1979 Topps Collectors

As a big fan of the 1979 set, I thought it would be fun to start a little thread showcasing proud pops from the community.

I'll get the ball rolling with my own self-subbed Ozzie Smith PSA 9:



Would love to have a discussion here on all things 1979 Topps, which cards you like the most, which you find the easiest/hardest to pull in high grade etc.

[ALR-bishop]

Recurring print oddities from my 79 set. I think the Metzger is listed in SCD

[39special]

The '79 set was the first set I ever finished.I was 12 then and with my paper route money I was able to buy 1 box every 3 weeks at our neigborhood candy store.I think they were around $9.80 a box back then. I still have the set.I also have a few boxes of doubles.It brings back some good memories!!I was a huge Steve Carlton fan back then,and I just picked this one from a board member.

[Gmrson]

Thanks for the memories, all! This was the 2nd set I collected and we couldn't wait for it to come out. I remember hearing about one store that finally had them and we climbed the fence into the golf course across from my house and trekked through the snow all the way, almost diagonal, to get a few cello packs. I love this set too. It was a lot of fun collecting it and being fascinated by the Bump Wills variation.

I also learned the best way to store the cards as the picture shows. This was also the year I found my 1st LCS and got a card of my favorite player.

[pochards]

Originally Posted by Gmrson

Thanks for the memories, all! This was the 2nd set I collected and we couldn't wait for it to come out. I remember hearing about one store that finally had them and we climbed the fence into the golf course across from my house and trekked through the snow all the way, almost diagonal, to get a few cello packs. I love this set too. It was a lot of fun collecting it and being fascinated by the Bump Wills variation.

I also learned the best way to store the cards as the picture shows. This was also the year I found my 1st LCS and got a card of my favorite player.

Great photo! Those 79's bring back a lot of great memories. I remember buying packs as a kid. The very first card I pulled out of a pack was Seattle Mariner Rick Honeycutt. He quickly became my favorite player! I still have that card along with my other favorite player at the time, Doug DeCinces.

[Harliduck]

I agree, great memories! Pochards above, my brother, and I first packs were 79s....I remember him pulling that Rick Honeycutt, and was extremely jealous as it was a Mariner. My first card was Reggie Jackson, and he immediately became my favorite player. Once a week our mom would bring us whatever was left of the box of packs at the local corner store (sometimes it would be a whole box!) and sometimes she would let us ride our bikes, which was about 4 miles on country roads. We were 7 and 9 and I don't think I would let my kids make that trek alone now days, funny of what was normal back then and not now. I LIVED riding in the back of trucks, my kids now don't even know to call the tire hub for a seat!

I finished that set in 79 through packs and totally remember my last card that seemed extremely elusive was Pirate reliever Kent Tekulve. At the time he was also one of my favorite players with the "we are family" Pirates dominating at the time. The Bump Wills error was the first error I ever got, and still have both versions. I remember hating the rookie cards, and dieing to pull Pete Rose or Reggie or a Mariner everytime I opened a pack. A couple times I would sneak some packs from my mother, open them up, take the better cards, replace them with nobodies, iron them back together, and make sure they were Jason's when he opened them later, hahahaha, sorry bro.

I also remember going to Kmart when it first opened in our town that year, and seeing three pack cello cards for the first time. Digging through to find my favorite players was fun, wish I saved a few! After I got the complete set I took all the stars and glued them into a scrapbook with team sets, and would save newspaper clippings to add. I still have that scrapbook...it even has my notes about the games and players. There is a few pages dedicated to Thurman Munson who died in a plane crash that year...that 79 Munson is burned in my memory as a young Yankee fan.

I also remember my first rookie craze hit too...I wanted as many Bob Horners I could get my hands on...he was the next Mickey Mantle don't you know! hahaha...

[4reals]

Here are some of my '79 Dodgers

Guerrero Rookie, Sutton Blank Back, Welch Rookie Color Key Proof, and (2) Wrong Backs (from a completely different year - 1978).

[David W]

The 78 backs on the 79's are very interesting.

I wonder how that happened?

[4reals]

Originally Posted by David W

The 78 backs on the 79's are very interesting.

I wonder how that happened?

Judging from the cards I can tell they were poorly cut so they probably came from someone who had an uncut sheet from an early test run with scraps left over from the previous year. Then the person cut them themselves and pieced the cards out.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by 4reals

Judging from the cards I can tell they were poorly cut so they probably came from someone who had an uncut sheet from an early test run with scraps left over from the previous year. Then the person cut them themselves and pieced the cards out.

Finally a story I've heard!

Near a Topps printing plant there was a dump they'd take the waste to get rid of it. Someone found a bunch of sheets or strips of 79s with 78 backs. They were available through an ad in one of the hobby magazines at the time. I bought one, still have it somewhere. It wasn't packed well and arrived damaged.

Topps hung on to a lot of the press prep and proof stuff for a long time. And sometimes reused it.
These were probably used for press setup in 79.
They must have had a lot of leftover 78s that were backs only. I have a Bazooka box with 1978 card backs inside. And I think a 78 or 79 back with Mork and Mindy sticker printing on the front. Also a Bazooka box with Black Hole card backs inside.

Steve B

[ALR-bishop]

Neat story Steve

[pepis]

here is a 1979 pack

[Gmrson]

Originally Posted by pepis

here is a 1979 pack

Thanks for this pic! Man, a buck from the parents...3 packs of fun!

[4reals]

Great info Steve, thanks!

Originally Posted by pepis

here is a 1979 pack

Got a scan of the back?!

[pepis]

Originally Posted by bubblebathgirl

Got a scan of the back?!

Sure here it is;

[Cardboard Junkie]

Scan of the back?

[pepis]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

Scan of the back?

Last time it didn't work, maybe this time will.

[7nohitter]

Beautiful pack!