General Forum

People bought Topps cards and got a stick of gum with them. People didn't buy a stick of gum and happen to get cards with them.

People buy diecasts for the car and sometimes happened to get a card with it.  Like the Topps Bazooka gum issues, where the gum was the focus and the cards were a bonus, those are not considered a major issue.

Manufacturer alone doesn't make a major release, there are plenty of sets made by the major companies in other categories, including Oddball.

If Admin says they should go there, it is his site and he can do what he wants. If that is the case, I can reach out ask him and maybe he chooses to explain to me the logic, or he can choose to ignore me and I'll it let it go. 

I don't understand why the Racing Champions cards have been given "pretend" numbers based on the number of the die cast vehicle they were included with. If a card doesn't have a number on it than it should be "NNO". But the Racing Champions cards actually all have an "item number" on the back and they appear to all be different. It's like they actually are all numbered if you look at the card backs and not the sides of the toys they came with.

Please don't start that crap again, Boogie. It's settled already, Admin confirmed this is the way it will be done. 

Because people preferred the cards to the gum is not relevent to the fact that they were explicitly  created specifically to be packed in with the gum. Using your argument they are not major releases. And we both know that is not something that should be done. So why is this any different? It's not. 

I actually would prefer the Racing sets to be sorted by series...all the NASCAR cards under one header, all IndyCar, all F1, all drag racing, etc, under their own heading each year, like hockey is sorted by division. I doubt there would be enough support for it but it would be better than trying to shoehorn racing stuff into baseball-style listings. The problem with that is the sets that include multiple forms of racing in one checklist. I have not been able to come up with a solution to that which also contributes to my hesitance to approach Admin about it. That would include the majority of the Racing Champions sets, at least two of the Hot Wheels sets as well and perhaps more. Some of the Racing Champions sets included 4 different forms of racing. 

The Topps Bazooka cards were made to be packaged with gum (one card for a big box of gum).  They are not considered a major release, even though Topps owned Bazooka.  Using your logic, that set should be a major release, but it is not (unless you are saying those are listed wrong).

Regarding breaking up the Racing Champions checklists, I agree with you.  I don't see why we can't break them up.  All the series had different packaging.  The ones that had checklists on the back of the package only had the checklists for that racing series.  Racing Champions clearly intended for them to be different sets.  I don't see why they shouldn't be listed as separate sets (ie. Racing Champions Indy, Racing Champions NASCAR, Racing Champions NHRA, Racing Champions World of Outlaws, etc).  Same goes for most of the sets listed as Inserts, like Racing Champions Premier.  Different packaging, distribution, etc.  The way they are listed now is like listing every single 2022 Topps Baseball release under one set and listing Chrome, Heritage, etc. as inserts.  (Now that logic may not be valid for Action cards, where they didn't differentiate series in the packaging and distribution.)

Racing Champions cards should be listed as oddball, period. Never released in packs. Cards were in boxed die-cast cars years before Press Pass was formed, so that argument doesn't hold up either.

Lets throw another Oddball product into the mix. "Sports Illustrated for Kids" cards are all listed as Oddball, not Major Release. They were "packaged" inside of a magazine. The magazine was available across the nation, as were the cards. But you couldn't just go in a store and buy the SI for Kids cards in any way without getting the magazine. Racing Champions cards are the exact same thing!

Both Bazooka and SI for Kids ARE major releases. They ARE listed incorrectly. 

No they aren't (in either case). Both are listed exactly as they should be on this site. Just because your hand-written notes think otherwise doesn't mean that the rest of the world agrees with you. Both are oddball releases in the words of TCDB ADMIN. Get over it already.

Hey Billy-

I've been trying to find some information on which I can form an opinion, but I'm striking out all over the place.  What I've been looking for is some record of Racing Champions case codes, assortments, or other release information.  I know people started paying attention to that sort of data after around 2005 for Hot Wheels and Pixar Cars, but I can't find any mention of it for Racing Champions.  For current releases there are all sorts of case break videos on YouTube, of course.  For the 1990's stuff, not so much.

My memory is that the cars for different racing series were distributed separately.  There would have been a NASCAR box, or an NHRA box, or Sprint Cars or Indy, etc., but you wouldn't have opened one factory case and gotten a mix of any of those.  That's how I remember it anyway.  I'm trying to find some evidence to back up or refute that memory.

So far, all I can see is that all cars of each type have the same UPC/Item#, but different types of cars have different ones.  For example:

1997 1/64 Racing Champions

Stock Car - 01153
Pinnacle Series - 09110
Craftsman Truck - 08200
Funny Car - 08500
Top Fuel - 08600
Pro Stock - 09950
Indy - 05100
Sprint (World of Outlaws) - 03500
Stock Rods - 06700

I don't know what it means with regards to case assortments yet, but that's what I've found so far.

-Tom

Tom, I can't help you with that much. I was too poor in those days to ever open a case, and when I hunted them down later it was one by one. (Some loose without the card, unfortunately) In 2002 when i did get access to a case I do know that they were only NASCAR in the case I saw opened, no NHRA. By then they were not doing other forms of racing and trimmed off most of the offshoot NASCAR lines as well. I don't remember if there were Premier cars in the case or not...I don't think so but I can't say with certainty. 

Adam...lay off the beer before you post on the forums. 

So this Starting Lineup Olajuwon NNO card should actually be numbered 34 because the included toy has a 34 on it?

https://www.tcdb.com/Packaging.cfm/sid/67776/1988-Kenner-Starting-Lineup-Cards