1967 Topps Posters

Remember when you opened a pack of cards and got a bonus? Not a piece of white plain cloth that might have been used in a game, shoved into a card. Not a questionable autograph on a shiny sticker, that you couldn't tell who it was except for the card telling you. Not even a gritty, crumbly piece of so called gum. When was the last time you found something in a pack that didn't count towards the number of cards in a pack?

Chances are that if you are young enough, you have never experienced this sensation. I'm in my early thirties and I came in on the tail end of inserts similar to this. In the eighties, only Topps could produce cards with gum sold in the packs. Other companies had to get creative. Donruss came with the unique puzzle pieces, which frustrated my youth because I could never get all the pieces to complete a puzzle. Fleer put wonderful stickers of team logos and other assorted goodies in their packs. A treat like this is rare nowadays.

I can remember running across a stray pack of Donruss Estrellas a few years ago and really being impressed with the poster that came out. I was not expecting it and it was something cool and different.

To drive up interest in their product, Topps started putting these posters in packs of cards in the middle of the 1967 season. I can never be sure of the reaction that kids had back then, but I know I would be ecstatic if I pulled a poster of a big leaguer out of my pack of cards. Alas, this happened nine years before my birth, so I will never truly know.

The White Sox had one poster in the series of 32.

4 - Tommie Agee

Of course, I'm partial to the White Sox poster, but there are others that catch my fancy. I doubt I'll ever put them into my collection, but I can always look at pictures online.

My favorites include Sam McDowell, who looks like he's about to kill someone; Frank Howard and those crazy big glasses; Harmon Killebrew's mischievous smile; Joe Morgan's fake pose (before he had all the Sandberg hate and bouts of arguing against himself); Ron Hunt's "country" look.

These insert sets usually have a lot of Hall of Fame players and this is no exception. Most of the posters can be found very cheaply, so this could be a great way to have a unique vintage hobby addition to your collection.