1978 Topps Baseball Forum

I love this set more than any other.  It reminds me of when I first fell in love with baseball cards.  I had a $1 allowance and every weekend my mom would take me to the gas station down the road to pick up 5 packs.  She would always give me the extra change to cover the sales tax.  A pack was 20 cents at the time.  I remember being disappointed when a year or two later the price was raised to 25 cents a pack and I could only get 4 packs with my allowance.  Fortunately my mom raised my allowance to $2, so I could still start buying 8 packs.  

Opening a pack of those cards was magical.  I can remember the thrill of spotting the shield on a card and knowing you just got an All-Star.  It's how I learned all the great players of the game and began learning everyone's statistics.  This set will always be my favorite.  Looking at these cards reminds me of being 7 years old and all the wonder that went with that.  It's what this great hobby is all about.

Agreed, I have a very similiar story, but 1980.  My older brother would steal my bubble gum.  

Trade On!

Mine was '68.  5 cents per pack.  Every penny I ever got went into them. I remember it very well.....even though I am old now!!!

This is my favorite as well.  My dad brought home a cello three pack with a beautiful George Foster All-Star card on the front of the top pack.  I loved that All-Star shield as well and still have his stat line memorized from the 1977 season.  124 runs, 52 HR, 149 RBI and a .320 BA.  Leading all but the BA.  Growing up in OH and the Cleveland Indians leaving some room in your heart to follow another team back then, I became a fan of the Cinninnati Reds for the NL.  I still have that well-loved card.  That started my collection and love of sports cards.  I have been a collector of All-Star cards ever since.  Also why I went a bit nuts for the 2003, 04, 05 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites refractor sets.  All those old series in a chrome refractor card.  Just awesome.

But that 1978 Topps #500 card will always be my favorite baseball card.  Funny, my dad always thought I liked collecting a bit toooooo much in the following years, but I have always been thankful that he gave me that cello rack pack.  And then I found this site and I instantly felt alot better about how much I collect...

Thank you for this thread! Greg

1978 was my first year of collecting baseball cards, too. I still have my first one ever - Bob Lemon manager (and had him autograph it)! '78-'81 Topps baseball and football had great designs. The local pharmacy was always stocked with rack packs, right next to the 3 cent bazooka gum. Imagine our horror when the price shot up to a nickel per piece!

Heard someone on a podcast saying that you can tell a collector's age by subtracting 6 from the first year they bought cards to determine the year they were born.  In my case it was -8 years from the 1980 Topps. 

The All-Star shields are to this day one of the best features ever. Please bring something similar back, Topps! 
v3

The 1975 cards were my first. 8 years old and hooked. 

Mine will be 1979 Topps Football.

My first pack was in 75, but 78 was the first set I completed.

I few guys in another (vintage focused) group I am in love this set so much, they did a x9 project (9 of each card in a binder,  9 sets total)

Wow that is a lot of pages and binders!

Mark