1972 Topps Baseball Cards

By Patrick Mondout

Collector's must have been somewhat disappointed in 1972 after a banner year featuring so many interesting sets in '71. Topps no longer felt the need to include cool inserts in their wax packs but did manage to put out a wildly colorful set that perhaps captures the mood of the decade as well as any set could with the possible exception of the '75 Topps set.

1972 Cards at a Glance Kellogg's third annual effort contained variations/errors for nearly 40% of the cards! Read more about these cards and view a checklist here.  A 3D set which had been released in 1970 by Rold Gold Pretzels was reissued by Kellogg's (in Danish-Go 'Rounds) with very little modifications.  The '70 cards are both more scarce and more valuable. Our coverage of the 1972 O-Pee-Chee baseball cards is here. The modern era (1972-1985; before Procards came along) of minor leagues cards starts with the TCMA issued set for the Cedar Rapids Cardinals. It originally included 29 cards but late in the season a rare and oversized team card was added. As with most minor league sets of the early Super70s, it featured black and white photography. Our coverage of Topps 1970 baseball set of 720 cards is here and a complete checklist is here. Topps once again experimented with cloth stickers, and the unreleased 33 test examples from '72 are very scarce and often badly cut (because they should be on an uncut sheet of 66 cards). They finally got it right in 1977. Topps tried 8 11/16 x 9 5/8 fold-out thin paper Topps Posters again in '72, but sold them in wax packs instead of as inserts. The set of 24 includes Amos Otis, Andy Messersmith, Bill Melton, Billy Williams, Bud Harrelson, Carl Yastrzemski, Dave McNally, Fergie Jenkins, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, Joe Torre, Mickey Lolich, Pete Rose, Ray Fosse, Rick Wise, Roberto Clemente, Tom Seaver, Tony Oliva, Vida Blue, Wilbur Wood, Willie Davis, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell.

Share Your Memories!

What are your memories of the 1972 Topps Baseball cards? Share your stories with the world! (We print the best stories right here!)