Topps Packaging/Production Timeline Help

[homerunderby]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

Very interesting, thank you! Any recollection on when vending would be released? Mid or late season? I’m assuming that they are the final Topps release (excluding factory sets).

In the 80's early 90's I think vending was out by March, I used to get 500-ct Topps team boxes pulled from vending and had them by opening day. The factory sets might be May or June back then? I think they were late as to not cannibalize the other sales as tons of dealers hand collated sets.

[West]

My records also show wax first, followed by a mix of vending, rack packs and cellos. These are the case codes I saved for 1989 year:

1989:
112691 - vend
112893 - wax
131693 – vend
120792 – jumbo pack case
122393 - wax
130991 -wax
222393 – Topps Big BB
332093 -wax
332098 - wax


You can see above that there was a 1989 vending case with serial number 112691. Dave from the Topps Archives, Lonnie C. and I figured out the Topps codes a few years ago (the sequence of which I was able to confirm in an interview with a former Topps employee). The first digit is the fiscal quarter, the second digit is the month of that quarter, 3rd and 4th digits the day of the month, 5th digit is the last number of the year and 6th digit was the shift that stamped it. A code of 112691 was stamped on January 26, 1989.

I have good reason to believe these codes were stamped at the shipping dept not when the case box was packed by the factory workers. This is because I have found several Topps cases stamped twice, with a "final sale not to be returned" stamp on it. That means it was returned by a seller/vendor, and restamped when a new bill of lading was filled out. I have found several cases with bill of lading receipts on them that match exactly to the 6 digit case code as well.

This means that vending was shipped out for retail sale in '89 as early as the last week of January.

Let me know if I can help with any other details, but the case codes themselves reveal quite a bit.

[West]

I also have a bunch of 1990 case codes as they didn't change much from year to year. The codes starting with a 4 were produced in Dec. '89 and they were all wax:

1990
421591 - wax
421691 - wax
422092 - wax
423092 - wax
431492 - wax
431993 - wax
110702 – jumbo
111401 - wax
111402 - wax
111403 - wax
112603 - wax
120101 - wax
120801 -vend
121703 - wax
121802 - wax
130601 – Rak-Pak
130903 – wax
131402 - wax
131601 - wax
131802 – fact. Set
131903 – vending
132203 – wax
132302 – wax
133102 - wax
210101 - wax
211902 - wax
212301 - jumbo case price club NJ

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by West

My records also show wax first, followed by a mix of vending, rack packs and cellos. These are the case codes I saved for 1989 year:

1989:
112691 - vend
112893 - wax
131693 – vend
120792 – jumbo pack case
122393 - wax
130991 -wax
222393 – Topps Big BB
332093 -wax
332098 - wax


You can see above that there was a 1989 vending case with serial number 112691. Dave from the Topps Archives, Lonnie C. and I figured out the Topps codes a few years ago (the sequence of which I was able to confirm in an interview with a former Topps employee). The first digit is the fiscal quarter, the second digit is the month of that quarter, 3rd and 4th digits the day of the month, 5th digit is the last number of the year and 6th digit was the shift that stamped it. A code of 112691 was stamped on January 26, 1989.

I have good reason to believe these codes were stamped at the shipping dept not when the case box was packed by the factory workers. This is because I have found several Topps cases stamped twice, with a "final sale not to be returned" stamp on it. That means it was returned by a seller/vendor, and restamped when a new bill of lading was filled out. I have found several cases with bill of lading receipts on them that match exactly to the 6 digit case code as well.

This means that vending was shipped out for retail sale in '89 as early as the last week of January.

Let me know if I can help with any other details, but the case codes themselves reveal quite a bit.

Wow! This is very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to outline all of this. Very fascinating stuff, too. Once I locate the product I want to open for this project, I will document my research into this card.

Does it seem realistic to conclude that no '4XXXX' code cases exist? Or '34XXX' cases? Did Topps wrap up production by late March or have you seen anything that suggests otherwise.

I know from 1991 Topps research that their factory sets (white and holiday boxes) were packed from a very specific "late-mid" run of the product, based on which variations were included. I'd assume that would be the case with 1989 as well.

[West]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

Does it seem realistic to conclude that no '4XXXX' code cases exist? Or '34XXX' cases? Did Topps wrap up production by late March or have you seen anything that suggests otherwise.

I know from 1991 Topps research that their factory sets (white and holiday boxes) were packed from a very specific "late-mid" run of the product, based on which variations were included. I'd assume that would be the case with 1989 as well.

Topps did still fulfill orders for their current year product in the 4th quarter. I recorded a 1986 Topps Wax Case with the serial number 410261 which would have been shipped out on October 2nd, 1986. I've also recorded a few serial numbers representing shipping dates in July, August and September of the current year product but the vast majority of the codes are from November-March. The earliest case code I can find for early released wax product for the upcoming year product was a 1990 Topps wax case with code dated 11/15/89. These were hobby boxes (Griffey green box). Was Topps base released around Thanksgiving? Seems quite early to me, so perhaps the cases were stamped when the pre-order was filled and then shipped out when the official release date came. Hopefully someone has a good memory as to when they first saw the new release product available at their card shops.

As to your question about Topps wrapping up production, the way I see it, when all the pre-press production was finished and printing was tooled up and ready to produce at scale (mid October?), Topps would send an order to Quebecor or whoever the printer was at that time for, say, 3 million sheets of base. That product starts rolling in to Duryea and they start cutting it up and packing it out. By mid November they have a warehouse that looks like this:



I'd guess uncut sheets keep coming at a rate of 500K sheets/week from early November until the end of March. By this time we have somewhere on the order of 6-10 million produced of each card in 1989 Topps base. Some of that still sits in the warehouse waiting to meet demand but maybe they get rid of a shift in packaging once April rolls around and the season starts. The printers likely just print base product on demand at this point and the same goes for packaging. They've moved on to football or Batman or whatever they need to fill orders for. Just speculation here. I spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff!

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by West

My records also show wax first, followed by a mix of vending, rack packs and cellos. These are the case codes I saved for 1989 year:

1989:
112691 - vend
112893 - wax
131693 – vend
120792 – jumbo pack case
122393 - wax
130991 -wax
222393 – Topps Big BB
332093 -wax
332098 - wax


You can see above that there was a 1989 vending case with serial number 112691. Dave from the Topps Archives, Lonnie C. and I figured out the Topps codes a few years ago (the sequence of which I was able to confirm in an interview with a former Topps employee). The first digit is the fiscal quarter, the second digit is the month of that quarter, 3rd and 4th digits the day of the month, 5th digit is the last number of the year and 6th digit was the shift that stamped it. A code of 112691 was stamped on January 26, 1989.

I have good reason to believe these codes were stamped at the shipping dept not when the case box was packed by the factory workers. This is because I have found several Topps cases stamped twice, with a "final sale not to be returned" stamp on it. That means it was returned by a seller/vendor, and restamped when a new bill of lading was filled out. I have found several cases with bill of lading receipts on them that match exactly to the 6 digit case code as well.

This means that vending was shipped out for retail sale in '89 as early as the last week of January.

Let me know if I can help with any other details, but the case codes themselves reveal quite a bit.

Yup, you got it. There is an occasional curve, like with the last digit being anything other than 1, 2 or 3. They are indeed shipping date codes. Wonder if that last one ends in 8 due it being a RE (return privilege) or if it means something else. The one above it is September 20 as well but indicates 3rd shift. I think Lonnie found some that ended in 4, would have to go back and look. Depending on where the product was going, different unions packed and shipped-could mean something in that regard.

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by toppcat

Yup, you got it. There is an occasional curve, like with the last digit being anything other than 1, 2 or 3. They are indeed shipping date codes. Wonder if that last one ends in 8 due it being a RE (return privilege) or if it means something else. The one above it is September 20 as well but indicates 3rd shift. I think Lonnie found some that ended in 4, would have to go back and look. Depending on where the product was going, different unions packed and shipped-could mean something in that regard.

Originally Posted by West

Topps did still fulfill orders for their current year product in the 4th quarter. I recorded a 1986 Topps Wax Case with the serial number 410261 which would have been shipped out on October 2nd, 1986. I've also recorded a few serial numbers representing shipping dates in July, August and September of the current year product but the vast majority of the codes are from November-March. The earliest case code I can find for early released wax product for the upcoming year product was a 1990 Topps wax case with code dated 11/15/89. These were hobby boxes (Griffey green box). Was Topps base released around Thanksgiving? Seems quite early to me, so perhaps the cases were stamped when the pre-order was filled and then shipped out when the official release date came. Hopefully someone has a good memory as to when they first saw the new release product available at their card shops.

As to your question about Topps wrapping up production, the way I see it, when all the pre-press production was finished and printing was tooled up and ready to produce at scale (mid October?), Topps would send an order to Quebecor or whoever the printer was at that time for, say, 3 million sheets of base. That product starts rolling in to Duryea and they start cutting it up and packing it out. By mid November they have a warehouse that looks like this:


I'd guess uncut sheets keep coming at a rate of 500K sheets/week from early November until the end of March. By this time we have somewhere on the order of 6-10 million produced of each card in 1989 Topps base. Some of that still sits in the warehouse waiting to meet demand but maybe they get rid of a shift in packaging once April rolls around and the season starts. The printers likely just print base product on demand at this point and the same goes for packaging. They've moved on to football or Batman or whatever they need to fill orders for. Just speculation here. I spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff!

I suppose I'd better start with the earliest and latest cases I can find (with an affordability factor). Most of the vending cases I viewed online only had the #951-1989 number stamp, nothing visible for the production stamp as far as I could tell. From there, I should see if continuing to break open this product is worth the time and effort to unravel the mystery of a card almost nobody remembers.

The next challenge is to find contact info for someone who may have worked on the design team at Topps in 1988-1989. A proofer, editor, etc. If you have any leads or know anyone who could put me in touch, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks again for this great chunk of info.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

The next challenge is to find contact info for someone who may have worked on the design team at Topps in 1988-1989. A proofer, editor, etc. If you have any leads or know anyone who could put me in touch, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks again for this great chunk of info.

NDA's and general reluctance to talk about Topps production processes render this type of attempt moot usually. Topps is opaque and also has almost no records from the past. It's stymied me for years.

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by toppcat

NDA's and general reluctance to talk about Topps production processes render this type of attempt moot usually. Topps is opaque and also has almost no records from the past. It's stymied me for years.

I figured as much. I’d assume the same for UD (especially regarding their early years).

The production info is just one part of the picture here. Finding some info from a Topps source regarding the changes made to the card is the second, most important part and it is hard to imagine any reason why anyone with knowledge about it would have to worry about breaching any NDA. It seems doubtful that whatever the reason for the changes, they’d be protected trade secrets.

[West]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

I figured as much. I’d assume the same for UD (especially regarding their early years).

The production info is just one part of the picture here. Finding some info from a Topps source regarding the changes made to the card is the second, most important part and it is hard to imagine any reason why anyone with knowledge about it would have to worry about breaching any NDA. It seems doubtful that whatever the reason for the changes, they’d be protected trade secrets.

Just out of curiousity, is there a reason we can't discuss the card in question? I'm quite interested in the general subject as it is, but actually know very little about 1989 Topps errors and misprints.

As for the non disclosure agreements, I have mostly had the same experiences as Dave (Toppcat). Despite numerous attempts I was only able to speak to one former employee.

There are signs that the veil of secrecy is lifting with time. Phil Carter was "Director of Sports" in 1987 for Topps and just last week went on the record for ESPN in the story about Don Mattingly's birthday. However, I've found that the guys who are most visible are often in some kind of PR or upper management position that would have interaction with the press. Topps' employee records were very confidential at the time and I've never had any luck tracking down anyone who had anything to do with pre-production. For example, John Tassoni Jr of Topps printing subcontractor Quebecor was interviewed by SCD last year but he was just a floor worker in 1990.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...hn-tassoni-jr/

If you're looking for someone who would have been involved in pre-production (plate making, correcting errors, etc), that would have likely been a different department. Depending on the card itself and the nature of the error, you're probably not even looking for a Topps employee. You would likely be wanting to talk to a pre-production worker from 1988-early '89 at Federated Lithographers-Printers (which became Quebecor in Nov. 1989 when they bought it). Let's take a look at the two articles detailing pre-production and see if we can figure out what the process was (and hopefully Steve B can actually answer this question at some point)

When you look at Tassoni's interview, he was at one point quoted as saying that in the early 90's, “The film was sent to us,” Tassoni said. “All we had to do was strip it in.” This implies that while photography, artwork, graphics and design were likely done in house at Topps, once it was all completed and ready to be shot and negatives created to make printing plates, that would be shipped off to the subcontractors at Federated Lithograph Printers/Quebecor to have final negatives created and then used to create the printing plates. This would seem to make sense to me. Since the plates would degrade frequently over the time it takes to produce millions of sheets of sportscards, it would be worthwhile to have platemaking done at the printing facility to decrease turnaround time when new plates are needed. Or when an error is discovered that needs correction. So if you are looking for information on how an error was corrected in the middle of a 10 million sheet press production, my best guess is you would be looking to talk to someone at Federated Lithograph Printers.

It is possible that I have this all wrong and they did all their platemaking and print corrections in Duryea. If you look at the second article I have that goes behind the scenes at Topps, they make it sound as if all printing and pre-production was done right in Duryea at the Topps plant. But the employee I spoke to about the accuracy of this article implied that this was a bit of PR spin. It sounds way better in print to imply that all the work is done in house at Topps rather than to clumsily explain that they've subbed out printing to a Canadian owned company operating in Rhode Island. Here is the article below to compare: