Hip Check

Well, I was hoping to write a Valentine's Day themed post this week but it looks like that will have to wait at least a year.  Instead, I want to look at a sticker set that Topps did a quick reissue of, namely 1968's Put-On Stickers, which quickly became 1969's Real Hip Stickers. 

Put-On Stickers were initially tested in an envelope format:

(courtesy bubblegumcards.org)

This is odd as the known stickers are standard-sized at 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Topps generally only used the envelope if there was something oversized within.  They did this, for example, with the 1968 Basketball and 1969 Flags of the World tests, which both had oversized inserts. So I'm curious what else may have been offered or if there was some kind of larger format being tested (and presently unseen by human eyes).

The regular issue of 33 subjects was sold in this colorful wrapper:

Each of the stickers was actually comprised of smaller stickers:

You can see how the set got it's name but I'll bet most didn't end up placed where instructed!

Here's the back.  These are not all that easy to find and the condition can be all over the place:

The set, presumably using the exact same stickers, was reissued as Real Hip Stickers in 1969:

(courtesy bubblegumcards.org)

The indicia has changed places, surely due to the different and fatter overall style that allowed it to hold more product. So the style of wrapper being used for the 1969 reissue is resized but the main graphics remain the same. 

The switch from five to ten cents along with the corresponding uptick in the number of cards (or stickers, as it were) inside is perhaps mostly associated with the 1970 Baseball set but Topps would often try out new configurations on a different set before making major changes to their line as packing requirements would also change along with the new packs being produced. I wonder if that's what happened here? They did it to a degree with the ten cent test cello Baseball packs in '69 then upped the retail Football packs to a dime that fall.