Roy Carlson has a column at Sports Collectors Daily specializing in Topps baseball cards.
Like many, I grew up watching hours of cartoons on TV every Saturday morning. When the programming finally changed to adult content, I marched from the living room to the bedroom and immersed myself in another batch of cartoons – the kind found on the backs of baseball playing cards. I’ve always been fascinated by the cartoon illustrations and fun facts. Thanks to them, I learned that Oakland Athletics outfielder Joe Nossek was an excellent archer, and that speedster Lou Brock called New York Mets catcher Jerry Grote the toughest opponent to steal a ball from.
These cartoons complemented the photos and statistics from my card stash and enhanced the collecting experience. It was only natural to add original drawings to my collection years later, like these next two from the cards above:
Today in Part 1, I’ll show you what goes on behind the scenes and what makes the cartoon experience even more exciting. Next week and the week after, I’ll reveal even more Topps magic in Parts 2 and 3. All of the original pieces shown are from my personal collection. It’s much more fun to share them with you than to hide them away in three-ring binders.
Sports Collectors Daily has an archive of Roy’s baseball card columns and other cartoon drawing topics.
By and large, the cartoonists of Topps baseball cards remain unknown, although occasionally one stands out:
My absolute favorite artist at Topps is Jack Davis. He packs so many wonderful details into a tiny box. For example, check out the well-drawn catcher and pitcher, the stadium stands with crowds, and a classic photographer, all perfectly illustrated on Ken McBride’s 1962 Topps card #268.
Roy Carlson is not the only one with original Topps baseball cards; David Moody also owns treasures.
A few years ago, the Moody family loaned some pieces to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which David interviewed:
COURTYARD: Tell us about the layout of these cartoons. What do the panels look like?
DM: The staff artist at Topps drew several individual player cartoons on a large sheet of thick artist paper. Both the quality of the cardstock and the number of cartoons per sheet varied from year to year. For example, in 1969 the artist typically drew nine individual player cartoons per sheet. In 1974 the artist typically drew 15 cartoons per sheet. Although almost every full sheet contains 15 cartoons, in 1975 there is a sheet with 28 individual player cartoons. This is the largest full sheet in our collection and includes the cartoons that appeared on the Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson cards.
Unfortunately, it is strike three again when trying to find out the identity of the artists:
COURTYARD: Can you say who the artists of the Topps baseball cartoons were?
DM: Unfortunately not. This question has been on my mind for years. I have searched everywhere for an answer. In 2003 I picked up the phone and called Topps. To my surprise, after I explained that I was looking for the names of the artists who drew the cartoons on the backs of Topps baseball cards in the 1960s and 1970s, I was put on the phone by Sy Berger (the grandfather of modern baseball cards). When I spoke to Mr. Berger he was at least 80. I was shocked that he was still at Topps. I spoke with him for a long time, but he had no idea who the artists were. He laughed and told me, “Those guys are long gone.” Mr. Berger died in 2014. In 1969 a pack of Topps baseball cards cost five cents, and I’m pretty sure those artists were paid peanuts for them. From this conversation and the information I’ve gathered, I can only guess that these artists were paid per cartoon. These artists churned them out: hundreds upon hundreds of individual cartoons. For example, the same artist for the 1969 Topps baseball set also drew the cartoons for the 1969 Topps football set. Topps employed a different artist in 1974, and the same artist created the cartoons for every card set Topps produced that year (baseball, football, basketball, and hockey). Fortunately, Topps kept the original illustrations for many years, or these sheets probably wouldn’t exist. It’s been over 50 years since these 1969 cartoons were created. Even if these artists were in their mid to late 30s when they drew these cartoons, they’re probably no longer with us. Their names are probably lost to history.
But as with Jack Davis’ spot drawings shown above, sometimes an artist’s style stands out unmistakably.
I enjoyed the cartoons on the backs of baseball cards so much and I regret their disappearance. And now I’m going to talk about something else that younger people don’t appreciate: Laughlin cartoons on baseball cards.
At NightOwlCards there is a tribute to such an artist.
This article is about artist and cartoonist Robert G. Laughlin, an enterprising individual who sold his card drawings from his home, collaborated with Fleer on several sets from the ’70s, and continued to create art and cards even after his relationship with Fleer ended. Laughlin died in 2006 and there really isn’t much about him.
This made the article as challenging as any I’ve written for Beckett. Not only did I have to deal with limited information about someone who died 15 years ago, but his story is riddled with legal issues with copyright and conflicting information online. Confusion is everywhere.
On the subject of confusion…
I don’t know if you saw the cover photo of Roberto (Bob) Clemente in this post. Here it is again:
You may have noticed something strange on all the Topps cards shown by Roy Carlson.
Check out a card of Barry Bonds with his godfather Willie Mays and his father Bobby:
Jon Bois of SB NAtion certainly noticed:
On the back of each card were silly comics that acted out trivia. In these comics, every player was white. Barry Bonds was white. Barry Bonds’ father was white…
