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Oh Ye-a-a-a-h!!
Some time ago (almost exactly seven years to be precise) I took a look at the 1967 Topps Funny Travel Posters set, one of their classic large format sets of the late Sixties. One of the posters therein...
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Funny Traces
Picking up where I left off before Turkey Day weekend, this will continue my look at the Madison Avenue entry from 1967's Funny Travel Posters. First though, here's a look at the retail wrapper and...
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Just Ducky
When Topps issued the 1967 Funny Travel Posters set, they were also wrangling with their first Wacky Packages issue. I've mostly stayed away from the Wacky's here as they are so well documented...
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Orbital Mechanics Mate
I regret I don't have any Christmas-themed objet's d' Topps to share this year but have no fear -a whole buncha of product updates from Friend o'the Archive Lonnie Cummins are here!Further to the...
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Red Robin
Three major Topps rarities of the Postwar era were auctioned earlier this month by Heritage Auctions and I have to say, the results were a little lackluster overall. As previously documented here (and...
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Second Team
I'm on a bit of a Baseball Candy roll of late and today we look at what is the least popular of the five subsets that made up Topps' inaugural release of a standalone baseball set. That would be the...
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Brown & Blue
While I didn't bid on it, a curious piece of Topps history was hammered on eBay late last year. Using their own employees for photo shoots was a continuing theme with Topps in the Sixties and...
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Hey Rook!
Last time out I was surprised to discover I had never covered the 1973 set Topps issued to commemorate The Rookies. Originally an ABC-TV Movie of the Week that aired in March of 1972, the flick and the...
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Why Do You Think They Call It Dopey?
By 1967 Topps was cranking out all sorts of interesting non-sports sets, many of which featured the sarcastic tone that was the hallmark of the MAD magazine fueled artists and writers working under the...
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Rats!
Before the Sixties turned Day-Glo, there was a cottage industry of movies and TV shows that were set during World War 2. The boob tube's offerings ranged from the ridiculous (McHales's Navy, Hogan's...
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Fumblerooski
Tomorrow the NFL will determine which team is the champion of the 2024 (really 2024-25 now) football season when Super Bowl LIX (or "licks" as Gronk calls it) is contested in the Big Easy. Based upon...
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Hip Check
Well, I was hoping to write a Valentine's Day themed post this week but it looks like that will have to wait at least a year. Instead, I want to look at a sticker set that Topps did a quick reissue...
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Silly Is As Silly Does
Topps earnestly began making sure the bedroom walls, books, school lockers, etc. - let alone almost uncountable "unapproved" areas of houses and various institutions - of young America (and Canada)...
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Go West, Young-ish Man
One of the more enduring bits of hobby lore concerns the rarity of the 1949 Bowman Pacific Coast League set, whose 36 subjects have bedeviled collectors for decades. The PCL was nearing the cusp of...
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Double Dipper
A truly rare piece of Topps history was recently hammered down at Heritage Auctions and it was a real doozy. Yup, an uncut sheet of the 1968 Basketball set popped up out of nowhere and went for just...
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Lost In Spacetime
If you are of a certain age, like moi, you probably have fond memories of watching Irwin Allen's Lost In Space, either during its prime time run or in reruns in the after-school programming block on...
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Carved Out
Last time out I promised a look at Zorro, which was an ABC-TV show that ran for two seasons from October 1957 until September 1959, occupying the Thursday night time slot from 8-8:30 and produced by...
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A Dicey Situation
There is some seriously interesting Topps test material popping up in uncut form of late. The latest entry in the clean-out-your-checking-account sweepstakes is a 1961 Dice Game (really 1963 it seems)...
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Flimsy Flyer
I decided to open up a pack of the 1967 Topps Fighter Planes the other day, thanks to one that popped up on eBay and called my name. I had an unopened pack already (the five cent version and not the...
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Hoodwinked?
I've briefly touched upon the 1957 Topps Robin Hood set before and today I want to take a more detailed and nuanced look at it. It's a bit of an oddity at 60 cards given it was printed in standard size...
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