Welcome back, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the Al Kaline baseball cards I’ve posted and written a little about. Now it’s time for Al’s Topps cards from the later half of the sixties.
The first one is Topps # 130 from the 1965 set. As you can see it another new picture. It seems the days of re-running the same photo year after year on a different card style is a thing of the past with Topps. 1965 goes back to a close-up picture on a red bordered card with the team name in a little pennant. It’s a very nice looking card and it is a part of a very nice looking set.
1965 Topps # 130
Next up we move to the 1966 set. F0r 1966, for some reason Topps decided that the Tigers should be on yellow bordered cards. Personally, I don’t think they look as good as the red bordered ones from the year before. What do you think? Al’s card in the 1966 set is # 410, and it goes back to Al swinging the bat in his photograph.
1966 Topps # 410
Continuing to move through the sixties, we come to the year 1967. This card is a first for Kaline cards! And what is that first? Well, you should notice immediately below, it’s the first picture to show Kaline in a “fielding pose”, it not a close-up or a photo showing him swinging at bat. I fact, it’s the only one of Al’s cards that show him “in the field” and wearing his mitt of all his cards! That alone makes it special. It appears that it was taken at spring training, as it shows a couple of fellow Tigers in the background. Oh, and for those of you keeping score, it’s card number 30.
1967 Topps # 30
Next up, we come to the 1968 set. It was a faux wood grain border, reminiscent of the 1962 set. I’m proud to say I have this complete set and I’ve personally secured autographs on the individual Detroit Tiger cards from about 95 percent of the players with cards, including Al’s card. Though the scan of that card that is shown below is not my actual card, so it doesn’t show his autograph. Maybe I’ll scan that in and show that in a later post. Anyway, here’s Al’s card, which was number 240 this year. A pretty nice looking card with Al back in the “batting pose”.
1968 Topps # 240
The final card that came out of the sixties, was obviously from the 1969 set. Again, Al is pictured in a “batting pose” on card # 410. I don’t think it looks as nice as the previous year, and again the use of the color yellow doesn’t make the card pop, in my opinion.
1969 Topps # 410
So that finishes off the sixties. There will be one more post showing Al’s Topps cards from the 1970s. If there is still interest, I could share scans of special cards that Kaline has appeared on through the years, like All-Star cards. Plus, I could scan in and show his cards that were part of the old Post Cereal and Jello box series and other oddities of like ilk.
But maybe one more post is all anyone can take of Kaline’s baseball cards this time around. Maybe I’ve already provided too many cards. I guess you’ll have to be the judge and let me know if you want more or if you’ve had enough!
Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know! But for the record, I’ve enjoyed sharing these cards with everyone and hope you’ve found it interesting and worth your time. Thanks!
