This is a list with brief descriptions of Topps sports card products for 1979.
Contents
United States
In 1979, only two parallel sets were produced by Topps. Both were for the Burger King fast food chain, which had had Topps produce promotional sets for its outlets. The offering for 1979 was reduced from the four teams which had set the previous year 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 sets has 22 cards plus a checklist card. Several cards reflected players changing teams, most notably Pete Rose (Phillies) and Tommy John (Yankees).
Canada
Since 1965, the Canadian candy company O-Pee-Chee produced virtually identical, but smaller, sets identical to the Topps issue of the same year. The Canadian printed cards were printed on gray cardstock and featured French and English text on the reverse and O-Pee-Chee logo on the obverse in place of the Topps logo.
Football
In 1979, Topps issued two Football sets featuring the National Football League.
Hockey
Topps issued one set featuring the National Hockey League for the 1979-1980 season.
This set is noteworthy as it contains the first card of Wayne Gretzky, currently the all-time leading scorer in NHL history. It also contains the final card of Gordie Howe, the previous record holder.
Basketball
Topps issued one set featuring the National Basketball Association for the 1979-1980 season.
Soccer
In 1979, Topps issued two sets in the United Kingdom featuring soccer players and one sticker set in the United States featuring logos of the North American Soccer League (NASL). The United Kingdom cards fronts are basically identical to the 1978 Topps football cards issued in the United States.