1970s Topps

Updated on Sep 26, 2024

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The 1970s saw Topps go largely uncontested in the sports card market. The decade featured full runs of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Aside from issues like Kellogg's cereal premiums which ran throughout the 70s there was not much in the way of major national card manufacturers to compete with. Topps maintained its license agreement with O-Pee-Chee in baseball and hockey. The company would have significantly more ground to cover given the growth of the professional sports leagues during the decade. Major League Baseball added four new teams in 1969 and two in 1977; the National Football League added two teams in 1976; the National Basketball Association gained three in 1970, one in 1974, and the American Basketball Association picked up one in 1972; the NHL acquired two teams in 1970, 1972, and 1974. Soccer also made the Topps roster in the 70s, producing English and Scottish 'Footballers' for distribution in the United Kingdom. Domestic soccer was not to be forgotten with a North American Soccer League sticker set in 1979. The following are trading card sets issued by Topps in the 1970s. All cards listed are standard size (2½ × 3½ inches). Exceptions are noted.

Base sets

¹ Pack type(card quantity)

Supplemental Issues

¹ Pack type(card quantity)

Food/Retail

In the late 1970s, Topps produced promotional sets for Burger King fast food restaurants, Procter & Gamble and NBC.

Burger King In 1977 Topps produced a set featuring the New York Yankees for New York City area Burger King fast food restaurants. The cards were identical to the 1977 Topps regular issue cards and were distributed as part of a promotion at the company's outlets in the region. Some of the players had a different photo than their Topps counterpart. This Burger King set originally had 22 cards plus a checklist card, but a Lou Piniella card was added after the promotion began along with a revised checklist. Only the checklist card featured any Burger King branding.

The next year, Topps produced for Burger King issued sets of New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers for distribution at outlets in the home areas of the teams. The cards were almost identical (the photo area is slightly larger) to the 1978 Topps regular issue cards Some of the players had a different photo than their Topps counterpart including some who have changed teams, most notably the Yankees Goose Gossage. Also of note are single rookie cards for the Tigers Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, and Lou Whitaker, who all appeared on multiple player rookie cards in the Topps set. As with the previous year, only the checklist card featured any Burger King branding.

In 1979, the promotion was reduced to two teams, the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. Again the cards were virtually identical to the 1979 Topps regular issue cards for distribution at outlets in the home areas of the teams. Some of the players had a different photo or photo cropping variation than their Topps counterpart and the card number on the back was in a different typeface. The Burger King set featured 22 cards plus a checklist card. Several cards reflected players changing teams, most notably Pete Rose (Phillies) and Tommy John (Yankees).

NBC In 1976, Topps produced a promotional business card for NBC featuring former baseball player and then Today Show host Joe Garagiola. The front of the card resembles the 1973 Topps baseball set with Garagiola being listed as a member of the "NBC All Stars."The reverse resembles the 1976 set, but is printed in black instead of green. Garagiola's career statistics are featured, as well as his contact information at NBC.

Zest Soap In 1978, Topps produced for Procter & Gamble's Zest brand soap a set of five cards as a promotional item. The cards were basically identical to the 1978 Topps set, but they featured bilingual English/Spanish backs, and only five players, all Hispanic, were featured.

1978 Atlanta Nobis Center is a 24-card standard size set that look like 1959 Topps cards.

Licensed Sets

For the O-Pee-Chee sets that resembled the Topps issue see List of O-Pee-Chee Sports Cards.

1978 Detroit Free Press A Sunday edition of the paper issued on April 16, 1978, featured 28 color reproductions of Detroit Tigers cards from the 1978 Topps set. The backs were also printed on separate pages in black and white. The reader was instructed to cut out the cards and paste them together.

1970

Base set 263 cards Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Glossy Inserts 33 cards Size: 2¼ × 3¼ in.

Posters Inserts 24 posters Size: 8 × 10 in.

Topps Super 35 cards Size: 3⅛ × 5¼ in.

1971

Base set 263 cards Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Game Inserts 53 cards Size: 2¼ × 3¼ in.

Posters Inserts 32 posters Size: 4⅞ × 6⅞ in.

Bazooka 36 cards/12 panels of 3 Size: 2⅝ × 5⅞ in.(1-15/16 × 2⅝ individually)