1974 Topps Stamps

This issue was cursed with production problems. Centering is horrible with most panels having little or no border on one side or the other. In addition, perforations on most panels were not in the proper place.

1974 Topps stamps are easily confused with 1969 Topps stamps. With a somewhat similar player selection, the major difference is 1974's oval vs 1969's banner at the bottom. Also 1969 stamps came in both vertical & horizontal panels.

To store the stamps, Topps supposedly issued a set of 24 albums, one for each team. Each album contained a complete 10-stamp team set. I say "supposedly" because I've never actually seen one in person and the very few I've seen online often state "test issue" when describing them. ??? But there was supposed to be one in each pack ??? Where are they ??? The 1969 albums, also 1 per pack, are all over the place. I'm guessing they may not have actually been released.

1964 Topps Stand-Ups

The 77 card set features color photographs of the player on yellow and green backgrounds. 22 of the 77 cards were single printed making them twice as scarce and much higher in demand. Thanks to the green and yellow borders and the likelihood that most cards have been folded, 1964 Stand-Ups are extremely difficult to obtain in top grade.

Auction's most costly vintage baseball cards

1970/1972/1973 Topps Candy Lids

Topps released their first Candy Lids in 1970. The 1970 Topps Candy Lids are very, very hard to find. The 1970 lids had small photos of Tom Seaver, Carl Yastrzemski and Frank Howard on the top.

They returned in 1973 with some minor changes. The candy was replaced by gum, the mini photo of Frank Howard was gone from the top of the lid and team logos were airburshed off the player's caps. Even the tiny Yaz and Seaver photos had their logos removed. 1973 Topps Candy Lids are hard to find, but not nearly as scarce as the 1970's. There was also a 1972 Topps Candy Lids issue in the works but it was never released although a very few proofs do exist.

Topps released two other test issue sets in 1973 (1973 Topps Pinups and 1973 Topps Comics), each with very limited distribution. The 1973 Topps Comics and 1973 Topps Candy Lids shared many of the same photos. Just like the candy lids, those sets had no team logos. If you're thinking "licensing dispute", you are likely right. Topps received player's union's permission for these test issues, but not Major League Baseball's permission. Apparently issues over rights and fees with Major League Baseball Properties and the player's union resulted in Topps shutting down future production of test issues, supplemental sets and insert sets, putting an end to some of their most "fun" collectibles.

Due to licensing issues, after 1973 Topps released very few "oddball" issues. In 1975 did release a "Minis" set but they reportedly cut production on the regular set to produce the minis, so the players and owners probably got nothing extra. Topps next major test issue was the 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers. Afterwards Topps started producing sets for other distributors like Burger King, Zest Soap and others having the distributors cut the licensing deals, saving them the aggravation.