The 1970 Topps baseball card set is one of the most iconic issues in the hobby’s history. These were the cards many kids of the late 1960s and early 1970s collected and traded in the schoolyards. The set features classic designs and photos of legendary players from that era. These cards would have originally come in the familiar orange, yellow, and red Topps wax wrapping that holds so much nostalgia for collectors today.
While consumers are most familiar with today’s thick wax packs containing only a few cards, the 1970 Topps packs differed significantly in size and quantity. Each 1970 Topps wax package held an impressive 22 cards inside. Topps produced cardboard rack boxes that held 20 of these larger wax packs for enthusiastic young collectors. The boxes would have been displayed on spinning wire racks in the consumer products aisles of supermarkets, drug stores, and corner shops across America where kids purchased them with allowance money.
Inside each of the larger wax packs, the 22 baseball cards were arranged in a grid of four columns by six rows. The cards were tightly jammed together and secured with a thin wax paper wrapping. This wax wrapper served to both encapsulate and cushion the fragile cardboard treasures within. Each packet had a small logo printed on the front above the Topps name denoting what year and sport the contents represented, in this case a stylized “70B” for 1970 baseball.
The 1970 wrapper design differed from earlier years by featuring a bright yellow, orange, and red color scheme along the top and bottom borders. Above the team logos printed in the borders ran the famous tagline “Collect 22 Super Baseball Cards!” The sides still displayed the iconic cursive “Topps” logo but in a bolder yellow font this year. On the reverse, the packs contained the standard box score panel found on the backs of the included cards. This allowed kids to practice their baseball stats and provided valuable coupons or offers as well.
Inside each 1970 Topps wax pack, collectors would find a true cornucopia of baseball’s greatest stars of that era. The set is loaded with Hall of Famers and perennial All-Stars at the height of their careers. Pitching legends like Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Fergie Jenkins, and Gaylord Perry all appear in dynamic action shots. Power hitters like Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Frank Robinson, and Reggie Jackson grace the 1970 issue as well in their prime. Even role players and backups from that time like Jackie Hernandez, Diego Segui, and Chuck Hartenstein hold nostalgia for collectors today.
The 1970 design featured vibrant solid color borders around each photo that really made the images pop. Bright oranges, greens, yellows, and blues provided bold contours. Above the photo ran the player’s last name in large all-capital letters with their first name or initial below in smaller type. The team names wrapped around a large team logo at the bottom. On the reverse, statistics like batting averages and ERAs were outlined in an easy to read format along with career totals. Short biographies ran along the right side.
Each 1970 Topps wax pack represented the perfect snapshot of baseball as it was played in that magical time. For only a quarter or two, kids could rip open the noisy wrappers and hold legendary players of the past in their hands. The fun of the basketball-style pack and thrill of the chase to see what stars a collector might uncover captivated generations. While card quality and technology has certainly evolved since, the nostalgia and charm of those classic Topps wax packs remains unequaled. Today they stand as a cherished relic from a golden era of baseball cards and represent the source of so many fond childhood memories for millions of collectors and fans.
