1978 Topps Master Set Highlights

I've gone on and on about collecting mega master sets. As of today, I'm actively collecting mega master sets for 1965, 1976, 1986, 1987, and 1988 Topps. But instead of writing another thousand words on the beauty of collecting a card design rather than a player or team, here's an image gallery of a few of the highlights of the 1978 Topps mega master set.

In addition to the basic 726-card set, Topps also produced four regional team sets in 1978 using the same design, issued as a Burger King promotion. Those teams were the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and New York Yankees. But instead of just repackaging cards from the basic checklist, each regional team set was on its own checklist and also included a few cards that had not been produced for the regular set. I don't have all of them yet, but here are a few I do have...

 

How these cards are different from the regular 1978 Topps set:

Dave Bergman, Astros: Appears on four-headed "Rookie Outfielders" card #705.

Reggie Cleveland, Rangers: Appears as a member of the Red Sox.

Al Oliver, Rangers: Appears as a member of the Pirates.
Rich Gossage, Yankees: Though Goose is shown as a member of the Yankees on his regular card, a different photo is used. 
Rawly Eastwick, Yankees: Appears as a member of the Cardinals.

Fergie Jenkins, Rangers: Appears as a member of the Red Sox.

John Lowenstein, Rangers: Appears as a member of the Indians.

Jesus Alou, Astros: Does not appear in the regular set.

Bobby Thompson, Rangers: Does not appear in the regular set.

Jack Billingham, Tigers: Appears as a member of the Reds.

Alan Trammell, Tigers: Appears on four-headed "Rookie Shortstops" card #707.

Jim Spencer, Yankees: Appears as a member of the White Sox.

The Santa Claus card above is from the Topps Christmas holiday novelty set from 2007. The Eric Gregg card is from the 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set.

Of course, you should also check out my 1978 Topps Traded custom card artwork.