[homerunderby]

Got an interesting lead off an old thread on another board. In the early 80's wax and cello packs had a contest card which told both how many prizes and the odds. Off of that you can extrapolate out some figures that will give some idea of the relationship in print runs over the years.

1981 Topps: (Wax Only) 3,012,050 prizes, 1:17 packs x 15 cards-pack/792 cards* 970,000 sets in wax

1982 Topps: No contest

1983 Topps: (Wax/Cello) 285,000 prizes, 1:140 packs x19cards-pack /792 cards 957,196 sets

1984 Topps (Wax/Cello) 20,000 batting gloves, 1:2,700 packs x19cards-pack 1,295,000 sets

1985 Topps (Wax/Cello) 2,000 fielding gloves, 1:25,000 packsx19cards-pack 1,200,000 sets

1986-1991 Topps Contest had no odds, based on sent-in entries

1992 Topps (All Packs) 6 grand prizes, 1:41,666,667 packsx21cards-pack 6,628,000 sets(!!!)

*- though there were only 726 cards in the set, 66 were double printed.

Where the contest cards came in multiple pack types I estimated the amount of cards per pack across the print run. My presumption was that wax is the great majority of the print run versus cello (and rack, etc for 1992).

This leaves out rack packs, vending boxes, and factory sets for the years they were produced. But it does give a starting point. If you held a gun to my head I'd add 25% to the 1981-83 print runs, and maybe 40% to the 1984-85 for the other packaging.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1993 Stadium Club: 1st Day Production: 2,000 sets 1:24 packsx14cards-pack 100,000 sets