Best of 1969 Topps

[brewing]

List (highly encouraged to post pics) your top 5. The criteria of your selection is up to you (photo, great season, error, first card, favorite player, etc.).

We'll do each year starting from 1980 to 1952. I'll start a new year about once a week. I'll close voting a month after the first post of the thread and tally up the results.

With these basic rules...
1. You can only vote for a player's card twice during his entire run (Let's not make this a Mantle and Ryan love fest). Consider that when making your selections.

2. Provide a reason for each choice if you're the first person making that selection. You are encouraged, but it's not necessary to restate the point if someone already said it.

3. Pick only 5. We are going through 29 years, limiting to only Topps regular releases, tough decisions will be made. List honorable mentions if you desire, but they will not be counted in the final tally.

[SAllen2556]

Love the photography of this set, but it seems like everyone forgot their hats the day the Topps photographer showed up so they either went hatless or had to wear some generic black or blue spray-painted cap.

1. Bench 2. Banks 3. Brock 4. Lolich (Freehan hugging Lolich is truly an iconic photo to any Tiger fan!)

http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz32/sallen2556/baseball%20cards/_3_zps529f7f1d.jpg
http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz32/sallen2556/baseball%20cards/_3-1_zps3cbfcdf3.jpg
http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz32/sallen2556/baseball%20cards/_3-3_zps63dde3ac.jpg
http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz32/sallen2556/baseball%20cards/_3-2_zps79b3b9f2.jpg

[JollyElm]

If you eliminate all the boring close-up shots of the players (and especially the ones where they're hatless) and the complete lack of any sort of creativity with the images, then it all comes down to the Hall of Famers. There is quite a good crop of shots in this set that really look quite magnificent. These are my five favorites. Clemente looks intensely focused, B-Robby (for once!) has a great looking card, Mr. Cub is grinning up a storm, Johnny Bench is part of a great layout and Willie (yes, I know it's just a more close-up version of his 1966 Topps card) just fits in perfectly. For autograph seekers, these cards must have been a godsend. Just beautiful portraits!!

138081

The Popovich and Perranoski are great cards because there are 3-4 distinct variations of each one. Most are just differences in the blacking out of the cap logos, but I love those sorts of things.

Ron Santo is here for one reason. Why in heck is he in profile, facing completely sideways, when all of the other All Stars are facing the viewer??? Come on, Topps!!!!

138080

[GeorgeBailey2]

Ron Santo is here for one reason. Why in heck is he in profile, facing completely sideways, when all of the other All Stars are facing the viewer??? Come on, Topps!!!!

138080

All I can think of is: 1965 Topps (cough, lame a$$) Embossed

[ALR-bishop]

On the Hargan card, note the mark on his neck. In all cases where that mark appears ( on most cards it does not), there is a large dark period on the card back in the same location. The Pirates Rookie variant is a tough one

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539/WhitenOldClothes748_zpsa5d060d3.jpg?t=1395340792
http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539/WhitenOldClothes749_zps5e1a9bf4.jpg?t=1395340849
http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539
/WhitenOldClothes746_zps4cac0f00.jpg?t=1395340908
http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539/WhitenOldClothes747_zps725b80a4.jpg?t=1395340981
http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539/img007.jpg

[stlcardsfan]

Mojorob needs to post his 69 pictures again. Never get tired of looking at those...

[GeorgeBailey2]

Mojorob needs to post his 69 pictures again. Never get tired of looking at those...

Those were just plain old card porn.

Which inserts were in the packs that year? I know the deckle edge were, I am assuming the decals and the big (bigger than 67) posters were also? The 4 in 1's were separately issued; were the team posters separate, also?

[ALR-bishop]

....came in their own packs

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539/570C698C-EF26-432F-A9D1-44C58700C575-827-00000156929ED8FB_zps351cdb50.jpg
http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj555/Bishop539/img492_zps9744d0eb.jpg

[brewing]

This is the year of my birth so that alone makes this set mean a bit more to me. I've always liked it for it's simplicity, even though it is a re-hash of the 1968 design.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/classicml/Best%20of%20Topps/1969Bench_zps48e58531.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/classicml/media/Best%20of%20Topps/1969Bench_zps48e58531.jpg.html)
I love this Bench card. An early photo of Bench before he wore #5, the trophy, the squat pose, and the cool vest uniforms the Reds used to wear. This and the 1973 Bench is what made me pass on the 1975 and 1976 editions of him.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/classicml/Best%20of%20Topps/1969Ryan_zps0cecb78f.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/classicml/media/Best%20of%20Topps/1969Ryan_zps0cecb78f.jpg.html)
A young Ryan on his first card to himself.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/classicml/Best%20of%20Topps/1969WS_zps518576df.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/classicml/media/Best%20of%20Topps/1969WS_zps518576df.jpg.html)
The 1968 Champs were part of baseball lore in Michigan until 1984. For the TMI department, I was born about 9 months after Mickey jumped in Bill's arms.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/classicml/Best%20of%20Topps/1969McCovey_zps6ddcfa2d.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/classicml/media/Best%20of%20Topps/1969McCovey_zps6ddcfa2d.jpg.html)
McCovey's MVP season in a simple pose.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/classicml/Best%20of%20Topps/1969Haney_zpsb7dc060a.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/classicml/media/Best%20of%20Topps/1969Haney_zpsb7dc060a.jpg.html)
A couple of things wacky with this card. It appears to be a lefty catcher, but no. It's a reverse image of Larry Haney's 1968 Topps card.

[bosoxfan]

http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h429/gaugman/1969%20topps/f8953429-5aa2-44d8-ac39-240a21aba13f.jpg


I agree with Bench being #1
With this Gibson a close 2nd. Brooks, Clemente and Banks finishing my top 5.

[mattsedate]

Seeing all these pictures makes me appreciate the set again.