If there are any 1971 Partridge Family trading card experts out there, help is needed in sorting this issue out! There were 3 series of cards each with a different frame color - yellow (1st), blue (2nd) and green (3rd).
These were issued in 5 cent packs and later (?1973-4) in 10 cent packs and in a variety of box shapes. They were also issued in cello packs.
The first series had a nickel fold wrapper with larger size ads (0-490-87-01-1), the second had a penny fold with smaller size ads ( 0-490-86-01-1). and apparently the third series may have been issued in the same wrappers and folds as the first series.
Can anybody shed some more light of this. Were the numbers of cards in the 5 cent and 10 cent packs different? Were all three series available in cello packs? Is there a way to distinguish the 1st and 3rd series packs?
Here is another piece of the puzzle - a 5 cent series 2 square box:
Here is a piece of the puzzle - a 10 cent series 1 square box:
Mike and I have corresponded back and forth about the "Partridge Family" issues and below is the information I sent him, updated with some new info...
I believe Topps may have tested some markets with a 10¢ price; they didn’t fully go to 10¢ until 1973/1974 timeframe. It is possible the 10¢ priced packs contained more cards than the 5¢ priced packs, but can’t be sure. As for the wrappers, based on full box contents I have images for, I’m about 98% sure of the info below...
1st Series
Nickle-fold wrappers 0-490-87-01-1
2nd Series
Penny-fold wrappers 0-490-86-01-1
3rd Series
Nickle-fold wrappers 0-490-87-01-1
Display boxes
5¢ brick box 1-4xx-xx-01-1 (24 ct) (Dual box sleeve seen) (1st series) (Need code!)
5¢ brick box with “NEW SERIES” sticker NOT SEEN (24 ct) (2nd series)
5¢ brick box with sticker 1-4xx-xx-01-1 (“3RD SERIES” Sticker 5-417-46-01-1) (24 ct) (3rd series)
5¢ square box 1-490-40-01-1 (1st series possibly)
5¢ square box with sticker 1-490-40-01-1 (“NEW SERIES” Sticker 5-438-46-01-0) (48 ct) (2nd series)
5¢ square box with sticker 1-490-40-01-1 (“3RD SERIES” Sticker ?) (48 ct) (3rd series)
Box dealer insert 4-999-40-04-1
10¢ square box 1-412-37-01-1 (24 ct) (1st series seen, 2nd and 3rd series possibly)
10¢ square box 1-412-37-02-1 NOT SEEN
10¢ square box 1-412-37-03-1 (24 ct) (Have not determined what the revision is yet and the revision of ‘03’ would indicate there was an ‘02’ as well!) The fact that the 10 cent square box is only 24 ct vs. the 5 cent square box being 48 ct, indicates to me the packs were thicker, probably more cards.
One more thing… the stock number is usually the same on the commodity codes for a particular release. 490 on the wrappers should indicate the brick box has a 490 in its code. The fact that the square 5 cent box has 490 is a little odd; if designed for the 2nd series, it should have a different stock number. The 412 for the square 10 cent box indicates a new stock number, but could have been for a new series or a different pack configuration. I don’t know if we will have answers unless full (untouched) boxes could be examined.
With the 1st series seen in both the brick box and the 10 cent square box, and the 5 cent square box having a stock number of 490, it is very possible that Topps designed all three boxes at the same time, before the 1st series was even released. Topps had begun transitioning from the brick box to the square box right around this time. Both would be in use until about 1975 when the rectangle box emerged and became standard for the next 2 or 3 decades.