Set Size: O-Pee-Chee - 396, Topps 792
Cubs in set: O-Pee-Chee - 11, Topps - 27
The 1983 OPC set is half the size of Topps. The players included come from all 792 of the Topps set. If a player in the OPC set had a Topps card in the first 396, their card number remained the same. Players with a high Topps card number got a lower card number in the OPC set. OPC also left out the Record Breakers subset and most of the team cards.
Most of the Cubs cards went to the bigger names on the team. I'm guessing that the only reason Wayne Nordhagen was included was because he was with the Blue Jays. OPC tended to make their sets Expo and Blue Jay heavy. Nordhagen was left in after heading to the Cubs and got the "Now With" treatment.
It's interesting that they kept the Super Veteran cards rather than having more different players. I'm kind of glad, though--I like those cards and have a bunch of the OPC versions.
ReplyDeleteBack in 1983 people wanted stars, they'd rather have 2-3 of a star then different players. Also Fergie Jenkins is Canadian though most Super Vets in the OPC set have no Canadian connection.
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