You could be the most die-hard Coca-Cola fan in the world, but if you came across one of these cards while rummaging through a dollar box you’d be excited. Selling baseball cards with food and beverage products has been a standard since this industry began. In 1980, this was far from a new practice. At one point in 1980 Pepsi obviously wanted to use a set of baseball cards for a promotion. They approached Topps who happily designed a 22-card set for them. The complete checklist includes:
- Ron Guidry
- Ted Simmons
- Rod Carew
- George Foster
- Rich Gossage
- Dave Parker
- Paul Molitor
- Bruce Sutter
- Gary Templeton
- Dave Lopes
- Mike Schmidt
- Jim Sundberg
- Ken Landreaux
- J.R. Richard
- Robin Yount
- Steve Carlton
- George Brett
- Fred Lynn
- Reggie Jackson
- Dave Winfield
- Keith Hernandez
- Jim Palmer
Now if everything went as planned this set probably wouldn’t get a second look today. But the deal fell through. What few cards were printed up for Pepsi never made it out in the traditional manner they were meant for. Supposedly three years later in 1983 an uncut sheet popped-up. The cards were cutup and sold through an ad in Sports Collectors Digest.
Not much more was heard of these cards until 2005. That’s when The Topps Vault sold a set. In 2011 Topps auctioned off a uncut sheet during the National Sports Collectors Convention.
Only three sheets of cards were originally printed. All of which have found their way out and into the hands of collectors. Single cards are extremely rare. A Paul Molitor #2 recently sold for $1,500. Test Proofs were also sold through The Topps Vault.
Its too bad Rickey Henderson wasn’t included in this unused promotion. That would’ve made for quite the rare rookie card.
Filed under: Product Highlight | Tagged: 1980, highlight, pepsi, product, topps | Leave a comment »
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