Amazing Topps 1967 Video Shows Boy On Top of Millions of Dollars Worth of 1967 Baseball Cases

If you haven't seen the 1967 Topps promotional video entitled "The Hidden Treasure", you are in for a treat.  Topps posted this on YouTube a few weeks back, and it is an amazing time capsule:

This is a fantastic look back at kids collecting baseball cards during 1967 as well as look at the new Topps factory in Durya, PA.

 

We get to see kids opening packs of 1967 Topps Baseball:

 

 

Looks like these are 1967 High Numbers based on the Don Clendenon (# 535)!

 

 

We see more high numbers in the packs his sister opened!

 

 

We see kids flipping their cards.  STOP!  Those are '67 High Numbers!!!!

 

What are the odds that one of those cards on the ground is a Seaver or a Carew rookie!

I also like the Topps poster in the widow behind the kid with the blond hair.  I have never seen that before.

The "story" of the "Hidden Treasure" is that the kid who is flipping cards loses all his cards to the "new" kid who for some reason has a diabolical laugh.  After losing his cards, and not being able to get any cards from his sister to use to win back some of the cards he lost, he goes fishing to "brood all alone", at which point he discovers a Treasure map:

 

The map directs him to the new Topps factory in Durya, PA which had started operations a few years before:

 

He plans to sneak in to the factory, and then when everyone goes home for the night, dig for the hidden treasure.

Once inside, he starts exploring, and comes across rolls of wrappers:

 

 

He starts playing with the equipment, including the machines that pack the baseball cards:

 

Here we see the gum getting added to be packaged with the cards as we now see a stick of gum on top:

 

The cards then get put into wrappers.  This is where things get confusing.  The video shows a roll of 1966 wrappers, so presumably this was footage that had been shot a year earlier:

 

We also see what appear to be 1966 packs coming off the assembly line:

 

Our treasure hunter then falls asleep and dreams of being caught by the factory workers and being turned into a baseball card.

 

Once again, we see a 1966 wrapper as the factory workers cover him up with a mock up of the 1966 design.

 

He doesn't realize it, but he has found the treasure and he is laying on top of it!  Those appear to be 1967 Topps Baseball cases.

 

Here is a picture of a 1967 Topps Baseball shipping case (right under the Football case).  Note the baseball player in the bottom left corner - these appear to be similar boxes:

 

 

They also share a similar design to the 1967 wax box:

 

 

There appear to be 4 rows of 9 cases, or 36 cases.  We see from the picture of the case that there are 24 was boxes in a case, so that would mean he is laying on top of 864 wax boxes!

  

I have no idea what an unopened box of 1967 Topps might go for (especially if these were the High Numbers that he was opening earlier), but just throwing some numbers together if you could get $12k per box, you are looking at over $10 million, and that is likely a low estimate!

He didn't need that shovel to dig for treasure!  All he needed was to take one of those forklifts and take the pallet of those 36 cases home!

 

The story ends with our treasure hunter getting punished by his parents for breaking into the factory (double the chores and no baseball cards) while his sister mocks him with more cards:

 

Its not really clear who the audience would have been for this film.  Presumably Topps was hoping it could be shown in schools, perhaps from the angle of showing how candy gets made and factories operate.

 

Here is the video so you can travel back to 1967 and see what it was like in the Topps factory:

 

 

 

 

 

False Advertising - 1979 Topps Football Sell Sheet

I saw this 1979 Topps Football sell sheet on ebay, and was quite surprised to see the Steelers logo on Terry Bradshaw's helmet. This flyer certainly gives the impression that the 1979 set would include team logos on the helmets based on the picture:

Alas, what we actually got was the same old airbrushed helmets that we had to endure for the entire decade as this is what we ended up with:

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I'm guessing that Topps didn't bother to airbrush the sell sheet as that isn't a trading card, and they probably figured the NFL would not bother going after them over a sell sheet.

Here is a look at the other sports sell sheets from 1979:

Oh to have bought a few cases of each of these and just put them away for about 40 years!

Mike Boddicker Has A Great Sense of Humor!

Last Fall, I called out Topps on their mistake for using a picture of Mike Boddicker on Jim Palmer's Greatest Seasons card in the Update Series.

As a followup to that post, I wanted to share a picture that Bill sent me of the card where Mike displayed a great sense of humor by signing the card using Jim Palmer's nickname "Cakes":

Its great to see Mike taking this mistake in stride and having fun autographing a card where he is identified as Jim Palmer with a playful nod to the mistake.

As for the origin of the nickname, it is a result of Palmer's routine of eating pancakes on the day he was scheduled to pitch:

 

 

The fantastic "When Topps Had (Base)Balls!" site created an awesome Nicknames of the 70's card for Jim "Cakes" Palmer:

I'd like to thank Bill for sending along the picture of the card showing Mike having some fun with Topps' mistake.

Topps Carelessness Creates Collecting Dilemma

In looking at the cards that just came out in the Topps Update series, I found that there is a new Jim Palmer card to add to my player collection - or so I thought.  When I took a look at the picture of the card, I realized it wasn't Jim Palmer on the card:

Instead of Jim Palmer, we get a picture of Mike Boddicker. 

Really Topps?  I appreciate you trying to find a new picture rather than recycling the same few shots over and over again, but this is ridiculous.  Is there no quality control process to check to make sure the pictures are of the correct players, especially for a series recognizing a player's greatest season?

This isn't some minor league prospect we are talking about.  Jim Palmer is a Hall of Famer, and appears in a number of Topps sets each year, so you should have an idea of what he looks like.  His # 22 is retired by the Orioles, and Boddicker's uniform clearly shows a 5.   How this got missed is beyond me.

So here is my dilemma - should I even bother with adding this card to my Palmer collection?  It obviously isn't him.  If this were the only card, I'd probably say yes, just as a curiosity.  However, as with almost every Topps card these days, there are the dreaded parallels.  I see there are gold and blue parallels already listed on ebay, and I'm sure there are black, green, red, and 150th variations as well.

Since I do try to pick up the parallels (the unfortunate curse of being a completist), I find myself not even wanting this card, because then I've essentially committed myself to gathering up the parallels to go with it.   I've got the 150th Anniversary Greatest Players card of Palmer (and all of the parallels except red), but if I then put this card in the Jim Palmer binder, it will seem odd that 1) IT ISN'T EVEN HIM! and 2) unlike the other cards where I have the parallels, this one will look odd by itself.

I find myself disliking the card because of the fact that Topps obviously doesn't give a flip about producing quality cards.  When you don't have any competition, why bother to try hard.


So I'd like to ask the player collectors out there - if one of the players you collect ended up with a card picturing someone else, would you still feel it needs to go in your collection?  And if you also chase the parallels, would you try to track those down as well?

Blog Bat Around: My Current Projects

Thanks to Night Owl for kicking off this latest Blog Bat Around.  After reading about his current projects as well reading posts from other bloggers who have posted, I thought I would join in.

 

Here is a look at my various card collecting interests, and what I am currently focused on for each:

Baseball Sets

Collecting baseball card sets is my primary focus.  As I have discussed before in a previous Blog Bat Around, I am a completist, so the main enjoyment I get from collecting is completing sets.

I have completed Topps flagship baseball sets from 1964 through 2017.  I must confess though that for about the last 30 years, I have just bought Topps factory sets as my primary focus has been building vintage sets rather than building current sets through opening packs.  While I miss the enjoyment of building each year's current set, I would rather focus my efforts on vintage cards.

Sets I am currently working on: 1960 & 1963 Topps

I've got about 1/2 of the 1960 set completed, and I'm down to only needing 6 cards for the 1963 set.  Unfortunately the cards I need for '63 are guys named Rose, Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Koufax, and Clemente, so I'm afraid I'm going to be stuck at needing 6 for a while. 

In addition to Topps, I also collect all other brands that were issued in the 1980's (Fleer, Donruss, Score, Upper Deck), and have complete sets for all of those brands up through 1991.

As for the sets that I have completed, I am still working on some of those sets in terms of:

Upgrades -  from the sets I built in the 70's, there are still some cards like checklists that are marked, and cards that are not in the greatest condition that I am working on replacing.  I'm also trying to improve cards that are terribly off center.

Errors / Variations - for the sets that I have completed, I'm trying to go back and build master sets that include all variations.


And finally, I am also purchasing 1990s sets - my goal is to have every major set issued from each year that I am collecting.   Right now I'm trying to fill in the gaps in sets that I don't have from the early 1990's.  That includes trying to put together all the insert sets as well.

Given the over production from the era, it is pretty easy to find some great prices on sets from this time period.  In many cases though, the shipping costs more than the set.  Once you add in the cost of a binder and pages, I end up spending more on the set than it is worth, but I enjoy being able to look at my cards in binders.  If the cards are all packed away in boxes, then I never look at them, so I am progressively working my way through the sets that I have and putting them in binders.

Realistically, I think I will stop this project of completing all sets for a given year towards the end of the 1990's as there are just too many different sets by late 90's that I'll never be able to complete (and will never have enough room!).

One project that I have taken on where I am actually building some sets from the 1990s are 2 parallel sets - 1994 Score Gold Rush and 1994 Pinnacle Museum.   I was able to pick up some lots for each of these sets, and have enjoyed trying to build them a few cards at a time.

Fleer Items

Now we get into the items that are the inspiration for this blog!

I've always loved all of the different Fleer items with team logos, as evidenced by all the different sets I've covered on the blog.

Sets I am currently working on:

1969 Baseball Pennants and Stamps - This is one of my favorite Fleer issues given the multiple logos on each sheet.  I'm down to only needing 2 sheets, but these things are almost impossible to find.

1967 Baseball Emblems and Fact Cards - These are much harder to find than the 1968 versions.   I still need quite a few 1967 patches and fact cards.

 

1960 - 1962 Fleer Baseball Decals with Red Backs - Another Fleer variation that is very hard to find.  Still trying to find a couple of teams.

 
1976 Iron Ons - I'm a few teams short of completing this set as well.

 Football Sets

In addition to collecting baseball sets, I also collect football cards.  I've got complete Topps sets from 1966 though 2015 when they lost their license.

My next goal would be to collect the 1965 Topps set, but given that set contains the Namath rookie, I've decided instead to work on the 1964 - 1967 Philadelphia Football sets.

Sets I am currently working on: 1964, 1965, and 1966 Philadelphia (1967 is complete)

Oddball

I love oddball sets!  Oversize cards, posters, coins, stamps, stickers - I want them all!

My most recent completions were the 1971 Topps Coin set, the 1989 Topps Talking Baseball set,  and the 1988 - 1990 Topps Big sets.

Sets I am currently working on:

1971 Topps Greatest Moments - I'll probably never finish this one as the SP cards are ridiculously expensive, but I love the look of this set.

Topps Sticker sets - 1985 & 1986 Topps Baseball, 1985 & 1986 Topps Football  - I'm trying to finish complete runs of the Topps Baseball and Football sticker sets from the 1980s.

1982 Kellogg's Raisin Bran NFL Posters - Need a few more teams to complete the set.

1970's Food Issues

As a kid growing up in the 1970s, the Kellogg's and Hostess sets were a great way to get additional cards since Topps was the only game in town.  I have fond memories of checking the backs of Hostess products looking for cards I needed and always wanting more Frosted Flakes to get another card for my set.

I've been able to finish a complete run of the Hostess panels from 1975 - 1979.

I've completed 1972 - 1983 Kellogg's.

I haven't started 1970 or 1971 yet, but they are on my list to start working on.


I also have the 1970 Kellog's Football set, but need to start the 1971 set.

Basketball

My interest in basketball is limited to the Topps sets from the 1970s and early 1980s.

I've completed 1973-74 through 1979-80.

I'm currently working on the 1980-81 set, except of course I need the Bird/Johnson rookie.

Non Sport

Wacky Packages - Wackys were the first thing I ever collected.  Before I'd ever seen a baseball card, I had been gotten caught up in the Wacky craze.  I blame the checklists that came in every pack for making me the set collector that I am today.

Seeing those checklists with all of the titles I didn't have made me want to keep buying packs until I could mark off every box on the checklist.  I've been hooked on collecting sets ever since!

I've been able to complete the original 1st through 15th Series, as well as reissues and most of the All New Series that were released since 2004.

Sets I am currently working on:

Wacky Packages 16th Series - The ultra rare 16th Series that most people at the time of its release were never aware of.  Most collectors never knew about the series until Topps did reissues in 1979-1980 that had stickers that people had never seen before.

I've only picked up a few of the stickers in this set so far.  They typically sell for at least $50 a piece, so this is another project that is probably going to take a very long time to finish.

Other Non-Sports:

Topps Evel Knievel - I was fortunate that this limited Topps issue was released where I was growing up.  I was at just the right age to get totally swept up in the  Evel Knievel mania.  I had the toys and my friends and I would set up ramps to see how many Tonka trucks we could jump over on our bikes.  I'm down to needing only 2 cards to complete the set, and have about half of the stickers.

Topps Beatles cards - I have always been a huge Beatles fan, so naturally I would be interested in collecting Beatles cards.  I'm down to just needing a few to finish a complete run of all the Topps Beatles sets.

Charlie's Angels - How could I not collect these growing up in the 70's?  I've got the card sets, but still need some of the sticker sets.

Star Wars - Same situation.  Have all the cards from the original 5 series, just need to finish off the sticker sets.

Card Related Items

In addition to cards, I also collect wrappers and the boxes the cards came in.  My goal is to have a wrapper and the box the cards came in from every set that I have collected from as far back as the 1960 Topps set I am working on through the end of the 1980s and the wax era.  I've got quite a ways to go with this project.

Once you start getting into the 1990s with foil packs and the explosion of sets, it just becomes too much to try to collect.


There is much more I would like to include in this review. but I think I'll stop here as this is getting pretty long, and covers my main focus areas of collecting.   If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!