Brooks Robinson 67 & 69 Topps - Identical?

[profholt82]

I noticed that Brooks' 67 and 69 cards appear to be of the exact same photo. Unless they're different and I'm just not looking closely enough. Was this a common practice with Topps at this time, or is this just an anomaly?

1969 Topps


1967 Topps

[jstef]

Topps also used the same Brooks Robinson photo in the 1969 Topps Super set. Likewise, they used the same Brooks Robinson photo in the 1963 and 1964 sets. If they aren't the same, they sure are similar. IMO, the photos for the 1963 and 1964 Yastrzemski cards are the same.

[JollyElm]

Topps constantly reused photos back then, especially with the 1969 cards. Usually they cropped it differently to try to fool the kids (i.e. Willie Mays cards, 1966 & 1969, and the Brooksies you've shown), but I'm sure the tykes were onto them.

[ALR-bishop]

And the Rose floating head rookie and the next year full body. And hundreds of others, including the 59 and 60 Bobby Gene Smith

I think there is thread in here discussing Topps common reuse of photos

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by profholt82

I noticed that Brooks' 67 and 69 cards appear to be of the exact same photo. Unless they're different and I'm just not looking closely enough. Was this a common practice with Topps at this time, or is this just an anomaly?

Yes; both the same photo. At least the cropping was different on Brooksie’s ‘67 and ‘69. Look at his ‘63 and ‘64; doesn’t even look like a cropping difference. There are other B. Robby’s that are the same as well, but these are the main ones. So, to answer your other question, it was a fairly common practice.

[quitcrab]

What other Brooks cards are identical besides 63 and 64...and 67 and 69? I'm not a big Brooks collector.Hope you can collaborate. Thanks
Maybe the 61 dice game and his 60 Topps card?

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by quitcrab

What other Brooks cards are identical besides 63 and 64...and 67 and 69? I'm not a big Brooks collector.Hope you can collaborate. Thanks
Maybe the 61 dice game and his 60 Topps card?

You’re correct on the ‘60 Topps and the ‘61 Dice Game. Since your not a big Brooks collector you may want to look at a Bazooka item. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this issue, but an image looks quite familiar with a Topps regular issue.

[kailes2872]

There is a thread with a story but if I recall correctly, Marvin Miller, as a negotiating tactic with Topps to increase fees, instructed players not to cooperate and pose in the late ‘60s. Therefore 68/69 Aaron are identical, 65/68 Mays, the aforementioned 67/69 Robinson.

Now, this could be misremembered and the result of a bad cheesesteak last evening - and it doesn’t explain 60/61 Yaz, 63/64 Rose (not to mention the similar Mays portrait in 54/55/56 as well as Williams in 54/55/56). All I can say to that is that monopoly breeds laziness

[mintonlyplz]

54...55 and 56 Aaron main image were the same.

[Jenx34]

Originally Posted by kailes2872

There is a thread with a story but if I recall correctly, Marvin Miller, as a negotiating tactic with Topps to increase fees, instructed players not to cooperate and pose in the late ‘60s. Therefore 68/69 Aaron are identical, 65/68 Mays, the aforementioned 67/69 Robinson.

Now, this could be misremembered and the result of a bad cheesesteak last evening - and it doesn’t explain 60/61 Yaz, 63/64 Rose (not to mention the similar Mays portrait in 54/55/56 as well as Williams in 54/55/56). All I can say to that is that monopoly breeds laziness

Not to mention in the '69 set, there were many cards with photos use that were taken in previous years with players in wrong uniforms. They did a pretty terrible job of airbrushing hats to cover up wrong logos, etc. The more I look at that set, the more I hate it.