How hard was it to find new Topps series in 1950s, '60s and early '70s?

[Tomman1961]

I too, filled in a lot of holes through Card Collectors Company back in 1973. If they sold commons at 5 cents, cards that ended in a "5" or a "0" were 10 cents. So regardless of player, you had to shell out 10 cents each for a 1970 Seaver, Mays, Aaron, or Clemente.
In 1973 I bought only cello. Not sure if my local candy store(Bloomingdale, NJ) sold both wax and cello, but I bet I went after the cello based on the players showing.Opening day 1973 I bought about 8 cellos. As the season went on, I bet I only bought cello with players showing I did not have.
The last series for me was impossible. I had a cousin about 15 miles away who was buying wax with high numbers.I talked my parents into giving me $ to go to the store in Elmwood Park,NJ. I bought as many wax as I could and opened them up to find some 5th and some 6th series.
Back at home, my candy shop no longer had BB. There was a town over (Pompton Lakes) that had a Kressgee's that had a bin of cello. They must have been store returns, that were repackaged, or some Topps rejects. 10 cello packs got me 40 Fred Kendalls.
So for me, high numbers in 1973 did not exist in my local store, but were 15 miles away.