Another theaory on why High Number series are rare

[JollyElm]

Definitely some merit in that theory, since you would assume that the earlier series cards were flying off of the shelves right from the get-go as the new baseball seasoned dawned, and the desire for cards waned as the summer progressed (except for the kids who really wanted to ultimately have a complete set), so it would've been beneficial to heavily stock the lower series with cards of the players who were universally considered to be big stars, to keep us plunking down our nickels for a couple of months. As a kid, I didn't want a single star card, I wanted as many doubles of the star card as I could get my hands on to eventually use in trades. Everyone around me did the same, amassing doubles of the big guys.

Too bad there isn't some kind of first hand knowledge/insights about how and why Topps positioned the players (number-wise) in the sets. That would be fascinating information.