Christmas 2015: Part 2 - Non Sports

I have decided that I am going to make 4 posts about Christmas 2015...I didn't forget! Since I got three kinds of cards on Christmas, I am going to make 3 posts. This one, which will start with the stats, will cover non-sports, which is solely from 2013 Topps 75th Anniversary.

First, the stats....

• 127 Non-sports
• 546 NBA
• 138 NASCAR
• 2 college basketball
• 813 total new cards, which is the 7th most I've ever gotten in a single day! (That I have records for anyway, although I believe only my birthday 1997 would possibly make the top 10 that I have no records for) 

I got 16 new people (13 NBA, 3 NASCAR), 2 new sets, and completed 2 sets. One of the two sets I completed is also one of the new sets (2008-09 Topps Tipoff- NBA) Here are the highlights of the 2013 Topps 75th Anniversary box, which led to my completing the set...

First off, let me say that I love the concept of the Topps 75th Anniversary set. It looks back at the history of Topps' non-sports cards, reprinting the front of one from 100 different sets, and tells about them on the back. For some reason though it stops at 1995, while Topps has greatly reduced the number of non-sports sets produced in that time, there are still some that I think were worthy of being included. Also, it would have been helpful if Topps had mentioned which card number was being reproduced on the front of the 75th Anniversary card. Also, it's worth noting that Topps has not been producing cards for 75 years. The first cards were released in 1948. The company was founded in 1938, however, and that is why they were celebrating their 75th anniversary in 2013.

This set covered a wide variety of subjects, quite a few of them I would not add to my collection otherwise. But as I consider myself a historian of trading cards (of a sort) I am glad to have them represented, even as a token example, in this set.

Each pack includes a parallel, usually holofoil but one in the box is the sparkle. I really love the look of the sparkle cards. They are serially numbered to 75 and each one sells for over 10 dollars. As I noted, one of my goals for the year is to add one to my collection per month. Their relatively high cost is why I am not planning on chasing the entire set- I'd like to though.


I was quite pleased to complete the set from my box, with a stash of duplicates left over as well.

Here is an example of the holofoil card.

Although it looks like the bottom half of the card is white, it really isn't. I'll provide a photo at the bottom of the post.

Here is the base version. Note the slight differences in the depth and the word Connaught.

Each box promises three autographs and one buyback as the 4 hits. I got exactly that. There are foil and sparkle parallels for the autographs but I was not lucky enough to pull any of them.

Here are the autographs:
First was Julia Nickson. I've never heard of her before, but I'm not much of a movie person. It seems like she might have been the basis for the McBabe character on Simpsons, although that's a pretty obscure character. I believe she is only the second woman to appear in my autograph collection. The other is from the Star Wars Chrome Perspectives set I reviewed earlier in 2015. Interestingly as well, the Rambo set was not one of the 100 selected for the base set.

Next up was Richard Kiel, who I have heard of, but have never seen anything he was in. He passed away between the time when the set was released in 2013 and when I got the box in 2015.

Finally we have Anson Williams, who played Potsie on Happy Days. That is a show I have seen most of, and so somebody I actually know who they are. I can assure you the card has not and will not be sat on.

My buyback could not have been better. It was from Desert Storm, which I consider to be one of the iconic sets in the world of non-sports cards. (It's also a set I've completed, not counting the variations- there are at least 4 versions of each card in series 1). It's just a regular card with a little gold foil Topps 75th logo impressed on it.

This was the Sparkle card I received. Robocop is not one of the card sets I would normally add to my collection, but I did get all three versions from the box- base, holofoil and sparkle. I am only the original card away from the rainbow. It looks cool in the scan, but it looks even nicer in hand. Being serially numbered to 75 and one per box means these parallels are going to be nearly impossible to complete.

Aside from the autographs and buybacks, there are two inserts in the set. The more common is mini-cards. Topps didn't always use the standard size, they also have a smaller size they used...and 8 of them are reproduced in this set. I got 4 of the 8, and I am going to try and complete this insert. (I rarely hunt inserts). One of the cards I did NOT get was the card for 1954's Scoop, a set I have shown several times on here before and is a particular favorite of mine.
Here are all 4 of them.

 I have attempted to add cards from 1957's Jets set multiple times, but I keep getting outbid on Ebay.

The second insert is much rarer, falling one per box for me. It's for Topps's various test issues, or other rarities. I have not really explored the checklist all that much so I don't have a good grasp of what is included. I would not mind having more of these as well. (King Kong is actually a movie I have seen, although I don't care for it too much- I was rooting for the monkey)

Here is what the back of one of the cards looks like. It shouldn't be a surprise which one I chose to show :)

The holofoil and sparkle parallels are printed on white stock, not Heritage stock.

Now, here are some more of the base cards. Just a random assortment of cards I've scanned so far, with a bit of a bias towards the cards I have the originals of....or hope to have some day.

Interestingly, I just got this original card in November 2015 when I added about 30 of the Man on the Moon cards to my collection.

This is the last one I needed to complete the set.

You can see the complete set, both front and back scans, here