Angus, a frequent commenter*, football fan and blogger (Cleveland Browns-centric Dawg Day Cards) recently knocked two items off my much neglected Baltimore Colts needs list.
These Topps 1969 inserts called "4 in 1's" are actually stamps which were intended to be separated and placed in the appropriate team folder. They are 'stamps' rather than 'stickers' in that they have moisture (spit!) activated glue on the reverse rather that a peel-and-stick system like the Fleer stickers everyone has stacks of from the 80s.
There were ten Colts issued and many, if not all, use photos that were also used on the 1969 regular issue cards. I think a couple used photos from earlier Topps sets but right now I'm too busy to verify this. You can see more of these in this post from my Baltimore Colts history series.
Johnny Unitas graced the cover of the album which was the same size as the 4 player 'cards', the standard 2" x 3". EDIT: I found this article with more detail on these including a few variations.
Despite of the fact he was the album cover boy (or maybe because of that) he was not one of the two 'Colts Stars' that were featured in the little album's centerfold.
Angus' swell gift inspired me to go find my final needed stamp card (Willie Richardson) and I snagged it recently. Slowly chipping away at my Colts list will be a fun retirement project.
Angus helped stuff the envelope with this Ray May Action Packed card which I didn't have. Since it was from a 1990s set I hadn't gone after it. But it does picture a BALTIMORE Colt and is intended as a salute to an honor he won with them so I can happily add it to my binder in the miscellaneous Colts card section.
Man, my scanner did a terrible job on this one. Silver foil+embossed surface=multiple attempts to get a usable image. LOL
Angus, thanks so much for the cards, for reading and remarking, and for cranking up your blog again. Maybe the cards I have headed your way will help in a small way to brighten up a lousy Browns season.
*=is that even a word?
I wonder how the glue on the back lasted over the years, As in, if you licked them, would you start tripping?
ReplyDeleteTell ya what...I'll include a dupe I have in my envelope to you. And you can make a full report.
DeleteVery cool additions. The 4 in 1's are pretty unique. Are the football ones as tough as the baseball ones.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that. I haven't searched for the baseball. FB are not tough but a couple just seemed to elude me.
DeleteTwo things I find interesting because I find esoteric things interesting...
ReplyDelete1) I'd never really seen these stamps "up close" before; I thought the design was sort of a shield, but it's interesting that there's a point up top as well.
2) They're perforated differently than any other Topps stamp I've seen. Different subcontractor, maybe?
Info in these things is pretty sketchy.
DeleteThese were printed on cardboard (not paper) so that may explain the different-style perforations.
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