BY MARK A. LARSON
Lean times fell on collectors of Topps specialty items in the 1970s. And that translated into fewer Nolan Ryan collectibles from the period.
The company issued very few baseball novelty sets – of any type – during the decade, especially when compared to the 1960s and 1980s.
However, Ryan did manage to show up in eight non-traditional Topps sets from 1973-79. Most of them were “test” issues, designed to test the market in limited geographic areas before being distributed nationally.
• 1973 Topps Comics: This was a test issue of 24 different comic wrappers. Designed to surround a piece of bubble gum, the inside of each wax paper wrapper featured a color photo of the player, facsimile autograph and a series of cartoon panels about him.
• 1973 Topps Pin-Ups: This was a close cousin to the ’73 comics. It, too, was a test issue of the same 24 players featured in the comics. This time, the inside of the wrapper showed one large photo of the player.
• 1973 Topps Candy Lids: The lids were used to cover the top of a product called “Baseball Stars Bubble Gum.” The bottom side of the lid featured a player’s photo, name, team and position. The lids were shaped and designed like the Topps coins of 1964 and 1971. There were 55 in the set.
• 1974 Topps Deckle Edge: Ryan didn’t make it onto the ’69 Topps Deckle Edge insert cards, but was included in this 72-card test issue. The ’74 version was a large card with rough edges. A photo adorned the front, while backs were somewhat unique. A message was written in script telling where and when the photo on the front was taken. Below this message is a simulated newspaper clipping with a story about a career highlight of the player.
• 1974 Topps Puzzles: Another test set. A dozen different players were issued in jigsaw puzzle form. Each 40-piece puzzle was individually wrapped.
• 1974 Topps Stamps: A familiar idea was resurrected in 1974. Stamps were issued in strips of six, with a total of 240 different players depicted … 10 per team.
• 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers: Fronts of this issue were designed much like the regular ’77 Topps baseball card set, but backs were different (and could be peeled off). Seventy-three stickers were issued. These included 55 individual players and 18 sticker/puzzle cards. When joined together the puzzle cards formed a photo of either the American League or National League All-Star team.
• 1979 Topps Comics: Topps’ final test set of the ’70s, this closely resembles the ’73 Comics test issue. Again, the comics were actually on the inside of a wrapper designed to surround a slab of delicious (yeah, right) Topps bubble gum.
Ryan would later appear in many different sticker and coin sets issued by Topps, Fleer and/or other companies in the 1980s and ’90s. Yet, these eight issues from the 1970s are generally the most difficult to find.
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• Originally Published in May 1993 “Baseball Hobby News” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM “BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS” MAGAZINE IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF BOTH THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND CHANGES TO GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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