BY TROY KIRK
Staff Writer
In the fall of 1973, I had been subscribing to a baseball hobby magazine called “The Trader Speaks” for about a year, so I knew that the high number baseball cards were just about always the scarcest and most valuable cards in the set. The previous year, I had been unable to find any 1972 high numbers in any stores in my area, despite checking all the stores near my house regularly. But I was about to get lucky in 1973.
As a freshman in high school, I was on the chess team. We had a match at another high school, and when my game ended early, a friend and I took a stroll around the neighborhood. We went in a small drugstore and sitting there right in the middle of the floor near the front of the store were two big stacks of 1973 Topps high number boxes. This was great news, as I hadn’t seen these at all that year. But the topper was that they were all marked at half off.
1973 Topps
Being 14 years old at the time, I had about $2 in my wallet, and spent it all on those cards and some Wacky Packs that were also on sale. At 1/2 cent a card, that got me about 300 of those 1973 high numbers. I told my non-collecting friend to buy some too, since I knew he’d make a profit. He did buy some, but told me later he couldn’t find them, though he thought he still had them.
I remember thinking I should go back and buy a lot more, as I knew the value of Topps high numbers even then. I thought about telling my dad to go over there and buy them for an investment, but didn’t think he’d be very interested. I wanted to go back, but I was too young to drive, the store was too far away, and I had my complete set of high numbers already, so I never got around to it. Too bad, I could be sitting on 50 Mike Schmidt rookie cards in mint condition right now.
1973 Wacky Packages
• • • • • •
THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN
EXCLUSIVELY FOR BaseballCardFun.com
• • •
Text Copyright © 2026 by BaseballCardFun.com / Troy Kirk
No article appearing on this website may be reproduced without written consent of the Editor/Publisher
BaseballCardFun.com 