Description

1981 Topps Traded is a 132-card set, released exclusively to Hobby outlets -- the first such "Hobby Only" product of its kind. Like the 1974 and 1976 Topps Traded sets, the product features players who had changed teams during the strike-shortened 1981 season in their new uniforms, along with a number of players who made their Major League debut during the 1981 season. Unlike future Topps Traded sets, the emphasis is on the Traded, with very few rookies -- the most prominent being future basketball star Danny Ainge, who had a cup-of-coffee with the Blue Jays in 1981. Tim Raines, Jeff Reardon, and Fernando Valenzuela, who all appeared in the 1981 Topps set on multi-player cards, have their first individual Topps cards; however, they are not "true" rookie cards. Also, for the only time in this brand's existence, the set is sequentially-numbered as an extension of the 1981 Topps set.

Each dealer was required to purchase a minimum of two, 100-set cases at a cost of $450/case.

Birth of the XRC

1981 Topps Traded was the first "Hobby Only" product and as such, there was some questions among collectors of the era as to the product's legitimacy. Specifically, whether or not the "extended" rookie cards should be treated as legitimate rookie cards, since they were not distributed in wax packs and only available through Hobby dealers. In a bit of a cop-out, Dr. Jim Beckett, whose annual price guide had become the authority in the nascent Hobby of the early 80s, decreed that those players who had already appeared in the 1981 Topps release (Raines, Reardon, Valenzuela, and others) would not have the the "RC" tag applied to their Topps Traded cards. Meanwhile, those players who had their first Topps card in the Traded set, would instead have their card labelled an "Extended Rookie Card" or (XRC), with their card in the following year's set as their "true" rookie. There are only three XRCs (Ainge, Gary Gray, and Gene Nelson) in 1981 Topps Traded.

By 1989, as collectors began to accept the legitimacy of "Traded," "Update," and "Rookie" sets, the XRC tag was phased out; however, grandfathered to cards from extended sets from 1981-88.

Distribution

Factory set only. Hobby only. 100 sets per case.

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	132	-	?	?

Checklist

Base Set

727 Danny Ainge XRC

728 Doyle Alexander

729 Gary Alexander

730 Bill Almon

731 Joaquin Andujar

732 Bob Bailor

733 Juan Beniquez

734 Dave Bergman

735 Tony Bernazard

736 Larry Biittner

737 Doug Bird

738 Bert Blyleven

739 Mark Bomback

740 Barry Bonds

741 Rick Bosetti

742 Hubie Brooks

743 Rick Burleson

744 Ray Burris

745 Jeff Burroughs

746 Enos Cabell

747 Ken Clay

748 Mark Clear

749 Larry Cox

750 Hector Cruz

751 Victor Cruz

752 Mike Cubbage

753 Dick Davis

754 Brian Doyle

755 Dick Drago

756 Leon Durham

757 Jim Dwyer

758 Dave Edwards

759 Jim Essian

760 Bill Fahey

761 Rollie Fingers

762 Carlton Fisk

763 Barry Foote

764 Ken Forsch

765 Kiko Garcia

766 Cesar Geronimo

767 Gary Gray

768 Mickey Hatcher

769 Steve Henderson

770 Marc Hill

771 Butch Hobson

772 Rick Honeycutt

773 Roland Howell

774 Mike Ivie

775 Roy Lee Jackson

776 Cliff Johnson

777 Randy Jones

778 Ruppert Jones

779 Mick Kelleher

780 Terry Kennedy

781 Dave Kingman

782 Bob Knepper

783 Ken Kravec

784 Bob Lacey

785 Dennis Lamp

786 Rafael Landestoy

787 Ken Landreaux

788 Carney Lansford

789 Dave LaRoche

790 Joe Lefebvre

791 Ron LeFlore

792 Randy Lerch

793 Sixto Lezcano

794 John Littlefield

795 Mike Lum

796 Greg Luzinski

797 Fred Lynn

798 Jerry Martin

799 Buck Martinez

800 Gary Matthews

801 Mario Mendoza

802 Larry Milbourne

803 Rick Miller

804 Rich Monteleone

805 Jerry Morales

806 Jose Morales

807 Joe Morgan

808 Jerry Mumphrey

809 Gene Nelson

810 Ed Ott

811 Bob Owchinko

812 Gaylord Perry

813 Mike Phillips

814 Dan Porter

815 Mike Proly

816 Tim Raines

817 Len Randle

818 Doug Rau

819 Jeff Reardon

820 Ken Reitz

821 Steve Renko

822 Rick Reuschel

823 Dave Revering

824 Dave Roberts

825 Leon Roberts

826 Joe Rudi

827 Kevin Saucier

828 Tony Scott

829 Bob Shirley

830 Ted Simmons

831 Lary Sorensen

832 Jim Spencer

833 Harry Spilman

834 Fred Stanley

835 Rusty Staub

836 Bill Steinecke

837 Joe Strain

838 Bruce Sutter

839 Don Sutton

840 Steve Swisher

841 Frank Tanana

842 Gene Tenace

843 Jason Thompson

844 Dickie Thon

845 Bill Travers

846 Tom Underwood

847 John Urrea

848 Mike Vail

849 Ellis Valentine

850 Fernando Valenzuela

851 Pete Vuckovich

852 Mark Wagner

853 Bob Walk

854 Claudell Washington

855 Dave Winfield

856 Geoff Zahn

857 Richie Zisk

858 Checklist 727-858