1980 Topps Pepsi-Cola All-Stars

galaxy27

apologies in advance for the tl;dr nature of this post, but there's a lot to discuss before i actually get to the cardboard

the backstory (as i know it) for those unfamiliar:

easily one of the most elusive test issues around. back in 1980, Topps and Mike Schechter Associates produced three fully-printed (front and back) prototype sheets for a promotional pitch to Pepsi. no deal was consummated, and two of the three sheets were returned to Topps. the other was carved up, and slowly but surely the individual cards started slithering their way into the open market. operative word being "slowly" -- it took 25 years for these cards to be offloaded en masse. a quarter century, yo. 80T baseball has been my jam since i was 8-years-old, but these cards were nothing more than urban legend because i literally never saw one for the longest time. to date, no more than 5 SGC graded copies per player. many with only 4. and those figures are congruous with the one-sheet theory: 132 cards per sheet/22 cards in the set = 6 raw specimens to potentially be graded. these are 1980 Topps cards on anabolic steroids.

so when it was brought to my attention that the Summer REA was offering up all 22 individually, i started wobbling around like Fred Sanford with fake chest pains talking to anyone -- dead or alive -- who would listen to me. but before i get to the cards i was able to procure, the predominant reason why i created a safe-haven 80T Pepsi thread is for any of my brothers from another mother who might possess these cards. based on what i found in the archives, there are at least two gents who actively roam around these parts and have (or used to have) some of these specimens in their collections. i'm not going to create any pressure by including names, but just know that mi thread es su thread. please, by all means, post the goods and feed my fascination if you so desire. and that includes proof cards that came from the T-vault.

next, i'd be remiss if i didn't touch on a couple of side notes:

REA -- had never dealt with them before in my life. i didn't even have a freaking account until 24 hours prior to the auction being launched. yet.........wait for it.........wait for it..........they shipped my cards prior to depositing my check. who does that? moreover, i literally had these cards in my hands and the funds still had yet to clear my account. but before you think to yourself, well, galaxy27 must be somebody. trust me, i could not be more nobody if i tried...........and my girlfriend will gladly vouch for that. but i digress. all of the stories i've read about REA going about their business differently could not be more accurate. not quite sure i would go to those lengths to differentiate myself from the competition, but you catch my drift: very solid outfit.

SGC holders -- i honestly have never given this company a second thought. have never subbed to them, and prior to this week had never even held one of their slabs in my hand. my completely inexperienced opinion about their new holders was always as follows: dark, drab and nondescript. my opinion after the 5 cards below arrived: where have you been all my life? if you have never feasted your eyes on one in person, you should. not only does the color scheme make cards pop like firecrackers, but they look extremely professional in the palm of your hand. i am still blown away.

now for my REA haul, and why:

George Foster -- every time i eviscerated an 80T pack as a punk kid, i was always on the lookout for the "tough-looking guy who plays for the Reds."

Garry Templeton -- highest graded out of 5. i actually had my old man in mind, seeing as he's an STL lifer. i may play the role of the good son and give it to him, but when he finds out that it's Garry Templeton and not Ozzie Smith he may not want it.

Paul Molitor -- the cut was a little tight, hence the Auth designation. couldn't have cared less. not only did the eye appeal check the box, but these are quintessential beggars-can't-be-choosers cards.

Robin Yount -- the only thing better than one Brew Crew famer is two. again, the visceral, nanosecond appeal. it exceeded that of the Winfield 9 i was contemplating in its stead.

J.R. Richard -- highest graded out of 4. i was prepared to step inside an octagon for this baseball card........for a very conspicuous reason.

finally, at long last, the cards. if you made it this far, i'll come up with a way to reimburse you for the 5 minutes of your life that you'll never get back. (i included the back of the J.R. so you can see what they look like.)

here's hoping everyone has a great weekend. cheers homies!

Kid4hof03

Wow, wow, wow! This is an all time favorite set for me, I don't own any, but I have watched them and have owned a few of the Topps Vault proofs. Congratulations! Just an incredible group of cards.

DBesse27

I dig it. Man, I dig it!

baz518

Great story and absolutely beautiful cards.... I love how they look in the SGC holders. These were always "mythical" in my eyes... never saw them anywhere other than Google.

Congrats on some great pickups!

Tabe

Those cards are gorgeous.

Bosox1976

James Rodney pops!!! Nice cards and write up

threeofsix

Great story....thanks for sharing.

miwlvrn

I've never seen those before. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed seeing them.

Side note: This is the first time I've seen or heard of SGC labels including "Sheet Cut" which is also an interesting aspect to see included.

rexvos

That JR Richard is exceptional.

blurryface

shhhh! the set does not exist. nothing to see here. move along. move along.

MantleFan23

Stephen,
Those cards absolutely jump out those holders. I had never heard of these cards before until you mentioned them to me a while back....I have to say that JR Richard card is stunning. What a cool card to add to your collection! The other four are not too shabby as well...LOL Glad you were able to nab the cards you wanted! Great write up, my friend.

stevegarveyfan

Those.Are.Unbelievable.

Those colors are incredible!

mrmopar

Great set, glad for obvious reasons (yet secretly disappointed) that Garvey was not part of this set. Would love to own some, but not sure I could bring myself to pony up the premium for Davey Lopes! I think the allure for any set like this is the scarcity alone, although they are damn cool looking. If they were more common like the Pitch, Hit, Run set, they would probably be just as collected as those were, and not thought of as beauties.

JoeBanzai

Beautiful!

Thanks for posting this.

ArtVandelay

I've never seen these before. The choice of color on these cards is outstanding as it really makes them pop in the slabs.

brad31

I had not scene these cards before but I absolutely love the way they look. Congrats on adding them to your collection. The front and the back are really unique. Big fan of how these look.

Roxy_Melz

Great post! I have several 1980 Topps Pepsi progressive proofs I purchased from the Topps Vault years ago. I will dig them up and post the pics shortly.

galaxy27

@Roxy_Melz said:
Great post! I have several 1980 Topps Pepsi progressive proofs I purchased from the Topps Vault years ago. I will dig them up and post the pics shortly.

first and foremost, welcome to the boards

I very much look forward to ogling your proofs

and thank you to everyone who chimed in -- I appreciate the kind words

btw I failed to mention a couple of interesting set nuggets -- for some reason they decided to use Mike Schmidt's photo from 79, and Ron Guidry's card is a rev neg

Roxy_Melz

Thanks! Here are my pics. I apologize if they are not super clear. These are all blank back progressive proofs from Topps Vault. One is a blank front.

Roxy_Melz

One more…

stevegarveyfan

@Roxy_Melz said:
One more…

Wow!!!! Those are dynamite!!!!

galaxy27

@Roxy_Melz

some serious eye candy you have there, thanks so much for sharing

right on cue..........the Schmidt!

morton35

Those are some great cards. Congrats on the pick up. From the first time I saw photos of this set a few year back, I wished that they had been released. A big fan of the design and colors.
Chris

Czone

Very cool cards! I had forgotten about Garry Templeton. One of my favorites from the era.

coolstanley

Nice. I like all 1980 Baseball cards. They are great sets.

RedHeart54

Not my Guidry (I wish because I collect reverse negatives!).

bobsbbcards

bobsbbcards

Sorry about the "light of 1,000 suns" on the Sutter card. I'm the worst.

Kid4hof03

@bobsbbcards I was hoping you'd chime in!

stevegarveyfan

@bobsbbcards said:

Good grief! That whole collection is RIDICULOUS!

Truly mind-blowing.

galaxy27

@bobsbbcards i'm glad you arrived. you were one of the people i had in mind when i made the comment i did up above. it appears you have both the fully printed set as well as the blank backs from the topps vault

just incredible

jackstraw

@stevegarveyfan said:

@bobsbbcards said:

Good grief! That whole collection is RIDICULOUS!

Truly mind-blowing.

Bob’s collection is probably the best collection around!!

bobsbbcards

I have only four of the blank backs (I had five, but I gave one away that had only the red).

It's sort of fun to have the certificates of authenticity from the Topps Vault for the 18 fully printed ones that I got off eBay and the four blank-backed cards that are missing only the black. I wish PSA graded the dang things. Actually, I wish PSA graded anything (sigh).

P.S. And before someone asks—Yes, we did choose the color of our carpet to match the COA borders. Duh.

bobsbbcards

I created a "fantasy" showcase album for the set to show what the cards would look like if PSA graded them:

1980 Pepsi-Cola All-Stars

galaxy27

@bobsbbcards said:

It's sort of fun to have the certificates of authenticity from the Topps Vault for the 18 fully printed ones that I got off eBay

i assumed the bevy of COAs were tied to a proof set from the vault, very cool. what year did you snag all of your front-n-backs?

and normally i would agree with you on PSA grading them, but after seeing how they display in SGC holders it doesn't bother me one iota

bobsbbcards

@galaxy27 said:

i assumed the bevy of COAs were tied to a proof set from the vault, very cool. what year did you snag all of your front-n-backs?

I bought all 18 fully printed cards and the four printer's proofs 2005 off of eBay in 2005.

Darin

Galaxy,
those cards are amazing as are the others posted by Bob and Roxy.
Now for an offer Galaxian. I would be willing to give up this legendary 81 Coca Cola Wokenfussbucket
for the Molitor. And if you feel I would be getting short changed on the deal, you could throw
in the Yount.
But if Bob would be willing to take the Fussenwookie for his Brett, then our pending deal is null and void!
Oh well, I've always said Pepsi is far better than Coke and you guys just proved it.
Edit- If there were an 80 pepsi Rickey rookie, how valuable would that card be?

stevegarveyfan

@Darin said:
Galaxy,
those cards are amazing as are the others posted by Bob and Roxy.
Now for an offer Galaxian. I would be willing to give up this legendary 81 Coca Cola Wokenfussbucket
for the Molitor. And if you feel I would be getting short changed on the deal, you could throw
in the Yount.
But if Bob would be willing to take the Fussenwookie for his Brett, then our pending deal is null and void!
Oh well, I've always said Pepsi is far better than Coke and you guys just proved it.
Edit- If there were an 80 pepsi Rickey rookie, how valuable would that card be?

The Rickey would undoubtedly be worth nearly three of the elusive Wockenfuss cards. It would be close.

bobsbbcards

Possibly four Wocenfi for a Henderson.

DavidPuddy

@bobsbbcards said:

That Simmons!!!

Probably one of the only Simmons cards I'll never own.

Griff3

I was one of the bidders on that JR, awesome card and congratulations. When it came down to the end I was only able to commit to one so of course….the Fred Lynn had to come back to Boston. Love mine.

galaxy27

@Griff3 said:

I was one of the bidders on that JR, awesome card and congratulations. When it came down to the end I was only able to commit to one so of course….the Fred Lynn had to come back to Boston. Love mine.

likewise -- congrats to you on the Lynn. if you're a Bostonian then that card absolutely needed to find its way into your collection

and welcome to the boards

Roxy_Melz

Wow Bob! Nice Unpublished Pepsi set! You outbid me many years ago! - lol. No, I can't recall. As much as I like proof cards, the complete cards for this set are much nicer and more valuable. A side note: I used to work for Pepsi. Great company but I prefer the taste of Coca-Cola!

blurryface

just in case the 80 - 81 rc cola cards make it into the thread, they are indeed fake as fake can be. they are well done and look extremely good, similar to the pepsis, imo. but fake. i wish they werent.