cards. 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.
After a 3-year hiatus, Topps issued post-season highlight cards in 1981 (their final such cards until the late 1990s). Cards 401-404 summarize the 1980 post-season, with 401 featuring the ALCS, 402 the NLCS and 403 and 404 the World Series. Reverses offer either line scores from series' games or, in the case of 404, player statistics from the winning club.
26 "Future Stars" cards, one for each club, are scattered throughout the set. Each depicts 3 young players with little or no MLB experience that Topps felt had promise.
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 1981 set, including printable formats, can be found at the Trading Card Database HERE.
Hall of Famers Harold Baines (347) and Tim Raines (479) make their first appearances in 1981.
Also debuting were Fernando Valenzuela (302) and Kirk Gibson (315).
1976's break out star and all-around baseball character Mark Fidrych (150) appeared for the final time in 1981, after several attempts to come back from injuries.
Also taking a bow was former Oakland star Sal Bando (623).
Scholastic's 'Dynamite' magazine again offered small uncut strips of Topps cards to its readers in their April edition.
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This sell sheet for 1981 Topps cello packs makes it plain that for the first time in a long time, Topps had competition - the slogan "The Real One" was added to wax wrappers in 1981 as a way to counteract interest in Fleer's and Donruss' inaugural sets.
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To further distinguish itseld from its new competitors, Topps issued its first boxed traded set in 1981. Previous smaller sets of 44 cards each had been late-season inserts into 1974 and 1976 packs.
Beginning in 1981, Topps issued 132-card sets regularly, featuring players in new uniforms and rookies who didn't make the cut in the base set. Unlike in subsequent years, the card stock was almost identical to that of the base set, and the cards picked up numbering where the base set left off at 727.
Sets were available only via dealers, which at first turned some collectors off as to their 'legitimacy'. Set boxes came packed 100 per case.
Future Celtics star Danny Ainge (727) made the first of 2 Topps appearances for the Blue Jays in the 1981 traded set.