1968/1969
The 1968 and 1969 sets are populated with older photos from prior years. Coming expansion in 69 may have impacted photo taking in 1968 ( as many as 100 players would be changing uniforms) but more likely it was Marvin Miller, who had organized the players against management....and also against Topps and their paltry player contacts. The 69 set is packed with newer players in their minor league uniforms. Also airbrushed and capless photos.
A deal was apparently reached between Topps and the MLPA at some point because beginning with the 5th series of the 69 set, what had been outdated, capless, airbrushed photos in much of 68 and the first 4 series of 69, became updated new images in the last two.
So I think expansion uncertainties and Marvin Miller are the reason for some lousy cards in 1968 and 1969. I once read an SCD article by Olbermann who documented a lot of this.
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