I assume the motivation was cost savings. Topps was generally reluctant to put much quality into their cards, though I think the design team did great. As soon as they bought out Bowman, they shrunk the card size and produced sets cheaper to make. When Score upped the quality of mainstream card sets in 1988 and Upper Deck in 1989, Topps refused to drop their low quality stock until 1992, the last holdout. I have always presumed they wanted to shrink the cards again to save money and fit more cards on one sheet, just as they did in 1957.
I'm nearing completion of the Mini's, they are easy and a dime a dozen out here in the Bay Area, tons of them at every show. The supply was evidently vast in the few areas it was released. My father bought a couple dozen boxes as a teen, and does remember the basic size set also being available here. Unfortunately, he sold his whole collection a few years later, not long before prices started to take off.
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