Posted By:
Dave HornishThis weekend’s discussion revolves around three aborted Topps test issues from 1967 and 1968. It appears the company was trying to produce both a national and local version of a pin set but for some reason abandoned the idea. Oddly, they returned to this idea in 1968 and abandoned it again.
Here are my original set descriptions from www.oldbaseball.com:
“1967 Discs (24)
1967 San Francisco Giants Discs (24)
Here we have another of those hobby mysteries I love so much. There is a related set of 1968 Discs and checklists over the years have been co-mingled, resulting in much confusion. These are circular photos on a silver background, with the player's name and team fashioned in a loop around the face of the card. These were apparently proofs and some come with a "waste area" still intact. The whole schmear is silver and sometimes people will call these Topps Silver Paper, but don't be misled. The first set is made up of All Stars while the San Francisco version is all Giants obviously, with some descriptions matching the type used in the Pirates and Red Sox Stickers. The Giants are more common, but these are pretty rare items either way. The All Stars display the players name and sometimes his team. The speculation is that these 2 1/8" diameter mug shots were produced for a pin set that was never issued, but I wonder if it was in fact the prototype for a coin set since there is a lot of room outside the descriptive circle around the player's head, which would allow for the disc to be cut and its edges rolled. The silver waste area means the cards were printed on semi-reflective paper stock, which somewhat fits the description of the two coin sets Topps produced in 1964 and 1971. The Giants discs are interesting, since it may indicate Topps was going to market teams in their home cities. Topps may have killed production due to negotiations with the player's union at this time, or simply because of economic forces; they issued a lot of sets in 1967.
1968 Topps Discs (28)
These are circular photos on a solid color background, with the player's name and team fashioned in a circle around the face of the card. These were apparently proofs and come with the waste area still intact. You'll note four more players were produced than in 1967, which is pretty odd since the 67's never made it into production either. Rare stuff, this.”
These were intended to be much larger than the 1956 Topps pins. Here are some scans of the 1967’s. The 1967 Giants set is similar in scope to the Red Sox and Pirates stickers issued that year. Note how some of the Giants Discs resemble the “fun” slogan stickers in the Red Sox and Pirates sets. These are all screen grabs.
And now a 67 compared to a 68 both from my collection (I do not seem to have any scans of 68 proof sheets, will post if I locate one) or feel free to add your own. McLain is a 67, Alley is a 68 (and on non-metallic stock) and these are likely not quite to actual size (I really need to learn how to scan things properly).
A board member posted an auction winning some months ago with a "rimmed and trimmed" 68 I believe. It looked like it had almost (but not quite) been die cut into a disc from the sheet. I forget who has this but a scan would be great for reference here.
I am not sure why there are 28 discs in the 68 set as opposes to 24 in the 1967 sets. I imagine Woody Gelman introduced these to the hobby via Card Collectors Co. Based upon 2007 Standard Catalog prices in EX, raw, common proof discs (square) are valued at around $90 (regular)or $92 (Giants) each in 1967 and $65 for 1968. I am no longer certain which set is hardest to find of the three. Any further news or info on these would be great.