BY TROY KIRK
For many years, Topps included team cards in its annual baseball card sets. These cards pictured all 25 players, as well as the manager, coaches and various other team personnel in a group photo. The team cards were fairly standard for every team in the majors except the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs team card always seemed to feature a collection of floating Cubs player heads scattered across the card instead of a team photo.
The 1971 Cubs team card was the first to feature the floating head format. The photos used for cards are usually taken during the previous season. Therefore, it would seem that Topps couldn’t get a Cubs team photo during 1970.
It was even more curious when the Cubs team card was the only one to feature the floating head format in 1972.
In 1973, the Topps photographers were more persistent, because the Cubs were finally grouped together in a standard team photo for their team card. But, just when collectors thought it was safe to expect a regular team card for the Cubs, 1974 brought another floating head Cubs team card.
1975
Probably the oddest year for team cards was 1975, as the Cubs were once again pictured as a team, but the crosstown Chicago White Sox were now pictured in the floating head format.
In 1962, the Angels played in Dodger Stadium and were called the Los Angeles Angels. Their team card (#132) was printed in two varieties, one with two head shots of Angels inset behind the top row of players.
1962
In 1977 and 1978, the Boston Red Sox team cards pictured the whole team posed together, but Topps also added floating heads for three additional players in little circles above the team photos.
Collectors had to wonder why Topps went to the trouble of adding the three players to the cards, as the photos are so small that it’s practically impossible to identify the players anyway. (After examining the cards under a magnifying glass, I’d guess Carl Yastrzemski was one of the three floating heads on the 1977 team card and Carlton Fisk and Dwight Evans were two of the floating heads on the 1978 team card.)
The Topps photographers finally gave up for good on getting the Cubs together starting in 1976, as every Cubs team card from 1976 through 1981 featured the floating heads format, while all other teams were shown in group photos.
Topps gave up completely in 1982 and stopped issuing team cards altogether. Maybe the company realized it would never get the Cubs to pose for a team photo, and had grown weary of assembling a collection of heads for the annual Cubs team card.
TOPPS TEAM CARD ODDITIES (1970-81)
Cubs Team Cards:
• Floating heads format (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976-1981).
• Regular team photo (1970, 1973, 1975).
Other Team Card Oddities:
• Angels team, two inset heads added to variation of team card without floaters (1962).
• White Sox team in floating heads format (1975).
• Red Sox team card contained three floating heads above team photo (1977, 1978).
1979-1980-1981 Shown Below:
• • • • • •
• Originally Published in July 1992 “Baseball Hobby News” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM “BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS” MAGAZINE IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF BOTH THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND CHANGES TO GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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