Mailing It In - 1983 Topps Glossy

 

I collected an awful lot of cards in the early '80s.  I remember various offers on the wrappers that enticed collectors to send in for stuff like card boxes.  I never really cared for that stuff, but when 1983 rolled around I saw that Topps was now offering a special set of glossy cards, well I was a bit excited.

Baseballcardpedia had to jog my memory a bit here, as I know I sent for these cards a few times but my old age prevented me from remembering just how I collected the set.  I vaguely remember collecting those "bonus runs" and taping two quarters (yes real hard currency sent through the mail) then placing them into an envelope.  I had no idea what postage was or how the heck the mail even made it to Topps.  I only cared about getting that little package of glossy cards!

If I recall correctly, each 5-card pack was preselected (so if you already had the 5 cards from first pack, you just selected the second pack and so on) making it easy to collect the set.  So that means I spent a bunch of money on packs, saved those bonus runs and sent those in 8 different times!  I spent a whopping $4 total (plus postage) to collect this set.  Good thing I had leftover paper route money.

What did that $4 get me?  Kent Hrbek for starters.  This was a must for the younger version of me.

It also got me a nice glossy closeup of Rickey Henderson.

Fernando was all the rage back then, so adding a cool glossy of him was...well...cool!

Many photos in this set are posed or headshots.  Always cool to get a batting cage card.

Here's a couple of All-Star pitchers.  

Finally a couple shots of these two All-Stars warming up.  I can't quite make out who made the dugout cameo in Murray's background.

The back of the card dispenses with any stats.  A simple but catchy layout.

Whenever I see this set, it takes me back.  This was the first glossy set I EVER sent for and amazingly these cards survived the mail and my childhood and are still in great condition.  I'm also a bit shocked to see collectors don't really value these cards as prices are still about what I paid for this back in 1983.  

As much as I like this set, there are drawbacks.  Some have roller marks from the printer, and the cards aren't all cut to the same spec.  When the set is stacked it's easy to see the variations in size (I'm sure grading companies hate that).  Nevertheless, this 40 card set will always have space in my collection.

UPDATE:  All this mail talk got me thinking I've been sloughing off lately.  I finally made it to the post office and dropped off some packages.  Still have more to drop off, so apologies if they don't make it to the recipients by Christmas!