1963 Topps checklist question

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

I have just now reread your entire post carefully and after all the searching and putting together I did last night I see that you had already done much of that and even nailed the part of the missing 66th card in each series, the #431 red checklist in the 6th series and the #509 yellow checklist in the 7th series. Great job. All of this should now prove that the 6th series is 447-511 at 66 cards, 22y, 22r, 22b, and the 6th series is 512-576 at 66 cards, 22y, 22r, 22b, and there are no SP's in either series. I have a feeling that is going to be difficult because it has been accepted for decades that the 7th series starts at 523 and that there are SP's in the 6th series.

It still doesn't answer why those selling mail order in the 60s and early 70s were selling the 7th series as 523-576. I would assume that they purchased vending direct from Topps as the cards that I received were clearly from vending. Is Bruce Yeko or Richard Gellman around to ask? Would someone at Fritch Cards give up that information? I know they know what the true short prints are in the 60s Topps sets but were always very tight lipped about it. And they were charging extremely high prices for certain 6th series cards in the 70s that we now list as SPs. This is certainly interesting research, but it doesn't fit early hobby history without further confirmation.