View Full Version : Topps and Hank Aaron
samosa4u
04-08-2019, 12:34 PM
I was surprised to recently find out that Topps used the same Hank Aaron image three years in a row! So that's 1954, 1955 and 1956. What the heck were they thinking? Did the company do this with any other baseball player or just Aaron?
stlcardsfan
04-08-2019, 01:10 PM
They used the same image in '68 and '69 as well.
It was very common among all players.
clydepepper
04-08-2019, 01:51 PM
Topps does that a lot.
Mays '65 & '68 come to mind.
Cheap is cheap.
nolemmings
04-08-2019, 01:59 PM
I was surprised to recently find out that Topps used the same Hank Aaron image three years in a row! So that's 1954, 1955 and 1956. What the heck were they thinking? Did the company do this with any other baseball player or just Aaron?
Yes. Mays, Kaline and Ted Williams immediately come to mind, although Ted at least had an additional pose in 1954.
I think almost all the head shots are the same for the players in the 1955 and 56 sets.
JollyElm
04-08-2019, 02:18 PM
The 1969 set is a veritable reuse-a-thon. The Mays, B-Robby and Banks cards immediately come to mind. Pics already used before, but just cropped differently for that year's offering.
Peter_Spaeth
04-08-2019, 05:05 PM
63 64 Rose.
jason.1969
04-09-2019, 07:13 AM
I had a woman offer to sell me the "original photo" that was used for the 1954-1956 Aaron cards. She told me it had been with her uncle since the mid-1950s and she suspected it might be valuable when she saw the same pic on an expensive Aaron RC.
I let her know the "STAPLES" watermarks on the photo paper suggested a more recent origin. [emoji1787]
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I was surprised to recently find out that Topps used the same Hank Aaron image three years in a row! So that's 1954, 1955 and 1956. What the heck were they thinking? Did the company do this with any other baseball player or just Aaron?
I have noticed this with 52 Topps cards as well. I am not 100% sure, obviously, but I'd say Topps used some of Bowman's earlier photos and maybe just tweaked them a bit for their breakthrough set in 52.
JollyElm
04-09-2019, 02:08 PM
Speaking of reuse...
349764349765
Yick!!
samosa4u
04-09-2019, 02:17 PM
Yes. Mays, Kaline and Ted Williams immediately come to mind, although Ted at least had an additional pose in 1954.
That really sucks! Didn't kids and parents complain to Topps about it in the 1950s? I would have definitely complained about it!
Hxcmilkshake
04-09-2019, 02:31 PM
Bubba Smith had like the same card for 5 years
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Volod
04-09-2019, 04:25 PM
That really sucks! Didn't kids and parents complain to Topps about it in the 1950s? I would have definitely complained about it!
Speaking for myself, I was quite content in the 1950's just to have a couple of quarters to spend on frivolous stuff like baseball cards. When I was a kid, I had no idea it was even possible to complain to a company in NYC about anything, even if I wanted to.:)