|
Topstars - Famous Footballers
I do not believe that A&BC Chewing Gum issued 'multi-card' packs
in 1958/59 (as they did in following years). This pack has no price
or an indication of the number of cards in the pack. This wrapper
has the address for A&BC Chewing Gum as London, not the later Harold
Hill, Essex address. It does not mention a licence agreement with
Topps, which is believed to date from 1959. I’ve always associated
this wrapper with the 1958/59 set because of the
Topstars Album of Famous Footballers from this date. The wrapper
mentions 'Topstars' rather than 'Footballers', but does have the
image of a footballer. The wrapper does not have a price, nor does
it mention how many cards came in each pack.
The 1958/59 set,
issued as two Series (Cards 1-46 and 47-92) is also known as the
'Planet' set. For Series 1 there are two versions of the set,
commonly referred to as 'Planet', due to an offer printed at the top
of some of the cards. In Series 1, the 'Planet' cards have black and
red backs, while the non-Planet cards have blue and red backs.
Interestingly, there are also two different card printing sizes for
the Series 1 non-Planet cards, with some cards slightly larger and
with a larger printed image than other cards in the set. Click here
for a discussion and images of the
card size variations. All cards in Series 2 have, or originally
had, the Planet offer at the top and therefore have black and red
backs. What this means is that the wrapper needed to accommodate
cards of different sizes. Whether this meant there were different
sized wrapper variations, or whether the same wrapper could be used
for the different card sizes is not known.
Degree of confidence in assigning this wrapper to this set:
High
|
|
