I have a few fun updates for some of the Topps vintage articles I’ve written. In June, I pointed out in a piece entitled Funny Business that Topps reused cartoons from previous baseball card sets on the backs of their 1966 product. You may remember this wasn’t just a handful, but a whopping 168 recycled images (the entire 1966 1st series, all but one of the 2nd series and a portion of the 3rd series) were repurposed from a variety of earlier Topps sets.
I originally reported there were 167 rebirthed cartoons, but reader and collector Eric White informed me shortly after the article published that I missed one — the sketch on 1961 Ed Bouchee card #196 also materialized on 1966 Norm Siebern card #14. Much appreciated, Eric.
Notice how Topps removed the “W” from Bouchee’s Washington State College comic sweater so it wouldn’t conflict with Siebern’s supposed Baltimore Orioles jet black undershirt.
Today, I’m delighted to share yet another recycled drawing from that 1966 baseball card set, and the discovery might surprise you. As I researched my story a few months ago, I found that the lone 2nd series cartoon holdout was Jake Gibbs card #117.
I inspected all Topps baseball cards issued before 1966 and simply could not find this football image. It’s been gnawing at me for three months. It had to be somewhere within the Topps portfolio, and since it was a gridiron scene, I finally examined different Topps football card sets, many of which showcase cartoons. Eureka! I hit paydirt with Minnesota Vikings and future Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton card #98 in the 1963 set.
Tarkenton wore #10 at the University of Georgia, while signal caller Gibbs sported #12 at Ole Miss…
…however, the drawing erroneously shows jersey #16 instead on each card.
There is some nearly invisible blueish messaging on top of the card back’s trivia question and printed drawing. That hidden secret contains the answer and an updated comic to a “Mystery Quiz!” feature Topps incorporated onto each cartoon in the set. The big reveal happens when the collector is instructed to “PLACE RED PAPER ON CARD AND SEE ANSWER”. The red paper is actually a rectangular piece of cellophane included in the 1963 wax packs. The chewing gum company promoted this camouflaged quiz gimmick on that year’s retail boxes and wrappers.
To learn more about the 1963 Topps football set and packs, check out Rich Mueller’s 2019 article on Sports Collectors Daily.
The Scrambler’s card #98 cartoon poses the question “WHAT DID FRAN STUDY AT GEORGIA?”. By placing a piece of Topps-provided cellophane on top of the card’s sketch, the BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION answer magically appears, as does a revised drawing.
Using crinkly cellulose to answer trivia questions was no doubt a fun exercise for kids back in 1963. Hats off to the Topps production department’s cleverness, especially when it came to cartoon modifications. To gain insight into that process, let’s look at 1963 Topps Galen Fiss card #21. You can see the Cleveland Browns linebacker Mystery Quiz! question is “WHERE WAS GALEN DURING THE ’54 & ’55 SEASON?”. Under that are four comic figures – three football players and a ghostlike outline with vertical lines.
The original Fiss artwork from my personal collection shows you what Topps printed on the card back in orange.
Applying cellophane over the cartoon panel reveals not only the “A FIRST LIEUTENANT IN THE AIR FORCE” answer but also that the hand-drawn phantom figure has now transformed into a cartoon military officer.
According to print expert and fellow collector Nick Vossbrink, the Topps artist drew a second piece of artwork (which unfortunately I don’t possess) which would look exactly as you see it through cellophane. The two drawings, while similar, have distinct differences. The black background and the ghostlike figure on the first artwork were eliminated on the second drawing. Then on the second drawing, the lieutenant and the pairs of shoes were added.
This second art piece was used for the light blue separation. The reddish cellophane conceals the white wording and orange & white cartoon image on the finished trading card, leaving the blue text and art to shine through. These football players look just like the first drawing, but upon close inspection, you’ll see slight facial, helmet, uniform and body differences. This implies the second art piece was drawn from scratch and not necessarily traced. As Vossbrink told me, “…the whole point of the red cellophane is that you can’t compare the two colors (orange & blue) at the same time so there’s no need to be exact about things.”
Thanks to this Tarkenton discovery, here are the updated 1966 Topps baseball reprocessed cartoon totals.
Shifting gears, perhaps you read my 1962 Baseball Bucks article last month. In it, I highlighted a retail baseball card box promotional panel that contained 1) player fact balderdash, 2) a mystery catcher and 3) an arena broadly impersonating Yankee Stadium. 
Well, guess what? Eric White strikes again as he cracked the code on the highlight box hieroglyphics. He noticed the first two words looked awfully similar to “THOMAS JEFFERSON” and also identified “VIRGINIA” on the third row. That’s all amateur decipherer Roy Carlson, yours truly, needed to look for other Jefferson-themed messaging. We have a pretty good suspicion it’s something along the lines of “THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS BORN IN A SMALL TOWN IN VIRGINIA IN 1743. HE WAS A LAWYER BY PROFESSION BEFORE HE BECAME PRESIDENT”.
Topps featured Jefferson in their 1956 U.S. Presidents 36-card set. On the card back, it mentions that he was born at Shadwell in Virginia.
Given that fact, there’s an outside chance the cryptic message might be “THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS BORN AT SHADWELL IN VIRGINIA…”
Maybe the Topps writer, with tongue in cheek, purposedly chose Jefferson for the muddled messaging because the 3rd U.S. President is at the center of the wacky $2 bill.
Now for the last update. Raise your hand if you recall me pointing out that in the 1969 Topps All-Star card and 1970 Topps All-Star Poster articles, the background batter on the 1969 Topps Tony Oliva All-Star card and 1970 Topps Ron Fairly All-Star Poster was an imposter.
I explained that the batter was either New York Yankees lefty swingers Roger Maris, Whitey Ford or Tony Kubek facing San Francisco Giants hurler Billy Pierce in game 6 of the 1962 World Series. Once again, a shout out to Eric White who solved this whoswungit. Check out this newspaper photograph he shared with me, proof positive that the batter is indeed Tony Kubek.
My next story for Sports Collectors Daily will spotlight Eric and his remarkable Topps cartoon research.
You can check out all of my Topps baseball research articles here.
Related Stories:
Mistaken Identities: “The Sporting News” 1969 Topps All-Stars
Mistaken Identities Update: 1969 Topps All-Stars Hall of Fame Discovery
1970 Topps Baseball Poster Set – Part 1: Production Tools and Tricks
1970 Topps Baseball Poster Set – Part 2: Production Insight Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Happenings
1969 Topps Baseball Team Posters – Part 1: Big, Bold & Borrowed
1969 Topps Baseball Team Posters – Part 2: Giant Size! Assembly
Funny Business: Second Chance 1966 Topps Baseball Cartoons
Game, Set, Match: 1968 Topps Playing Cards Are Stacked Deck of Shared Images
