More Topps & Bazooka: the 1970s
Big changes came to baseball as the 1960s drew to a close. In 1969, Major League Baseball expanded to 24 teams, including the first ever located outside the United States, the Montreal Expos. Over the next couple years, colorful double knit uniforms were introduced, long hair and mustaches became popular, and new multi-purpose ballparks sprung up — giving the game a very different look and style.
Here are my favorite sets from the early 1970s, including 1970-71 Topps Super, 1971 Bazooka, 1972 Topps and 1972 Topps posters. Unlike every other set on this website, these represent a direct link to a literal flood of memories from childhood — I would have been between 9 and 11 when I discovered each of these sets. I can close my eyes and pictures peeling open that very first wax pack ...
I was 9 when I started collecting baseball cards in 1970, and the most exciting thing that happened that summer was coming across a box of Topps Super cards. I pulled my first-ever card of Willie Mays from the first pack. Topps started its Super series in 1969 with a tough-to-find test set of standard-sized cards made with rounded corners and thicker cardboard. The next two years, the cards were done in the size of post cards, and are much easier to find today.
In 1971, Bazooka made its last set of three cards that came on the backs of large boxes of bubble gum. Like the other Bazooka sets, these were made by Topps, but are way more difficult to find today.
In 1972, Topps created one of its most distinctive sets. At 787 cards, it was the largest set anybody had ever seen. Love 'em or hate 'em, the cards perfectly capture the psychedelic artwork of the era. Of all the Topps cards I pulled out of wax packs as a kid, the '72s were by far my favorite. The first batch displayed here are California Angels — the cards not only showcase old Angel Stadium with its "Big A" scoreboard — where I watched a number of games that summer — but display the Angels wearing their one-year "a" caps. Besides featuring an assortment of special cards — like those showing players' little league photos — the last series of cards, numbers 657-787, are the toughest Topps cards from the 1970s to find today. Also pictured here are a few 1972 Topps posters, which were issued separately, and are fairly difficult to locate today.
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