Introduction

In November 2019, months away from a worldwide pandemic and resulting lockdown, I launched my 1965 Topps blog as a means to document each of the 598 cards from the set as we added them.  I viewed the exercise as a little side project to my main blog, The Phillies Room, and I honestly thought the quest to complete the set would take several years and that I could lose interest in the blog partially through collecting the set.  Not only did I not lose interest, the 1965 Topps blog served as a welcome diversion from the world, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the process of adding a card, learning and writing about the subject of the card, and adding the card to our set’s binder.  In my introduction to the 1965 Topps blog, I wrote then I was very close to being the proud owner of every Topps flagship set issued between 1970 and 2018. I’ve since added 2019, 2020 and 2021 sets to that collection, and 1965 will be the sole representative from the 1960s once completed.  Now in late November 2022, a little less than three years since beginning that set quest, we’re four cards away from a complete 1965 Topps set and I’m anxious to collect another set.  I’m anxious to have another quest and to have more cards to gather, study, appreciate and briefly write about.

I’ve always been intrigued by the 1969 Topps baseball card set.  It’s not an attractive set, and it’s arguably one of the least attractive baseball card designs from the 1960s.  A lot of the cards featured hatless men depicted on new teams or teams they’d never play for.  The placement of the name and position circle makes some cards seem crooked or out of balance.  Still, I can appreciate the quirks of a baseball card set featuring four brand new expansion teams and a world where Topps photographers were unable to secure newer pictures of their subjects.  (More on that can be found here and here.)  I like the idea of slowly working backwards now, having filled in the last hole from the 1970s with the completion of my 1971 Topps set in late 2019.  I toyed with going for the 1959 Topps set or even the 1955 Bowman set, but cards from those sets are pricier than cards from the 1969 Topps set.  Given the quirkiness of it, my inexplicable desire to track down the first cards of players on the Pilots, Padres, Expos and Royals, along with the relatively affordable prices and the ability to one day say, “I now have every Topps set issued between 1969 and 2024,” I’m going to build a 1969 Topps set.

So welcome to this blog, and I invite you to follow along as I collect all 664 cards from the set, along with a few variations and the two insert sets included in packs at the time, Topps Deckle Edge and Topps Decals.  Similar to the style established with my blogs for the 1934-36 Diamond Stars, 1956 Topps and 1965 Topps sets, I’ll discuss each card as it’s added, giving a brief biography of the player, summarizing how and when the card entered my collection and providing a visual snapshot of that player’s baseball card history.  Like the year itself, it should be far out.

Posted on November 23, 2022, the night before Thanksgiving.