After not buying more than a single pack or two and just getting the complete set in 1982, I returned to MAJOR pack ripping in 1983. This was the final year I held a paper route for the Waterbury American, and on collection days I'd walk an extra quarter mile or so off my normal track to plunk down several bucks on wax packs at a small store called The Notch - a local institution dating to the 1920s, with hardwood floors, a deli and a sandwich counter. Every Friday I'd walk back home opening packs as I went, crinkling up wrappers and tossing them into the bag slung over my shoulder, stuffing my mouth with sticks of gum and gently placing the cards themselves into a reasonably secure spot at the bottom of the bag protected by discarded wrappers and the plastic wrap my papers had come in.
I recall sketching Gaylord Perry's card image in my freshman English class as we discussed Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner - get it? - and I am pretty sure the last card I needed to finish the set was Preston Hanna of the A's.
After a drab 1982 set, 1983 was bright and colorful, and I particularly liked the Super Veteran cards - those little black and white pics looked ancient to my eyes.
Card fronts feature the player's image surrounded by a colored border which incorporated the Topps logo. This border formed the upper half of a circle in the lower right which surrounded a small head shot of the player. The bottom half was provided by a separated colored border which also enclosed the players name, position and team name in the lower left of the card.
In my opinion the 1983 set is one of the most attractively designed and executed sets of the decade.
Even the backs, printed in orange and black on gray, with player silhouettes in the upper left and lower right, and highlights from the player's 1982 season at the bottom, are an improvement from the previous year, especially as they are easier to read.
"A" Sheet
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"B" Sheet
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"C" Sheet
"E" Sheet
"D" Sheet
"F" Sheet
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In 1983 Topps again produced a 792-card set, with 6 sheets each containing 132 unique cards. There are no short- or over-prints.
Wax packs contained 15 cards (along with a stick of gum) as well as a Winning Line Up scratch off game card. Packs sold for 30 cents each and were packed 36 per box, with cases containing 20 boxes each.
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Wrappers came in 4 varieties - one advertising Bazooka gum, one offering 5 collecting boxes for $1 and a wrapper, and two selling 10 collectors' sheets ($2 plus 60 cents handling). Each provided information on the Winning Line-Up game and offered a "no purchase necessary" entry option. Finally, each detailed 2 of 8 sets of collector cards available via the game.
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Winning Line Up game cards offered the following prizes:
3 Home Runs: a trip for 4 to games 1&2 or 3&4 of the 1983 or 1984 World Series
3 Triples: a ColecoVision video game system with a Donkey Kong game cartridge
3 Doubles: a batting glove
3 Singles: an uncut panel of 1982 leaders cards
Also, collecting 25 "Bonus Runs" would entitle you to one of 8 5-card sets of special glossy collector edition baseball cards.
Topps must have really overproduced these collector boxes in 1980, because 3 years later they were still trying to empty the warehouse of them.
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This simple, blank-backed sheet of 8 leader cards took the place of the uncut team checklists Topps had offered since 1973. Not a step in the right direction.
1983 saw the debut of the so-called Topps glossy send-away sets. In 1983 they were available in eight groups of 5 cards each.
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Each group of 5 glossy cards came with a header card that had a set checklist on the back, and one of 3 advertisements on the front: one for the collector boxes, one for 500 individual card sleeves for $10.95 and one for individual uncut sheets from the base set for $5 each.
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Because these wrappers required a little extra packing space, boxes and cases were slightly elongated to accommodate them.
Wrapper backs contained an advertisement for the Winning Line Up game and for the glossy set, with a listing of the players available in 2 of the 8 assortments (4 different wrapper variants exist, some with groups 1&2, and others with groups 3&4, 5&6 and 7&8.
In 1983 Topps test-marketing packs wrapped in a plastic, cellophane-type material and heat sealed in the manner which would become prevalent in the 1990s. Because they were most prominently issued in the Great Lakes region, they have gone down in collecting annals as "Michigan packs".
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Grocery packs were issued in both red and yellow plastic sleeves. The yellow version (left-overs from 1982) was more common than the red. Each contained 12-card cello packs (along with a stick of gum).
Grocery packs were packaged 24 per box, and cases included 3 boxes. Many cases were retreads from 1981 with an "83" sticker applied, but some unique 1983 cases were used.
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Larger cases, containing 192 packs, were also issued - the case box doubled as a store sales display.
Cello packs contained 28 cards (along with a stick of gum and a Winning Line Up game card) and retailed for 49 cents each. They were packaged 24 per box, and cases likely contained 16 boxes.
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A small number of cellos were packed in boxes left over from 1982.
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Rack packs held 51 cards and carried no MSRP. They were packaged 24 per box and cases contained either 3 or 6 boxes.
A small number of racks were issued re-using both the 1982 cardboard header racks and the 1982 plastic header racks. The "X" on the 3-box case above indicates it contains racks with 1982 cardboard headers.
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As usual, Topps also produced 500-count vending boxes which came 24 per case.
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Out of 792 total cards, the set contains 663 basic player cards.
Again in 1983, the set did not recognize members of the previous season's All Star Rookie Team with small gold cups or trophies. The 1982 Topps All Star Rookie Team as it might have been designated in the 1983 set consisted of:
* - Ripken's selection makes him the only player ever to appear on multiple Rookie All Star teams; he was the shortstop on the 1981 team as well.
690 - Kent Hrbek, Twins 1B
245 - Steve Sax, Dodgers 2B
163 - Cal Ripken, Jr., Orioles SS*
83 - Ryne Sandberg, Cubs 3B
232 - Tom Brunanksy, Twins OF
115 - Chili Davis, Giants OF
49 - Willie McGee, Cardinals OF
529 - Tim Laudner, Twins C
518 - Bill Laskey, Giants RHP
183 - Ed Vande Berg, Mariners LHP
Cards 1-6 feature record-breaking performances from 1982, with a newspaper-like account of the feat on the reverse.
Cards 701-708 depict AL and NL leaders in 8 statistical categories from 1982. The top ten from each category are listed on the reverse.
Cards 386-407 depict AL and NL All Stars from the 1982 game. Curiously, the AL cards (386-396) omit starting pitcher Dennis Eckersley and include non-1982 All Stars Pete Vuckovich and Larry Gura. On the NL side of the ledger (397-407), closer Bruce Sutter is included even though he was not a 1982 All Star, and Greg Minton, the most prominent closer actually on the squad, is omitted.
AL cards feature a red border around the image and a blue border around the bottom section. NL cards have these colors reversed.
Card backs don't mention the player depicted on the front - instead, each offers a summary of a memorable past All Star game.
Scattered throughout the set are 35 "Super Veteran" cards, each depicting a long-time veteran star both with a current photo and a shot from their rookie year.
Card backs provide important dates and details from the player's career.
Following 1982's dubious debut, in 1983 Topps again included 26 Team Leader cards.
Card fronts depicted the leading batter and pitcher from the team's 1982 season, and backs contain a team checklist.
For the first time since 1978, Topps issued manager cards. 26 cards depict current major league managers. Card backs provide statistical summaries of the individual's playing and managerial careers.
6 checklist cards marked the set off in increments of 132: 1-132, 133-264, 265-396, 397-528, 529-660 and 661-792.
A full checklist of the 1983 set, including printable formats, can be found at the Trading Card Database HERE.
Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg (83), Tony Gwynn (482) and Wade Boggs (498) appear for the first time in 1983.
Also debuting was Willie McGee (49).
Exiting in 1983 were Hall of Famers Johnny Bench (60), Gaylord Perry (463), Carl Yastrzemski (550) and Jim Kaat (672).
Also taking bows were John Mayberry (45), Luis Tiant (178), Mark Belanger (273), Reggie Smith (282), Lee May (377), Gene Tenace (515), Sparky Lyle (693) and Bobby Murcer (782).
Scholastic's Dynamite Magazine included a small uncut panel of 6 1983 Topps cards in their March edition, continuing a tradition begun in 1975.
These sell sheets for 1983 Topps (wax packs on the left, wax and cello packs on the right) continue Topps' 1980s slogan of "The REAL One" - as opposed to those fakers at Fleer and Donruss.
Topps again produced a 132-card boxed Traded set late in the season to reflect those players who had changed teams and rookies not included in the base set. Cards are numbered 1T-132T.
For 1983, Topps switched to printing their Traded sets on thinner, white card stock. This would continue through 1991. Cards were only available via dealers, and were packed 100 per case. A standard variation exists as some cards were printed with a single asterisk in the lower left corner of the reverse, and some with two.
Julio Franco (34T) and Darryl Strawberry (108T) make their first Topps appearances in this set.