In the late '70s, when I was just beginning to discover older Topps sets, I never came across any 1969s naturally, through friends' older brothers, for example. It was only at the first show I attended which I believe was in Meriden, CT that I made an effort to find some from 1969. I purchased Lee Stange and Jose Tartabull from one of the dealers, and for for many years those were the only specimens I possessed. It wasn't until after finishing the 1970 set in the mid-'90s that I actually started looking to get more into 1969. I recall at the time thinking I was crossing something of a collecting Rubicon because I was turning my attention to my first set that contained a Mickey Mantle card which, at that time, probably set me back $100 or so for a really sharp raw copy.
The 1969 set features the first appearances of the 4 new expansion teams that debuted that year - the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals. Early series depict the players on those clubs in their prior team's uniforms with logos and wordmarks airbrushed out, but by series 5 we begin seeing genuine expansion duds as photos from that year's spring training camps were starting to find their way into the set.
A dispute with the nascent players' association chief Marvin Miller had kept Topps photographers out of the 1968 spring camps. As a result the 1969 set contains many more airbrushed, generic and even previously-used images, some from more than a year prior to 1968, than most sets (later series, as above, began including better pics that were taken at the 1969 camps). This also likely explains the lack of team photo cards for the first and only time since their debut in 1956.
As for the Astros, all their cards appear labeled generically as "Houston" due to the continuing saga between Topps and owner Roy Hofheinz. An agreement seems to have been reached, though, before the end of spring training because cards from series 4 onward feature players freely depicted in their Astros uniforms even if, for consistency's sake, the cards remain labeled "Houston".
The 664-card set was Topps' largest ever to that point, most likely because of needing to cover 4 new clubs. It was issued across 7 series which were released sequentially between February and September. Increased production and/or better distribution resulted, as in the prior year, in high series cards being quite easy to obtain.
Set inside rounded corners, cards feature one of the largest images Topps had ever used. Team names appear in bold yellow font along the lower border (points deducted for having all 24 clubs in yellow) and the player's name and position appear in a largish colored circle in the upper right.
Printed on white stock, backs are printed in black against a salmon background and, space permitting, feature a cartoon illustration of some factoid about the player's career.
The 1969 set is one of the most attractive of the decade, old images or not. The light-colored backs enhance legibility.
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Wax packs contained 5 cards (plus a stick of gum) and sold for 5 cents each. Boxes contained 24 packs, and cases held 24 boxes.
Wax wrappers came in three basic designs - one 'plain', another advertising autographed cards available in series 3 packs, and a third advertising a 'magic' rub-off in series 4 packs.
Known wrapper advertisements include a magnet set for 150 Bazooka comics or 5 comics and 30 cents, a whale's tooth charm for 300 comics or 10 comics and 60 cents, a chemical set for 300 comics or 10 comics and 60 cents, and a ball/strike counter for 175 comics or 5 comics and 35 cents.
Plain wrappers are known to exist with all 4 offers and samples of the autographed card wrapper are known the the counter and the chemical set ads.
Rub-off wrappers are only known to have been accompanied by instructions for applying the enclosed rub off.
Some series 2 packs contained ads for the upcoming autographed cards in series 3.
Boxes, like the wrappers, came in the same 3 varieties corresponding to their contents - plain (top), autographed card (middle) and rub-offs (bottom).
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It is possible cases also came in three versions. The one pictured above carries a code associated with the plain wrappers and boxes. Perhaps others are yet to be found.
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The 'autographed' cards are often referred to as the 'deckle edged' set because of their scalloped borders. They are actually very nice, glossy black and white images. Late trades of Hoyt Wilhelm from Kansas City and Rusty Staub from Houston forced Topps to replace them with Joy Foy (K.C.) and Jim Wynn (Houston) to ensure at least one card from each club.
The rub-offs are generally referred to in the hobby as 'decals'. There are 48 in total. They consist of a very flimsy image transparency lightly affixed to a slightly more substantial piece of plain white paper. The image could be transferred to another surface by, well, rubbing it.
Grocery packs consisted of six wax packs overwrapped in plastic against a cardboard backer. The reverse of the backer contained an ad for the ball/strike counter and for a pair of flip 'baseball' sunglasses. The sunglasses could be obtained for 500 Bazooka comics or for $1 and 20 comics. It also featured a promotion which could net youth teams some baseball equipment, but the specifics are illegible on the one image available.
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Standard cello packs contained 12 cards and sold for 10 cents each. They were wrapped in plain cellophane and were packed 48 per box with 3 boxes per case.
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In 1969 Topps test marketed 10-card cellos in wrappers which resembled that year's wax wrappers. These cellos contained gum and, based on the two boxes we have images of, rub-offs and autographed cards.
These cellos could be found with a side panel ad for the magnet set, but other possible ads are unknown.
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Rack packs contained 36 cards and sold for 29 cents. As in most years, racks from higher series would sometimes contain cards from more than one series.
Although the header card refers to "3/10 cent packs", the cards were, as in later years, loosely packed in three different cells. The header carries a 1967 code, at which time racks did contain individual cello packs.
Judging from the information on the sell sheet at the bottom of this page, packs came 48 per case.
500-card vending boxes were available as usual, but imagery is currently unavailable.
The 664 cards in the set include 536 are basic player cards with the remainder belonging to a number of subsets as broken out below.
Included among the 536 basic player cards are 10 players from the 1968 Topps All Star Rookie (there was a tie at the second base position). Each is designated by a small gold trophy on their card.
361 - Gary Holman, Senators 1B
402 - Ken Boswell, Mets 2B
579 - Dave Nelson, Indians 2B
526 - Hector Torres, Astros SS
237 - Bobby Cox, Yankees 3B
338 - Del Unser, Senators OF
464 - Dave Marshall. Giants OF
630 - Bobby Bonds, Giants OF 95 - Johnny Bench, Reds C
380 - Stan Bahnsen, Yankees RHP
90 - Jerry Koosman, Mets LHP
Series 1: 1-109
Series 1 Slit B Image needed
Series 1, and each series, was printed on a 264-card full sheet which was divided into 2 individual 'slits' or smaller, 132-card half sheets. Each slit contains 10 different rows of 11 cards for a total of 110 cards, but because the series 1 checklist is appears in 2 rows, the series contains 109 unique cards. Each slit features 2 rows, 22 cards, printed twice. This produced a total of 44 cards printed in 50% greater quantities than the rest. We only have an image of a single series 1 slit, so only 22 of these overprinted cards are known for certain. Card counts and other clues suggest the identity of the other two over-printed rows, but not enough information exists yet to reconstruct the other slit.
Known over-prints:
Probable over-prints:
109 - Jim Lonborg
89 - Russ Gibson
67 - Bill Stoneman
12 - N.L. Strikeout Leaders
24 - Walter Alston
53 - Sonny Jackson
19 - Ken Suarez
58 - Fred Gladding
42 - Tommy Harper
75 - Luis Aparacio
1 - A.L. Batting Leaders
23 - Lew Krausse
99 - Twins Rookie Stars
100 - Hank Aaron
79 - Milt Pappas
50 - Roberto Clemente
38 - Zoilo Versalles
22 - Jesus Alou
66 - Orioles Rookie Stars
11 - A.L. Strikeout Leaders
18 - Dick Schofield
92 - Jack Billingham
62 - Chico Salmon
44 - Danny Cater
4 - N.L. RBI Leaders
35 - Joe Morgan
96 - Denver LeMaster
74 - Preston Gomez
47 - Paul Popovich
51 - Woody Fryman
7 - A.L. ERA Leaders
26 - Clay Carroll
29 - Dave Morehead
6 - N.L. Home Run Leaders
61 - Jimmie Hall
64 - Bill Monboquette
17 - Mike Marshall
14 - Al McBean
10 - N.L. Pitching Leaders
91 - Al Dark
88 - Rich Nye
45 - Maury Wills
20 - Ernie Banks
107 - 2nd Series Checklist
Of the 109 unique cards in series 1, 85 are basic player cards (including the Bench and Koosman All Star Rookies, above) and the remaining 24 belong to one of several subsets.
Cards 1-12 depict the top 3 performers from each league in six statistical categories - HR, RBI, Batting Average, ERA, Strikeouts and Pitching (a.k.a. Victories) - from 1968. Card backs list the top 50 in each category.
A.L. cards (odd numbers) feature a red circle on the front, while N.L. cards (even numbers) have a blue circle.
Series 1 contains four manager cards including Walter Alston/Dodgers, Mayo Smith/Tigers, Preston Gomez/Padres and Alvin Dark/Indians.
Card backs feature a cartoon-illustrated highlight from the manager's managerial or playing career.
Series 1 includes six 2-player Rookie Stars cards featuring youngsters with little or no MLB experience. Included are cards of the Giants, Mets, Royals, Orioles, Pirates and Twins.
Card 47, Paul Popovich, and card 77, Ron Perranoski, can each be found in 3 versions related to the airbrushed logos on their headgear - one each in which the underlying "C" and "LA", respectively, is nearly visible and in two versions each with successively darker/wider airbrushing.
Series 1 includes the checklist cards for both Series 1 and Series 2.
Each checklist can be found in two versions: series 1 can be found with and without a portion of Denny McLain's collar showing at the bottom right edge of his head shot, and series 2 can be found with card #161 listed incorrectly as Jim Purdin and correctly as John Purdin.
Card 49, Royals Rookie Stars, can be found with Rodriguez misspelled Rodriquez and card 99, Twins Rookie Stars, can be found with and without an errant black line in the upper left corner.
Series 2: 110-218
Series 2 was printed in the same format as series 1. Each slit had each of the 10 rows of 11 cards which made up the series, plus 2 additional rows which were repeated elsewhere on the slit, making a total of 44 cards which were printed in 50% greater quantities than the rest. Of the 109 unique cards (there was one reprint of the series 2 checklist, a series 1 card), 90 are basic player cards and 19 belong to one subset or another as described farther below. Those 44 overprinted cards are:
130 - Carl Yastrzemski
215 - Rico Petrocelli
208 - Donn Clendenon
142 - Woody Woodward
139 - Andy Kosco
177 - Ron Reed
118 - Stan Williams
186 - Johnny Edwards
135 - Tommy Davis
179 - Don Pavletich
167 - World Series Game 6
143 - Joe Nossek
136 - Cardinals Rookie Stars
128 - Tommie Aaron
154 - Jim Britton
175 - Jim Bunning
149 - Ollie Brown
117 - Jim Fairey
206 - Phillies Rookie Stars
165 - World Series Game 4
160 - Vada Pinson
183 - Don Shaw
200 - Bob Gibson
164 - World Series Game 3
148 - Lee Stange
161 - John Purdin
125 - Ray Sadecki
132 - Dave Baldwin
195 - John Odom
147 - Leo Durocher
156 - Astros Rookie Stars
137 - Wally Bunker
217 - John Donaldson
205 - Rick Reichardt
209 - Larry Haney
194 - Ted Uhlaender
120 - Pete Rose
112 - J.C. Martin
113 - Dave May
123 - Wilbur Wood
151 - Clay Dalrymple
158 - Joe Gibbon
193 - Don Cardwell
172 - Jerry Stephenson
Cards 162-169 document the 1968 World Series. There is one card for each of the 7 games and a summary card. Card backs feature abbreviated box scores from the subject game and the summary card features the Series composite pitching and batting stats for both the Cardinals and Tigers.
Series 2 includes four manager cards - Hank Bauer/A's, Leo Durocher/Cubs, Bill Rigney/Angels and Lum Harris/Braves.
Series 2 has six 2-player Rookie Stars cards. Included are cards for the Yankees, Cardinals, Astros, White Sox, Red Sox and Phillies.
Series 2 includes the 3rd series checklist, which would also be printed as part of the 3rd series. The reverse includes a checklist of the autographed card insert set, which was included in 3rd series packs.
Clay Dalrymple (151) was initially printed showing him with the Phillies. When he was traded to the Orioles in late January of 1969, Topps re-did his card to reflect his new team. His bio on the back was also updated to note the fact he had been traded.
Donn Clendenon (208) was selected by Montreal in the 1968 expansion draft and so Topps initially issued his card depicting him with the Expos. As with Dalrymple, he was traded in late January of 1969, so Topps issued an updated card of him depicting him with his new club, the Astros. His bio was also updated on the card's reverse to note the trade.
Series 3: 219-327
With 109 unique cards, series 3 was laid out the same as series 1 and 2 - the 10 different rows of 11 cards on each slit, with 2 different rows repeated on each, providing a total of 44 cards printed 50% more than the other 110 (109 unique because of the inclusion of the series 3 checklist, a 2nd series card). Of the 109 unique series 3 cards, 98 are basic player cards (including the Cox All Star Rookie) and 11 belonging to one of several subsets. No known slit images exist for the 3rd series, but analysis of miscuts and card counts permit the reconstructions shown here. The 44 over-printed cards are:
232 - Dave Ricketts
222 - Duane Josephson
264 - Bill Landis
327 - Willie Crawford
251 - Ron Herbel
272 - Ed Stroud
281 - Ted Kubiak
247 - Gene Oliver
324 - Tigers Rookie Stars
279 - Roger Nelson
260 - Reggie Jackson
252 - Chuck Cottier
301 - Darrell Brandon
317 - Bruce Look
295 - Tony Perez
303 - Cal Koonce
228 - Dave Leonhard
309 - Walt Williams
253 - Jerry Johnson
227 - Frank Johnson
321 - Jim McAndrew
287 - Jose Tartabull
240 - Ken Harrelson
311 - Sparky Lyle
306 - Jim Grant
318 - Jack Fisher
322 - Jose Vidal
323 - Larry Miller
325 - Jose Cardenal
230 - Rusty Staub
285 - Don Mincher
283 - Sandy Alomar
266 - Dodgers Rookie Stars
235 - Jim Hunter
284 - Expos Rookie Stars
238 - Ken Johnson
261 - Bob Johnson
219 - Fred Patek
223 - Tom Dukes
280 - Alex Johnson
304 - Padres Rookie Stars
316 - Hal Lanier
320 - Dal Maxvill
236 - Manny Mota
Four manager cards are included in series 3 - Dave Bristol/Reds, Barney Schultz/Pilots, Clyde King/Giants and Jim Lemon/Senators. Lemon's is a bit different because on the reverse, it notes he was fired from his position on January 29, 1969. It even shows a cartoon of a man with a suitcase - nice!
Series 3 has six 2-player Rookie Stars cards featuring the Angels, Indians, Dodgers, Expos, Padres and Tigers.
Series 3 includes the first printing of the 4th series checklist.
A variation of the 4th series checklist exists on which the yellow boxes are slightly lower than normal.
Series 4: 328-425
Series 4 is formatted such that each slit contains the same 9 different 11-card rows, with 3 rows on each slit printed twice. This gives series four 99 cards (98 unique, as the series 4 checklist is a 3rd series card), and creates a situation where 33 cards are printed in 1/3 less quantity than the others. The image on the left above shows one of the series 4 slits, and the image on the right is a reconstruction of the other based on miscuts and card counts. Of the 98 unique cards (which include All Star Rookies Unser, Holman, Bahnsen and Boswell), 78 are basic player cards, and the other 20 belong to a subset. The series 4 short-printed cards are:
381 - Ed Kranepool
367 - Lou Johnson
345 - Frank Linzy
413 - Roland Sheldon
359 - Dick Kelley
335 - Bill Mazeroski
406 - Phil Ortega
375 - Harmon Killebrew
399 - Bob Bailey
372 - Adolfo Phillips
314 - 4th Series Checklist
342 - Bubba Morton
356 - Frank Quilici
336 - Jim Roland
405 - Lee May
343 - Dan Frisella
393 - Gene Brabender
328 - Joe Horlen
395 - Chris Short
392 - Bob Burda
402 - Ken Boswell
349 - Dick Williams
398 - Tito Francona
347 - Randy Hundley
394 - Pilots Rookie Stars
380 - Stan Bahnsen
353 - Jeff Torborg
357 - Carl Taylor
338 - Del Unser
383 - Casey Cox
407 - Tom Egan
390 - Bill Freehan
412 - 5th Series
Cards 416-425 depict those players selected by The Sporting News to its annual All Star Team for 1968. Included here in series 4 are 10 players (1B, 2B, 3B, SS and OF, 1 from each league), while series 5 holds the remaining 10.
A.L. cards are bordered in red and N.L. cards in green. Card backs are puzzle pieces to an image of Carl Yastrzemski.
Series 4 contains three manager cards - Dick Williams/Red Sox, Bob Skinner/Phillies and Larry Shepard/Pirates.
Series 4 features six 2-player Rookie Stars cards - Braves, Reds, A's, Royals, Pilots and Cubs.
Series 4 contains the 5th series checklist.
Series 5: 426-512
Series 5 has 88 cards (87 unique, because the series 5 checklist is a series 4 card). Each card appears once on slit A and twice on slit B, or vice versa. The result is that each is printed an equal number of times - there are no over- or short-prints. Of the 87 unique cards, 67 are basic player cards (including All Star Rookie Marshall) while the other 20 belong to a subset.
Cards 426-435 continue and conclude the Sporting News All Stars series which began in series 4. Depicted are the remaining 10 players (OF, OF, C, RHP and LHP, 1 from each league) from the squad.
A.L. cards are bordered in red and N.L. cards in green. Card backs can be arranged to form an image of Pete Rose.
Series 5 includes three manager cards - Ralph Houk/Yankees, Red Schoendienst/Cardinals and Joe Gordon/Royals.
Series 5 includes six 2-player Rookie Stars cards representing the White Sox, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Twins and Astros.
The series 6 checklist can be found with the yellow check boxes slightly higher (left) or lower (right) relative to the type.
23 series 5 cards can be found with a rare variation - the player's fist name, last name and/or position printed in white, where some combination of the three were supposed to have been printed in yellow. Affected cards are:
440 - Willie McCovey
441 - Dennis Higgins
444 - Joe Moeller
447 - Ralph Houk
451 - Rich Rollins
452 - Al Ferrara
454 - Phillies Rookie Stars
461 - Mike Epstein
464 - Dave Marshall
468 - Pirates Rookie Stars
470 - Mel Stottlemyre
471 - Ted Savage
473 - Jose Arcia
476 - Red Sox Rookie Stars
482 - Jim Gosger
485 - Gaylord Perry
486 - Paul Casanova
491 - Twins Rookie Stars
493 - Wes Parker
500 - Mickey Mantle
501 - Tony Gonzalez
505 - Bobby Bolin
511 - Diego Segui
Series 6: 513-588
Series 6 was issued with 77 different cards (76 unique, because the 6th series checklist is a 5th series card). Each slit contains the seven different rows of 11 cards each with 5 duplicate rows each. The result is that 33 cards are printed in 1/3 greater quantity than the remaining 44. Of the series' 76 unique cards, 59 (including the Torres and Nelson All Star Rookies) are basic player cards, and the remaining 17 belong to a subset. The over-printed cards from series 6 are:
563 - Marty Pattin
587 - Joe Rudi
529 - Ed Kirkpatrick
526 - Hector Torres
562 - Bob Watson
550 - Brooks Robinson
528 - Claude Osteen
531 - Dick Farrell
545 - Willie Stargell
581 - Gary Nolan
556 - A's Rookie Stars
567 - Pirates Rookie Stars
539 - Ted Shows How
532 - Bird Hill Aces
552 - Dodgers Rookie Stars
544 - Tigers Rookie Stars
519 - Yankees Rookie Stars
585 - Ron Swoboda
520 - Bob Veale
580 - Jim Northrup
579 - Dave Nelson
523 - Bob Chance
515 - Dick Green
559 - Cardinals Rookie Stars
514 - Mike Lum
542 - Bob Aspromonte
541 - Joe Verbanic
553 - Ron Davis
525 - Earl Wilson
524 - Expos Rookie Stars
565 - Hoyt Wilhelm
588 - Bill White
530 - Cesar Tovar
Four manager cards appear in series 6 - Earl Weaver/Orioles, Al Lopez/White Sox, Billy Martin/Twins and Gil Hodges/Mets.
Series 6 includes eight 2-player Rookie Stars cards, representing the Yankees, Expos, Padres, Tigers, Dodgers, Cardinals, Pirates and Phillies.
Series 6 contains four star combo cards, the last Topps would issue for decades. Card backs offer narrative accounts of the subjects on the front.
Series 6 contains the 7th series checklist card, which can be found with the circle containing its card number blank or filled in with the same salmon color used elsewhere in the set.
Card 567 can be found in a very rare variation where the words "1969 Rookie Stars" are not outlined in black.
Series 7: 589-664
Series 7 was laid out like series 6 - 77 cards, minus a previously-issued checklist, for a total of 76 unique cards. Each slit featured the same seven 11-card rows which made up the whole series, and an additional 5 repeated rows. LIke series 6, this created a situation where 33 cards are 1/3 more common than the rest. No actual images of a series 7 slit are known. The images above are reconstructions of the series 7 slits created via detective work with miscuts and card counts by sleuths at Net 54 Baseball. Of the series' 76 unique cards (including All Star Rookie Bonds), 59 are basic player cards, and the remaining 17 belong to a subset. Much like occurred in 1968, no real scarcity exists with 1969's 'high numbers' series and cards command a minimal premium. Those over-printed cards from series 7 are:
651 - Gus Gil
638 - Ed Sprague
647 - Dave Wickersham
594 - Dooley Womack
633 - Harry Walker
652 - Eddie Watt
615 - Len Gabrielson
599 - John Boozer
596 - Chuck Hartenstein
635 - George Culver
658 - A.L. Rookie Stars
649 - Al Jackson
595 - Lee Maye
641 - N.L. Rookie Stars
631 - John Kennedy
645 - George Brunet
611 - Braves Rookie Stars
639 - Barry Moore
607 - Dick Bosman
606 - Gene Mauch
608 - Dick Simpson
617 - Jesse Gonder
602 - Cubs Rookie Stars
628 - Red Sox Rookie Stars
597 - A.L. Rookie Stars
646 - Expos Rookie Stars
654 - White Sox Rookie Stars
614 - Astros Rookie Stars
625 - Mack Jones
624 - N.L. Rookie Stars
642 - John Hiller
644 - Chuck Hinton
653 - Aurelio Rodriguez
Series 7 included three manager cards - Gene Mauch/Expos, Harry Walker/Astros and Ted Williams/Senators, who was the replacement for Jim Lemon as featured in series 3. So, the set featured one more manager card than there were teams.
As was common with high-numbers series of the era, series 7 offers an eclectic variety of Rookie Stars cards - there are three 2-player cards representing specific teams (Padres, Astros, Expos), seven 3-player cards devoted to specific teams (Cubs, Braves, Royals, Red Sox, Padres, White Sox and Royals), and two mixed-team 3-player cards each for the American and National Leagues.
A continual curiosity of the 1969 set is card 653. Ostensibly depicting California's Aurelio Rodriguez, it actually shows Angels' batboy Leonard Garcia. No one is certain how this happened - rumors exist that the Topps photographer couldn't find Rodriguez so he asked Garcia to pose, or that Rodriguez and Garcia were pulling a fast one on the cameraman which went farther than they probably thought it would.
Neither rings particularly plausible. However, hobby historian and former ESPNer Keith Olbermann has written that because of the problems Topps had with the players in 1968, they purchased some photos from outside sources, including some from the files of legendary sports photographer George Brace. The image of Garcia was acquired in that way (as was the Reggie Jackson shot shown below), so the error was probably a labeling mistake by Brace.
Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson (260) and Rollie Fingers (597) make their first appearances in the 1969 set, as do Al Oliver (82), Graig Nettles (99), Sparky Lyle (311), Bob Watson (562) and Bobby Bonds (630).
Hall of Famer Don Drysdale (400) and Hall of Famer and hobby patron saint Mickey Mantle (500) make their final appearances, as does Johnny Podres (659).
Samples of original artwork for the cartoons on some 1969 cards, courtesy of Roy Carlson at Sports Collectors' Daily (link).
The assembled puzzles of Yaz and Rose.
