1980 Nostalgic Enterprises 1903 NY Highlanders

INTRODUCTION TO THE SET

First off, welcome back.

To start back into the 1980s Oddball world, let's start with an oddball that seems to be relatively known yet little is written about it.

According to the Standard Catalog, Nostalgic Enterprises was a pseudonym for a collector issuing the cards in 1980. It is unclear whether this collector had plans to expand his/her brand into additional sets, or if they just had a hankering to have cards of the first team to represent New York in the American League.

The team itself was nothing special -- finishing in fourth place with a 72-62 record. According to Wikipedia, the team started off being called the Invaders due to invading the Giants' territory in Manhattan. The Highlanders played their games a few blocks north and west of Coogan's Hollow [where the Giants played at the time] and at one of the highest points of Manhattan Island called The Hilltop. The name Highlanders referred both to the team's location and to its team President Joseph Gordon. Around the turn of the 20th Century, one of the world's most famous infantry units was a British unit known as the Gordon Highlanders.

The back of the card notes that Nostalgic Enterprises is located in Wayland, Massachusetts, which is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, of just over thirteen thousand people in 2010 located about thirty to forty minutes outside of downtown Boston. I searched the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Corporations Database just in case this was either an existing company or that some other record would show up, but nothing turned up.

EXEMPLARS

DETAILS

Each of the seventeen cards in this set are the standard size of 2.5" x 3.5". From the other exemplars that I have seen online, it appears that the photos were all drawn from this team photo of the members of the 1903 New York "Americans":



As a family website dedicated to the life and photos of Kid Elberfeld notes (as does the back of the card), this team photo was a part of the Boston Public Library's collection. Oddly enough, the collection it is drawn from is the McGreevey Collection -- a large collection of photos and memorabilia put together by the leader of the Boston "Royal Rooters," Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevey. Perhaps McGreevey added this to his collection to commemorate the year that his Boston Americans won their first World Series in 1903?

In any event, I have no information about how many sets of these were printed, how many were distributed, or how they were distributed. The Standard Catalog notes that the cards are unnumbered and originally sold for "about $2.50."

HALL OF FAMERS

Out of the seventeen cards in the set, four of them represent Hall of Famers: Jack Chesbro, two cards of Clark Griffith (the team manager, which I would assume includes that all-words card above), and Willie Keeler.

ERRORS/VARIATIONS

I'm guessing it is an uncorrected error on Elberfeld's card that the word "tabasco" was misspelled. The Trading Card Database does not have anything listed.

MY TAKE

I know so little about this set that I really can't say too much. So, what do I know? Well, it's not the easiest set to find, for starters. Nothing on eBay as best I can tell, and the only auctions/sales of these cards that I've found are from years ago. A complete set of these sold in November of 2013 on "Kevin Savage Cards" for $10. Another complete set sold as part of a much larger Yankee lot back in 2006.

And somehow, somewhere, the Dimebox champion Nick was able to unearth two of these cards and send them to Zippy Zappy of Cervin' Up Cards/Torren' Up Cards about two-and-a-half years ago.

I have never seen any of these cards myself in the wild. In fact, I never knew this set existed before today.

If you have information on this set, please comment below about it.

1980-1983 (and 1986) Cramer Baseball Legends

INTRODUCTION TO SET

If you had the time, money, and ability, would you start your own card company? If you did start your own card company, what kinds of cards would you release? How would you start -- current players or greats of the past?

Those were all questions that Michael J. Cramer -- Mike to those who know him -- must have been asking himself in the early 1970s. Cramer's card shop and company, Pacific Trading Cards, became the most off-the-wall and innovative card issuer in the 1990s. But, Cramer started out his foray into issuing cards like a couple of others have: as a card-shop owner.

According to this article from 1996 in the Arizona Republic, Cramer got his start in baseball cards as a high-school freshman in 1968 while attending Maryvale High School. He started Pacific -- then known as Cramer Sports Promotions -- as a mail-order business but really made his money for the first ten years of the business -- so, until about 1978 -- by being an Alaskan crab fisherman.

Cramer helped blaze the trail that other shop owners such as Renata Galasso and Larry Fritsch later followed by issuing baseball cards himself. Cramer started with minor-league baseball and teamed with Circle K Food Stores and the Phoenix Giants in 1975 to issue a set in which Cramer himself got a card, which he used to announce the formation of an Arizona Sports Collectors Association.

As things progressed for Pacific, he left Arizona for Seattle. As a history of the company notes, Cramer moved to Edmonds, Washington, in 1977 and changed his company name to Pacific Trading Cards. He opened a brick-and-mortar store to accompany his mail-order business. His card issuing for minor-league teams took a break from 1978 through 1984, during which time he used old photos of baseball legends to put out his "Baseball Legends" set.

As Rich Klein notes in his short biography of Cramer (linked above), Cramer was not just a card-company owner. He became an NFL-accredited photography and literally took his own photographs to use for his football sets that he issued in addition to using photos from other long-term hobbyists. This was a cost-cutting measure, certainly, and it helped Cramer reduce costs in the art process as well.

Pacific's history in baseball cards continued into the late 1980s with another Legends set (which will be documented later). So, this story on Pacific's history will continue at that point.

EXEMPLARS

1980, Series 1

1981, Series 2

1982, Series 3

1983, Series 4

1986, "Series 5"

DETAILS

These cards were issued in four series of thirty cards each year from 1980 through 1983. Then, in 1986, Cramer/Pacific must have decided either to print more cards or repackage the cards on hand into wax packs. That led to "series 5" -- a four-card series that were nothing more than cards printed on the bottom of the wax boxes. These cards  added Hoyt Wilhelm and Arky Vaughn, two of the four Baseball Hall of Fame inductees for 1985 to the set. For some reason, Lou Brock was left out; Enos Slaughter was in Series 2. In addition, the wax box picked up one very early inductee (Grover Alexander) and one very recent inductee (Frank Robinson) that had been omitted previously. 

Visually, these cards are like a Coldplay song -- they are all yellow (sorry, had to make the bad musical reference). My guess here is that it may have been easier for the printing process to make these cards all yellow with sepia photos. That's a guess, though.

The backs feature various items of information about the players, including their position (with "Short Stop" being a regular feature), their dates of playing in the majors, their birth dates, a short biographical write-up, their teams for which they played, and their major league record. 

If the player had been inducted into the Hall of Fame before the cards were printed, then the year of the player's induction is included. If the player was not in the Hall, then his nickname was provided or, in Harvey Kuenn's case, his then-current occupation of Brewers manager was given. Finally, if the player had passed away, then his date of death is given; otherwise, his city of residence at the time of the card's printing was provided.

In terms of set composition, there is again a bit of unevenness. For example, Series 1 includes 27 Hall of Famers out of 30 cards though three of the men who are in the set (Walter Alston, Ernie Lombardi, and Billy Southworth) had not been inducted when the set was issued. Series 2 is all Hall of Famers now, but again, three players (Slaughter, Leo Durocher, and Pee Wee Reese) were inducted after the cards were issued. The 1982 set is less star-studded -- just 22 of the 30 players are in the Hall, and three of those men were enshrined after 1982 (Nellie Fox, Harmon Killebrew, and Phil Rizzuto). 1983's series has just one guy who went in after the set was released -- Richie Ashburn.

HALL OF FAMERS

This is a star-studded set, so strap in. Here they all are:

1980: Babe Ruth, Heinie Manush, Rabbit Maranville, Earl Averill, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Bill Terry, Sandy Koufax, Ernie Lombardi, Dizzy Dean, Lou Gehrig, Walter Alston, Jackie Robinson, Jimmie Foxx, Billy Southworth, Honus Wagner, Duke Snider, Rogers Hornsby, Paul Waner, Luke Appling, Billy Herman, Lloyd Waner, Eddie Collins, Lefty Grove, Hank Greenberg

1981: Ty Cobb, Enos Slaughter, Ernie Banks, Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Pie Traynor, Clark Griffith, Mickey Cochrane, Joe Cronin, Leo Durocher, Frank Baker, Joe Tinker, John McGraw, Bill Dickey, Walter Johnson, Frankie Frisch, Casey Stengel, Willie Mays, Johnny Mize, Roberto Clemente, Burleigh Grimes, Pee Wee Reese, Bob Feller, Brooks Robinson, Sam Crawford, Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn, Joe McCarthy, Jocko Conlan, Satchel Paige

1982: Ted Williams, George Kelly, Jim Bottomley, Al Kaline, Yogi Berra, Nellie Fox, Harmon Killebrew, Edd Roush, Mordecai Brown, Gabby Hartnett, Early Wynn, Nap Lajoie, Ted Lyons, Lou Boudreau, Ralph Kiner, Phil Rizzuto, Frank Chance, Ray Schalk, Bill McKechnie, Travis Jackson, Carl Hubbell, Roy Campanella

1983: Cy Young, Kiki Cuyler, Chief Bender, Richie Ashburn, Hack Wilson, Al Lopez, Willie Keeler, Fred Lindstrom, Roger Bresnahan, Goose Goslin, Earle Combs, George Sisler, Red Ruffing, Herb Pennock, Chuck Klein, Addie Joss, Chick Hafey, Lefty Gomez, George Kell, Al Simmons, Bob Lemon

1986: Hoyt Wilhelm, Arky Vaughn, Frank Robinson, Grover Cleveland Alexander

ERRORS/VARIATIONS

One known variation shows up on the Trading Card Database and in the Standard Catalog and it is in the 1980 set. There are two different Jackie Robinson cards -- one of his batting and one as a portrait of him. The portrait variation is more difficult to find. Indeed, TCDB does not have a scan of it.

I am going to speculate a bit and suggest that there may be additional variations based on card stock. I get that from looking at the checklists for the sets and, frankly, just looking at the scans above. Do you see the different coloration for the Kuenn and Aaron cards as compared to the Spahn and the Keeler cards? I am wondering if Pacific had to get the printing plates out to equalize the cards in the 1986 packs and ended up printing them on the gray card stock typical for Topps cards of the era. I don't know that for sure, but I could see that happening.

MY TAKE

I had some or all the first two or three series of these as a kid. I have yet to figure out how or where I got these. I am guessing that, somewhere along the way, I found them at a card show or they were thrown in as an extra in some set purchase I made by mail order. I don't think I ever bought anything from Pacific, but it is possible. 

I recall really liking these. For me as a kid in rural Wisconsin, these cards helped bring to life the stories about baseball history that I had been reading in Baseball Digest and in books from my local library. Names like Rabbit Maranville and Frankie Frisch and Mordecai ("Three Fingers") Brown had been almost like fairy tales to me -- players who lived only in some alternate universe. To see real photos of them was incredibly cool. 

Only once The Sporting News started with its Conlan sets 10 years later would we get a wider array of players from that era, so this set was like bringing guys from the moon to Wisconsin to me. Since getting back into collecting, I've picked and chosen my cards to get the ones I needed for player collections but I haven't gone all in on trying to get this as a set.

Thanks to the reissuance or sale of the cards in wax in 1986, these cards are reasonably available on the eBay and COMC markets. Unopened packs are not all that common, though, at least judging by what is available on eBay. There is one group of 34 unopened packs with the box (and its four cards) that is listed at $36.83, though its seller will accept a "best offer" option. One seller has a full set of all 124 cards (the box is uncut) for $77.00 shipped. From all indications, that's not a terrible price, but it is pricy to me. 

1980-1983 Kellogg's 3-D Super Stars

INTRODUCTION TO THE SET

Kellogg's started as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1906. It was an offshoot of the work that John Harvey Kellogg was doing at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where he was superintendent. Basically, the company started because the Kellogg family were Seventh Day Adventists, a church which recommends vegetarianism and keeping kosher, and as part of that they invented Corn Flakes

The Kelloggs were trying to help develop new foods that would comply with that diet and help keep all the good people at the sanitarium on an Adventist-approved diet regimen. J.H. Kellogg believed that the best thing for the people there was a very bland diet -- no spicy or sweet foods and no alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine. These people sound like torturers to me, but your mileage may vary.

At any rate, one day, John and his younger brother Will Keith Kellogg left some cooked wheat sitting while they attended to other matters at the family business of the sanitarium. They returned too late -- the wheat had gone stale. Being cheap/on a strict budget, they tried to roll this goopy mess into doughy sheets but, instead, it broke up into flakes. The brothers toasted these flakes and served them to their patients. Apparently the patients, who must have been starved for anything with a crunch, loved them. The brothers then patented the stuff and introduced it to the world in hopes that it would reduce masturbation. No, really.

The company developed through the years and expanded its food product lines through the 1960s and 1970s. Along the way and relevant to our discussion, Kellogg's released a few sports and baseball related sets. In 1937, for example, Kellogg's had a cereal called "Pep" (a rival to Wheaties best known for sponsoring The Adventures of Superman radio series) into which it inserted a four-stamp panel of various sport stars including some baseball players (such as Tris Speaker and Walter Johnson). 

In 1948, Kellogg's Corn Flakes in Cuba issued advertising postcards in Cuban featuring perhaps 6 different Cuban baseball stars, and Pep cereal had cards issued of "celebrities" that included 5 baseball players.

In 1970, however, Kellogg's decided to get into the baseball card promotional business. Why it chose to go with the "3-D" effect cards -- or even start with baseball at all -- is not clear. A hint might be seen in the fact that, in 1969, Kellogg's acquired Salada Foods -- the same company that issued baseball coins in 1962 and 1963. Perhaps Salada saw a jump in sales and that history informed Kellogg Company. 

At any rate and as said in the 2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, "for 14 years in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Kellogg's cereal company provided Topps with virtually the only meaningful national competition in the baseball card market." The set in 1983 would mark the end of Kellogg's efforts in baseball cards until the early 1990s.

EXEMPLARS

1980

1981

1982

1983

DETAILS

During their time as a yearly card issuer, Kellogg's messed around with just about everything. They tried going without the plastic lenticular covering in 1973. They widened and narrowed the cards. They varied the sizes of the sets -- going with anywhere from 54 to 70 total cards. They even tried a 15-player "All-Time Baseball Greats" set in 1972.

Still, by the time 1980 rolled around, Kellogg's had a pretty good idea on how to issue their "3-D Super Stars" cards. The 1980 set was their 11th consecutive year with putting one card in specially marked boxes of Kellogg's products. Even so, in its last four years of issuing its 3-D Super Stars set, Kellogg's dithered around with how they distributed the cards, the size of the cards, and the size of the set. Note: all information about distribution and card size comes from the 2011 Standard Catalog.

1980's offering, for example, was available as single cards inserted into the cereal boxes and by collecting proofs of purchase and sending that with money in for redemption. The set in 1980 consisted of 60 cards (the same as 1979) but featured the narrowest format ever for Kellogg's -- just 1-7/8" wide by 3-1/4" tall.

In 1981 and for the only time in its 3-D history, Kellogg's used a standard card sized format of 2.5" x 3.5". These yellow beauties were available only by sending proofs of purchases and cash to Kellogg's -- none of them were inserted into cereal boxes. The number of cards in the set increased to 66 as well. 

The 1982 version tracked the distribution of its 1981 counterpart -- available only through sending cash and box tops to the company to get the cards. The cards shrank in size down to 2-1/8" x 3-1/4", and the set shrank to 64 cards.

Finally, in 1983, the Kellogg's set made its final appearance in and on cereal boxes as a 3-D product. The set was again narrower by a quarter inch (1-7/8" x 3-1/4") than the 1982 set, and it was four cards smaller at 60 total. It was once again available in cereal boxes as single cards and, again, as a full set. 

For 1983, I've been able to find a cereal box image online (once again from the excellent Pete Rose fansite 4192cards.com, to which full credit for the image below goes) which spells out that the set was available for $3.95 and two UPC symbols or two proof-of-purchase seals from various Kellogg's cereals (Sugar Frosted Flakes, Sugar Corn Pops, Froot Loops, Corn Flakes, or Sugar Smacks, and yes every cereal in the late 1970s and early 1980s trumpeted its high sugar content to kids):



In terms of the players included in each set, these sets are the usual effort to capture the All-Stars of the day but with some exceptions. While the 1980 set included players from each major league team, the 1981 set left out the Canadian teams -- the Blue Jays and the Expos. That's rather strange since the Expos in particular were one of baseball's top teams in the early 1980s. 

In 1982, the Expos made it back to the set thanks to Gary Carter and Tim Raines, but this time the Padres joined the Blue Jays on the sidelines. Finally, in 1983, the Blue Jays (Dave Stieb) and Padres (Garry Templeton) found their way into the set, but this time the Seattle Mariners were left out in the cold. 

Finally, any discussion about these Kellogg's cards would be incomplete without talking about the "3-D effect." If you read the fine print on the backs of these cards, you will see "Xograph®", "© [Year] Visual Panographics, Inc.", and some other legalese regarding the team logos and licensing from MLBPA. 

Xograph was Visual Panographics' trademarked manner of presenting the cards. The trademark was for "photographs having three-dimensional visual effect used as a part of postal cards, printed point-of-sale displays, printed advertisements, and printed exterior surfaces of packages and containers." A second similar trademark for the same word was for "photographic service rendered in connection with the making and furnishing to others of reproductions having a three-dimensional effect." Both of these trademarks are now dead. Visual Panographics appears to have issued one set on its own in 1975 -- one depicting the 37 presidents who had served to that point.

HALL OF FAMERS

As you would expect for an All-Star set, these four sets have a decent number of Hall of Famers in each, though, perhaps, less per capita than you might think.

1980 (20 total): Mike Schmidt, Bert Blyleven, George Brett, Bruce Sutter, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Nolan Ryan, Eddie Murray, Willie Stargell, Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski, Dave Winfield, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Fergie Jenkins, Ted Simmons, Tom Seaver, Phil Niekro, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew

1981 (23 total): Palmer, Jackson, Schmidt, Ryan, Brett, Rice, Stargell, Niekro, Tony Perez, Murray, Winfield, Joe Morgan, Carew, Rickey Henderson, Seaver, Rich Gossage, Yastrzemski, Carlton, Alan Trammell, Paul Molitor, Sutter, Robin Yount, Bench

1982 (24 total): Brett, Henderson, Jack Morris, Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, Seaver, Ryan, Winfield, Jackson, Schmidt, Sutter, Don Sutton, Gary Carter, Fisk, Carlton, Yount, Bench, Gossage, Niekro, Palmer, Yastrzemski, Carew, Tim Raines, Murray

1983 (21 total): Carew, Fingers, Jackson, Brett, Henderson, Yastrzemski, Gossage, Murray, Rice, Yount, Winfield, Harold Baines, O. Smith, Ryan, Morris, Sutter, Palmer, Carlton, Carter, Fisk, Schmidt

Edit: added Hall of Famers inducted since original post. 

ERRORS/VARIATIONS

If you know anything about the Kellogg's sets of the 1970s, you know that they were riddled with statistical and copy errors in the written information on the backs of the cards. 

Not so with these four sets. None of them have any corrected errors or variations according to Trading Card Database: 1980, 1981, 1983.

-EDIT-

As reader Dancfuller and his Carlton Fisk blog noted, there is, in fact, an uncorrected error in the 1982 Kellogg's set: Carlton Fisk is listed as having played in 1981 for the "Chicago NL" team rather than the AL team. Thanks for that catch!

MY TAKE

Like most collectors over the age of about 40 or so, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for these cards that was accompanied by a bit of sadness. The sadness comes from how poorly many of these cards have held up over the years thanks to that plastic lenticular layer that the Xograph process seemed to require. The plastic causes the cards to curl -- like these four sets shown in an eBay auction:

Also, the plastic layer often cracks without anything causing it to crack -- probably due at least in part to the desire of the cards to curl up. I've borrowed this image from Night Owl's post in 2015 titled, "Get to Know Me: Kellogg's Cards":

As Night Owl said in his post, cracked Kellogg's cards make me sad too. I will also echo what Night Owl said about these 1980s cards: while the cards from the 1980s in my opinion are pretty nice, Kellogg's cards are a 1970s phenomenon. 

While I was barely a collector in the late 1970s -- I was as much of a collector as a kid aged 6 to 8 could be -- I still had the 1978 and 1979 sets in my collection thanks to my mom sending off for them for me. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention in 1980 or 1981 (or we didn't have the spare money available to buy the cereal necessary to get the cards) because those sets were entirely new to me when I returned to collecting in 2014. By 1982, though, I was in full accumulation mode. That meant that I insisted on getting the 1982 and 1983 sets for my collection.

I think what makes these cards beautiful in many respects is the fact that all of them are posed photos that highlight the player. The quality of photography is good as well. It's a jarring juxtaposition to put one of these cards from the early 1980s next to a random 2016 Topps flagship card -- the smiling face of Richie Zisk next to a random pitcher/hitter in action grimace....which one looks better to you?

Due to their wide availability, Kellogg's cards from the early 1980s are easily found on eBay whether in sets or in individual cards. A few interesting highlights I have found:

1.  One seller is asking $110 for all four of these sets together. I think you can do better by buying them individually with just a little bit of effort, though.

2. This seller has an intriguing find: an uncut sheet of the 1981 set for $29.99 shipped. If uncut sheets were not a bit difficult to store/display, I'd be tempted.

3. "Zartanthegreat1" would like $25 to send you a three-card proof panel of Kent Hrbek, Bob Horner, and Gary Carter from the 1983 set. 

Just don't ask Zartan to send you any Super Sugar Crisp cereal.

1980 Topps Burger King Pitch, Hit & Run

INTRODUCTION TO THE SET

First off, please note that this post will not cover any of the Burger King team sets, nor will it cover the 1986 and 1987 sets that Burger King issued called "All-Pro." This set is a one-off -- a one-year only oddball from Topps and Burger King.

Burger King was started in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953 under the name "Insta-Burger King." It literally was meant to rip off the McDonald brothers' concept -- the founders Keith Kramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns had visited the first McDonald's in San Bernardino, California, and liked it so much that they bought their "Insta-Broiler." This broiler -- the famous "flame broiler" of Burger King fame -- became required equipment for the stores.

Kramer and Burns franchised the concept to some franchisees, including a group in Miami led by James McLamore and David Edgerton. When the original company failed in 1959, these two gentlemen purchased the company, restructured it, and renamed it Burger King. Even today, when you fly into Miami International Airport, you can see BK's corporate headquarters just across the Dolphin Expressway off NW 57th Avenue. 

Pillsbury Company bought BK in 1967. Its efforts toward restructuring led to hiring former McDonald's executive Donald Smith to revamp the company to franchise the concept properly, to increase menu choice, and standardize restaurant designs. When Smith left (for PepsiCo in 1980), Norman Brinker took over. Between Smith and Brinker, BK challenged McDonald's for burger supremacy. But, when Brinker left for Chili's, the company struggled again. 

Since then (and I won't bore you with more corporate history), BK has gone through multiple owners and concepts. Most recently, BK performed a reverse merger with Canadian coffee giant/restaurant Tim Hortons so as to move its nominal headquarters to Canada and receive tax benefits as a result.

Full disclosure: my father-in-law works for a very large BK franchisee. Further disclosure: BK's food is much much better than McDonald's, except for French fries. Nothing beats McDonald's French fries.

One more item to know: what Pitch, Hit, & Run is: PHR was a part of MLB's Official Youth Program to get kids between ages 8-13 playing baseball. Kids were tested on their skills, and winners went to a national event. 

Here's an ad from 1979 for it. Note that this advertisement puts the ages at 9-12:

And here is a store sign that I found in a Google Image Search:

Note that the store display comes from 4192cards.com, a Pete Rose super collector site. Full credit goes to them for this photo.

EXEMPLARS

While they look like 1980s Topps, you can see the red backs here. 1980 Topps had blue backs. These images are from Trading Card Database and its checklist.

DETAILS

Burger King issued these in packs of three plus an unnumbered checklist with every purchase of a large order of fries. A total of 34 cards were issued -- thirty-three different players and that checklist. 

The card design mimics the Topps base set for 1980s but with a couple of key differences. First, as you can see, the Burger King logo features prominently here. It is in the corner where the player's position was otherwise located. Second, we have the addition of the "Collector's Series" title next to the player's name -- again, in the same location as where the player's position was. Third, we have those red backs. For reference, here's the base 1980 Topps:

Perhaps most interestingly of all, though, is the fact that Topps did not pull the trick it uses regularly these days in reproducing the same photo on the same design in 800 places. A number of the photos are different. For instance, here are the Vida Blues from each:

I went through the set, and the photos in this Burger King set fall into four categories. First, some photos are exactly the same as the Topps base set. Second, some photos between the flagship and the BK sets are the same, but the BK set is cropped differently (some only slightly). Third, some players have entirely different photos -- like the Vida Blue above. Finally, four players are shown in entirely new uniforms in the Burger King set. Here's the checklist, broken down that way:

Same: Steve Carlton, Don Baylor, George Brett, Bill North, Willie Wilson

Cropped Differently: Rollie Fingers, Phil Niekro, J.R. Richard, Bruce Sutter, Rod Carew, George Foster, Dave Parker, Jim Rice, Pete Rose, Enos Cabell, Cesar Cedeno, Julio Cruz, Frank Taveras

Same Team, Different Photo: Vida Blue, Ron Guidry, Jerry Koosman, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Keith Hernandez, Reggie Jackson, Fred Lynn, Dave Winfield, Dave Lopes, Omar Moreno

Completely Different Team: Nolan Ryan, Bobby Bonds, Ron LeFlore, Joe Morgan

I do not have a good explanation for these changes (other than the team changes, of course). Those that were cropped differently for Burger King almost invariably improve as baseball cards -- as if someone said, "you're right, we shouldn't have cut off his feet in the photo." A lot of the different photos turned action shots to portraits. There's no real rhyme or reason to it.

How Topps and Burger King put this set together is a bit of a mystery. I mean, I feel like there were Burger Kings in Wisconsin in 1980, but there aren't any Brewers in the set. Only 19 of the 26 teams in existence at that time got cards; the Brewers, Tigers, White Sox, Blue Jays, Indians, Rangers, and A's did not get any cards in the set. The Astros got 5 (with the addition of both Nolan Ryan and Joe Morgan from other teams). Why Frank Taveras and Bill North? Why one Cub and zero White Sox? 

HALL OF FAMERS

Out of the 33 players in this set, just thirteen of the players are in the Hall of Fame -- a rather disappointing number for what ostensibly is an All-Star set. They include:

Carlton, Fingers, Niekro, Palmer, Ryan, Seaver, Sutter, Brett, Carew, Jackson, Rice, Winfield, Morgan

ERRORS/VARIATIONS

The Trading Card Database does not list any errors or variations.

MY TAKE

I feel like these were not in Wisconsin in 1980. I think that for a couple of reasons. First, there are not any Brewers in the set. Second, I don't have any of these cards. I turned 8 just before the end of 1979, and my baseball-card collecting was in full swing in 1980. I put together nearly the entire 1980 Topps flagship set, but I have no recollection of ever seeing these. I feel certain that if I had known of their existence, I would have been clamoring to visit Burger King to buy fries.

Then again, I don't know that a Burger King was open anywhere near where I lived. And perhaps that is the simple explanation for how the set was put together. Places where there were Burger Kings got players, and places without them did not. It's a reasonable guess.

For the most part, the changes in photography really make this set better looking than the base set. Even the cropping changes are better other than, perhaps, the Rollie Fingers. It's an attractive set with a number of good players despite the random inclusion of just okay players like Enos Cabell. Still, though -- Frank Taveras? He was coming off a year in which he hit .263/.301/.337 with 42 steals in 61 attempts. I mean, I guess Topps/BK remembered him leading the NL in steals in 1977?

For what it is worth, the Pitch Hit & Run competition lives on today. As of 2017, it is sponsored by Scotts Company (the turf people). The local competitions have already taken place, as have the sectional competitions. The finals just finished up during All-Star Week. As the PHR website notes, Eric Hosmer, Chris Parmelee, Matt Wisler, Brewer Michael Reed, and former Blue Jay/current Lotte Giant Andy Burns are all PHR alums. The "Hall of Fame" on that site lists former National Finalists after the competition's restart in 1997 who were drafted.

Your eBay purchasing options for this one are very limited. There are a decent number of singles available, but there is only one complete set, and the seller is looking to get $25.98 for it (shipping included). There is also the "ultra-completist" set -- thirty-three unopened cellophane packs of the cards, each containing a different card on the front of each pack -- that you can buy from "buygreatinvestmints" for $156.99. Perhaps the one that makes me laugh hardest in some respects is this checklist. It's graded Gem Mint 10 and all, but it makes me laugh derisively that the seller wants $80.99 for it (shipped). It makes me laugh even harder that his/her original price was $135.99!