Fielding 11 players on each of the 24 MLB teams on a hefty 12” x 20” canvas, Topps took wall art to a new level in 1969 with their colorful Baseball Team Posters set. Collectors lucky enough to come across these wax pack gems, which had limited distribution at best, surely enjoyed the teammates staring back at them. Check out the giant-sized slugger with huge guns touting the GIANT SIZE! posters on the wrapper for one thin dime.
Before diving into individual posters which in total featured 264 different ballplayers, let’s take an inside look at production details. I’m the lucky owner of the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers combined art board, so I’ll inspect those two teams for our example.
At first glance, it looks like clear black & white photos were affixed on a large board, then covered with an acetate sheet. Upon closer inspection, the head and shoulder shots look like a proof of some kind. The player’s name and facsimile autograph were glued near each portrait on top of the plastic-covered proofs. 
The team name was hand-drawn with black ink on what appears to be vellum paper. The artist next used white paint to perfect the outlines of each letter. That graphic was cut and glued to a piece of card stock, which was then mounted to the plastic overlay.
A creative editor used tool of the trade (a red grease pencil) to draw a swooshy line under Dodgers’ Bill Sudakis and Athletics’ Jim Pagliaroni on the original board, producing a flowing, artistic design on the final printed product.
Other clean up measures were performed in pre-production, like cropping John Odom’s Athletics jersey and rounding out the bill of his hat.
A number series was affixed to the bottom left corner on the poster with transparent cellophane tape.
Full-coverage tracing paper was then taped to the board top, allowing the artist to sketch a mock-up of the poster’s color scheme.
In printing, a particular shade of orange can be made by mixing 100% yellow with 60% magenta ink, while a shade of red can be created by mixing 100% magenta with 100% yellow. 
Production notes on the mock-up (SOL. YELO, 60 RED) reveal the creative team member wanted solid yellow and 60% red to produce an orange background on the actual poster. The Los Angeles Dodgers lettering was a shade of red comprised of 100% yellow and 100% red. Black lines and circles on the see-through paper frame where the player photos, names and autographs were positioned.
Now that we gained insight into the production layout, there’s a story to tell, too, about actual images Topps used on these 24 posters. Looking back at the set, over half the player images were used on other Topps cards and inserts, with many identical likenesses popping up across multiple products. Most were from other Topps core products, while others were from Topps’ extended line of O-Pee-Chee, Venezuelan, Bazooka and Milton Bradley issues. Today I’ll show you duplicated depictions on the first half of these posters. Then next week, meet me at this site for the second half.
1969 TOPPS DETROIT TIGERS BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #1
Of the 11 player photos on the 1969 Detroit Tigers team poster, only 3 appear to be fresh to the eye. The other eight have appeared on other Topps offerings, some numerous times, begging the question “Haven’t we met?” To show the same orientation as the poster, I rotated the reversed 1966 Mickey Lolich Magic Rub-Off and 1971 Dick McAuliffe Baseball Tattoos images.
1969 TOPPS ATLANTA BRAVES BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #2
Hammering Hank Aaron’s pose is found not only on the 1969 Topps Atlanta Braves team poster, but also on his 1970 (white background inside the folded card) and 1971 (red background inside) Baseball Scratch Off cards. That very photograph can be found on the 1968 All Star Baseball Plaks Checklist #2. Topps used photos present on those 2 checklists when they made the 24 ultra-scarce plastic Plaks busts. However, figurines of four players in that rare test set haven’t surfaced, Aaron being one of them, so perhaps they were never produced. If Aaron’s plastic Plaks #13 ever sees the light of day, I would include it in the Braves list below. 
1969 TOPPS BOSTON RED SOX POSTER #3
For reasons unknown, Topps excluded poster numbering on the bottom of the 1969 Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs team posters. Unlike the player names and autographs which were glued, the number series was securely taped to the art board. I doubt the clipped art fell off prior to production. I feel it was perhaps an oversight and never included. Various credible price guides, like Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide and Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, list the BoSox poster as #3 and the Cubs as #4. Topps did not number the poster set alphabetically by team, so I wonder if the Cubs really were supposed to be #3.
1969 TOPPS CHICAGO CUBS BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #4
I mentioned above that I would have included Hank Aaron’s Plaks bust as one of the repeated poster images. Here’s Ron Santo’s Plaks #21 stand-up where the mold used to hold the hot plastic matches his image on the Plaks Checklist #2 as well as the 1969 Chicago Cubs team poster and his 1969 Baseball Super card #38.
1969 TOPPS BALTIMORE ORIOLES BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #5
Brooks Robinson’s poster image appears on the 1967 Topps All-Star Pin-Up Picture #3. It also appears on an identical 1968 O-Pee-Chee All Star Pin-Up Picture #3, the only difference being the Topps Chewing Chew (T.C.G.) print site in the bottom left corner.
Topps also performed some trickery with this same still on the third baseman’s Bazooka-issued Tipps From The Topps #8 panel and booklet by reversing the photo. I wonder how many gum chewers noticed the bird was backwards? 
Also, Baltimore Orioles superstar Frank Robinson is another player featured in the All Star Baseball Plaks test set without, as of yet, an actual Plaks bust in the public eye. 
1969 TOPPS HOUSTON (ASTROS) BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #6
Topps opted to only use Houston as the team name for the 1969 Astros team poster due to some name and logo complications. Check out Dave Hornish’s article from his fine thetoppsarchives.com website to learn more about why that may have happened. Consistent with how Topps steered clear of nary a peek of Astros advertising, they presented the 11 poster players either without hats or a cap with the team’s emblem safely airbrushed away. Topps avoided Denis Menke’s and Curt Blefary’s team logos for a different reason – those shots were when they were on the Braves and Orioles, respectively. 
1969 TOPPS KANSAS CITY ROYALS BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #7
The Kansas City Royals inaugural year was 1969, and since these posters were put together prior to that season, not many, if any, players’ photos in royal blue were available for the Topps production team. Hence, 7 players were capless, while the other four donned the dreaded airbrushed black hat to cover their former team’s logo.
Topps used the same Eliseo Rodriguez image on the 1969 team poster as the one found on 1969 Topps card #49. That’s the card that Topps distributed with his last name Rodriguez (correct) and Rodriquez (incorrect). Thanks to the larger footprint, collectors get to see a healthy portion of Ellie’s Yankees jersey on the poster compared to a tightly cropped version on his shared rookie card with Steve Jones. Also of note, Wally Bunker’s 1969 Kansas City poster image shows the right side of his face, while his 1969 Stamp reverses the identical photo. 
1969 TOPPS PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #8
Woodie Fryman’s 1967 Pirates Baseball Stickers image was recycled not only on his 1968 #112 and 1969 #51 Topps base cards, but also the 1969 Philadelphia Phillies team poster. While his black and gold jersey doesn’t blend well with the other reddish Phillies uniforms, it’s nothing compared to Don Money’s hat looking like the black sheep of the family. 
1969 TOPPS SEATTLE PILOTS BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #9
Another expansion team, another cattle call of capless competitors. Well, actually Tommy Davis has a poorly painted Dodgers blue hat with a slightly visible LA logo, while California Angels first baseman Don Mincher is seen on the poster with an inverse image of his 1968 Topps card #75 and 1969 Stamp. Thank goodness Topps let everyone know in the middle of the poster that these guys were all Seattle Pilots.
1969 TOPPS MONTREAL EXPOS BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #10
Like their Seattle counterparts, the first year Montreal Expos peppered the 1969 poster with hairdos of the day, except for a trio of black hats, courtesy of Rusty Staub of Houston, Mack Jones of the Braves and Maury Wills of Pittsburgh. Topps used Rusty’s poster image on the 1968 Topps Giant Baseball Stand-Ups test cards. 1968? You mean 1967, right? There’s another post on Dave Hornish’s most excellent thetoppsarchives.com site where hobby expert Keith Olbermann makes the undeniable case that the Stand-Ups were actually from 1968, not 1967.
1969 TOPPS CHICAGO WHITE SOX BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #11
Beltin’ Bill Melton’s gaze on the 1969 Chicago White Sox team poster is an outlined version of his 1970 Topps card #518. That clubhouse shot was taken in 1968 when Melton was toiling for New York Yankees affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs. The year prior, Topps used a similar locker room shot of Melton on his 1969 Topps card #481 but without his cap. This is all verified thanks to an insightful article regarding the Topps use of minor league photos on major league cards. 
What I really wanna know is whose red and blue duffle bag is that and what’s inside.
1969 TOPPS SAN DIEGO PADRES BASEBALL TEAM POSTER #12
The final 1969 expansion team poster hypes a San Diego Padre cadre of hatless homies, with only first sacker Ron Davis sportin’ a (what else?) faux black cap. And anytime I get a chance to show off my favorite player, Glenn Beckert, you know I’m gonna take advantage of it, thank you Roberto Pena.
That’s a look at the first 12 team posters. See you soon for the other dozen. In the meantime, you can browse 1969 Topps Team Posters on eBay and if you enjoyed this article, please check out my other Topps vintage articles here.
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Mistaken Identities Update: 1969 Topps All-Stars Hall of Fame Discovery
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Comic Sketch: Photo Matching the 1969 Topps American League Manager Cards & Cartoons
