Apparently Topps was considering a “Rookie All-Stars” sub-set at some point after the 1970 season, featuring guys like Thurman Munson and Larry Bowa, but whatever reason it never happened.
Here are what the cards were going to look like:
Now, for some reason the design reeks of 1970 to me, not 1971, but all documentation I can find about it stated 1971, so 1971 it is I suppose.
I found a nice blog write-up on the Topps Archive from 2011:
http://toppsarchives.blogspot.
Go check that out for more info.
I don’t know exactly what the idea was to move forward with such a set. Was it going to be a yearly thing? Some sort of “Update”?
Or maybe just a sub-set within the following year’s set?
Either way this would have been awesome to have, pulling them out of packs through the decade, certainly leading to some doozy’s later on like 1978 Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson, 1979 Ozzie Smith, 1976 Fred Lynn, etc.
I saw a couple go up at auction over the years and they go for ridiculous amounts of money, over $10k each!
I can’t even imagine what a Thurman Munson specimen would go for out on the open market!