Topps Baseball Rack Boxes

NJ80sBBC

I was hoping that someone, or perhaps a collective effort, could outline the rack box type for each year? For example, I know the box for 1984 was actually stamped 1984 for that year. The box is actually larger to accommodate the 51 cards per pack.

What about the other years? Hoping to compile a definitive list, perhaps going back to 77. Including cardboard and plastic headed types.

If you got the knowledge, please share!

John

baz518

77-79 used same 77 box... 39 cards

80 had small and big box (plastic vs cardboard header)... 39 cards

81 had small box... 48 cards

82-83 used same 82 boxes (small for plastic, large for cardboard)... 51 cards

84 used an 84 box... 54 + 1 cards

85 used an 85 box... 51 + 1 cards

86-87 used an 86 box... 48 + 1 cards

That's the extent of my knowledge.

Cards per pack is usually what triggered a new box design. Once they started inserting glossy All Star cards, there was usually a cardboard insert to even out the height of the two cells without the glossy.

NJ80sBBC

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. So 1980 and 81 had that date stamped on the boxes?

John

baz518

Yes, they both had the appropriate date and the product code ended with -0 (for 1980) and -1 (for 1981)

NJ80sBBC

Now I need to find an empty 80 hard header rack box. I have the 77-79 one to trade. Happy to buy too. I’m assuming this will be tough to get.

John

tulsaboy

@baz518 said:
77-79 used same 77 box... 39 cards

80 had small and big box (plastic vs cardboard header)... 39 cards

81 had small box... 48 cards

82-83 used same 82 boxes (small for plastic, large for cardboard)... 51 cards

84 used an 84 box... 54 + 1 cards

85 used an 85 box... 51 + 1 cards

86-87 used an 86 box... 48 + 1 cards

That's the extent of my knowledge.

Cards per pack is usually what triggered a new box design. Once they started inserting glossy All Star cards, there was usually a cardboard insert to even out the height of the two cells without the glossy.

The above is mostly accurate, with the following corrections:

The 1981 boxes have a copyright of 1980, but a "-1" in the product code that tells you that it's the correct box for 1981. The boxes with a 1980 copyright and a "-0" in the product code are the ones used for the 1980 plastic header racks. There are no boxes with a 1981 copyright date.

The 1985 boxes were used for 1985-1987. There were no 1986 boxes, at least for baseball. The 1987 dated boxes were used for football.

Hope that helps.
kevin

baz518

@tulsaboy said:

@baz518 said:
77-79 used same 77 box... 39 cards

80 had small and big box (plastic vs cardboard header)... 39 cards

81 had small box... 48 cards

82-83 used same 82 boxes (small for plastic, large for cardboard)... 51 cards

84 used an 84 box... 54 + 1 cards

85 used an 85 box... 51 + 1 cards

86-87 used an 86 box... 48 + 1 cards

That's the extent of my knowledge.

Cards per pack is usually what triggered a new box design. Once they started inserting glossy All Star cards, there was usually a cardboard insert to even out the height of the two cells without the glossy.

The above is mostly accurate, with the following corrections:

The 1981 boxes have a copyright of 1980, but a "-1" in the product code that tells you that it's the correct box for 1981. The boxes with a 1980 copyright and a "-0" in the product code are the ones used for the 1980 plastic header racks. There are no boxes with a 1981 copyright date.

The 1985 boxes were used for 1985-1987. There were no 1986 boxes, at least for baseball. The 1987 dated boxes were used for football.

Hope that helps.
kevin

This is correct, the 1981 rack boxes do have the 1980 copyright date but the -1 product code... the cello boxes have the 1981 date. And there wasn't a box specifically for 1986... they did reuse the 85 box (also for football). There is a 1987 box (dated 1987 product code ending in -7)... but a lot of 87 baseball racks do come in the 85 box. I cracked a 3-box case of 87 racks last year and they were all in 87 boxes. I suspect they eventually ran out of "extra" 1985 boxes at some point and produced the 1987 box. You can find 87 baseball, 87 football and 88 baseball in the 87 rack boxes.

PaulMaul

I believe all years from 1970-1976 used a box with this design. Possibly 1970-73 with the “54 cards” tagline and 1974-76 with “42 cards.” Not 100% sure as I couldn’t find images for every year.

tulsaboy

@PaulMaul said:
I believe all years from 1970-1976 used a box with this design. Possibly 1970-73 with the “54 cards” tagline and 1974-76 with “42 cards.” Not 100% sure as I couldn’t find images for every year.

Those two boxes are really, really hard to find. If you've got an empty on your hands, you can most likely name your price.
kevin

grote15

If anyone has a clean, empty 1974-1976 rack box, please let me know! I'd be willing to pay strongly for one.