[toppcat]

I keep a database of when test and scarce Topps issues first appeared in The Trader Speaks. The Deckles started showing up in earnest around the Spring of 1977. Here's five articles and ads from TTS all in 1977 (July, 3 Octobers and a December ad from that year. The two George Lyons ads and Lifson article were all in the October issue. Interesting to see them emerge along with the 74 Puzzles (first mentioned in the November 77 issue) three years after the fact.

George Lyons may have been responsible for cutting up all the "proof sheets" and if he wasn't, he sure knew who did. This is a typical Topps MO for dumping oddball sets and overstock into the hobby. Another method was having Bill Haber sell them at some of the bigger NYC shows of the day.