Frank robinson triple crown
 

Which card is frank robinson's triple crown card?

That would be his 1966 Topps card.

Yep, the 66. Sadly, it's not one of Frank's more attractive cards though. I've never been crazy about hatless cards in general.

SCD lists the issued Topps Punch Out set as a 1967 set, and that may be the year it was issued, but it was likely produced in 1966 given the variation of the Frank Robinson captain card ( one of only 4 captain pose variations in the set ( the others being Clemente, M Alou and Mantle )

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There's a different way of looking at this. To be sure, Frank's '66 Topps is a bummer; he was traded by Cincy and Topps was ill-equipped at this time to create a right proper card with a happy Frank in his new Oriole uniform.

For many years, I've favored the card a company made of a star the following year after a noteworthy season. In essence, this card celebrates the player's achievement, and the brief write-up talks about it. Topps often made sure a superior photo was selected, and presented very well. This was so true of Frank's 1967 Topps card, and Topps gave it the significant number of 100. As you probably know, Topps reserved numbers ending in "00" for the best players of the previous year, with those ending in "50" right behind. There were a few exceptions. I thought the 1966 Sandy Koufax was awful, even for a portrait.

Anyway, I think you'll feel great when you hold a high-grade Topps 1967 Frank Robinson in your hand. Better yet, how about a 1967 Coca-Cola Premium as printed by Dexter Press? This fabulous over-sized piece is the piece de resistance when it comes to Frank's Oriole items. You'll want to use both hands to hold it, but when you see the finest portrait of a radiant Robinson smiling at you, your heart will melt. At that time, all was right with the world and Frank. Coca-Cola issued an All-Star series of each league, with the same picture used of Frank. This happenstance makes the card easier to get, for that particular one is not as scarce, but just as beautiful.;)

Happy collecting, mate. --- Brian Powell

1966
 

I believe it would be the ‘66 Topps card as well. I’m not a big fan at all of this card. Topps could have at least air brushed an Orioles uni on him. I’m also another individual who’s not a fan of hatless pics.

It works either way for me--'66 or '67. Of course, if you want a really tough one, seek out the '56 Kahn's rookie!

I've got Mickey Mantle's tougher Grape Nuts version of his '62 Post Canadian Cereal, with his 1961 stats on it (54 HR, 128 RBI, .317 BA) and like to think of it as representing and memorializing that terrific year (which was just his third best season, by the way).

Hope your collecting is glorious!

Larry

Hi Larry! There's always gonna be a tougher card of a player here and there. I was just trying to stick with 1967 as a celebratory year of Frank's triple crown season. To be sure, a Kahn's from that era is brutally tough, for the leftover cards did not find their way to any of the few dealers back then, it seems. Whereas, by the mid-60s, Wholesale Cards Co. had them available for a price several dollars above a full set of Topps regular cards, which was always a yardstick for me to interpret how valuable an older set was at the time (for me, late 60s / 1970). I have a superb story in my book on immediate post-war regional / food cards of how a collector / dealer stock-piled SETS of an early 60s Kahn's football issue! Enthralling!:D

You're quite right in citing the Post Cereal as classic examples of paying meaningful tribute to the previous season. Way da go, Larry, that Post Canadian is one tough Mick! Take care. --- Brian Powell

I'm with Brian, I've always preferred the following year so the stats/stories are reflected on the card (1967 Frank Robinson, 1962 Roger Maris, etc).

You can't tell the story any better than this!!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...90107471eb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d869c6bea4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...04e7963d76.jpg

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It’s interesting how they used different pictures. Killebrew and Powell are both different two of the three Robinsons are different

Thanks for the kind words, Brian. Send me a link or pm regarding the book if you can. It sounds very interesting!

Highest regards,

Larry

Robinson
 

Many collectors I talk to at shows do not realize that Robinson had some shot at back to back triple crowns.

He was injured with a knee to the head from Al Weis sliding into second base in late June 1967 and was leading the league in batting and rbi's and was one home run behind Killebrew. He had relinquished the home run lead that week.

If he was not injured and missed time and did not feel the affects of the head injury it would have interesting to see if he could have pulled back to back triple crowns.

That is interesting. He was still near the top in the triple crown categories. Yaz was hitting out of his mind in 67 though. He would have been tough to catch.

Article
 

Here is an article about the injury and the pace Robinson was on before the injury and double vision.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/j...triple-crowns/

Truly one heck of a player, whose key cards are really undervalued (when's the last time you even saw his true rookie, the 1956 Kahns?)!

Best always,

Larry

Sorry I'm slow getting back to you. I worked Saturday, so could not get back to you 'til today. Anyway, you're most welcome. As far as my book, here ya go, Larry. This is the press release SCD's former editor, and my editor, Tom Bartsch, wrote. It debuted early spring, 2016. All ordering details are still up-to-date. If you prefer a digital download, type the title and it should be available at Amazon. However, the E-book is only available through me.

Best regards, Brian Powell

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Never Cheaper by the Dozen Press Release

The old adage is, if you can’t find a book about what you want to read about, write it yourself. Brian Powell has done that with a book that is the first of it’s kind regarding the trading card hobby – a subject on collecting regional food-issue baseball cards, written by a collector with sports fans and fellow collectors in mind.

Never Cheaper by the Dozen: Those Special ‘Free Prize’ Sports Collectibles from the Golden Era of 1947-1971, jumps right into the heart of collecting’s greatest era by looking at: the players starring on the field, the games being played and the regional cards passed out at ballparks, in grocery stores and mailed away for. It’s a trip back in time that not only talks about collecting, but the process behind getting the cards, from first-person stories to anecdotes in acquiring the beauties.

This is not a price guide, but a story of collecting past – and why these cards are so beloved and can be hard to obtain today.

“My purpose was to write a book about a niche of cards I knew from long experience to be fascinating, but of which little had been written,” Powell said. “Aside from brief price guide descriptions, even elaborate hard-bound general guides, several entries in a pair of books about important cards that was good yet provided less than a page of commentary per card, only a smattering of good features in forty years of hobby papers, and a paragraph or two in the better auction house catalogs, there was nothing.

“In September 2011, several bidders fought it out for a partial set (16/26) of the 1955 Esskay Franks Baltimore Orioles, one of my subjects – and the winner’s final bill came to $64,625. While neatly trimmed, most of the cards were creased in some way and had evidence of product stains, ungraded, without one Hall of Famer. For many collectors this result raised the proverbial $64,000-dollar question – why? This instance alone shouts of an undercurrent of deep passion and desire. Undoubtedly there was more left unexpressed about the history, heritage and purpose of the postwar regional – food issues. Surely hobbyists have more than an infantile attention span and would hunger to know about them, the multitude of obstacles faced, as well as the battles waged for possessing them,” Powell said.

Never Cheaper By The Dozen unlocks a treasure chest holding the secrets and sea stories of these “free prizes” for which their beauty and background story were more interesting than their price tag. The reader is treated to re-live nostalgic portions of the Baby Boomer era when he and other baseball card-loving kids collected one or more of these charming sets while living in the distribution region of the company whose promotion offered these dazzling ducats.

Passionate collectors continue to make ownership of these prized doubloons as among the highlights of their respective collections, and in so doing have had to pay some very substantial prices.

To large and small degrees, Powell spotlights at least 13 pioneer and key hobby figures during its feverish growth. They are: Lionel Carter, Larry Fritsch, Buck Barker, Bob Solon, Alan Rosen, Rob Lifson, Dick Reuss, Bill Zimpleman, Jack Urban, George Husby, Jim Cumpton, George Lyons, and Doak Ewing. And from these pioneers, readers are treated to these collecting delights (in order of their appearance in the book):
• 1962 JELL-O – Mickey Mantle UNFOLDED BOX
• 1960 Post Cereal - Mantle
• 1954 Stahl-Meyer Franks - Mantle
• 1953 Glendale Meats Detroit Tigers
• 1962 Salada Tea Baseball Coins
• 1959 Morrell Meats Sandy Koufax
• 1964-67 Coca-Cola Bottle Caps
• 1960 Home Run Derby
• 1953 Briggs Franks Jackie Jensen / Walt Masterson panel
• 1958-62 Bell Brand snack chips
• 1953-55 Dormand Postcards Gil Hodges
• 1954 Wilson Franks
• 1953 Stahl-Meyer Franks – Mickey Mantle (PSA 9 MINT condition!)
• 1955 Rodeo Meats
• 1971 Kellogg’s 3-D Cards
• 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips
• 1959, 1961 Bazooka Baseball
• 1954-55 Esskay Franks Baltimore Orioles
• Cards That Never were: Fantasy 1954 Wilson Franks Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle

The 479-page, full-color book is presented in PDF form on a CD, distributed in a sturdy, half-inch thick DVD case. Adobe Reader is needed to view, with the book viewed in a dual-page format and flipped through like any digital book with “bookmarks” on the left side for quick and easy navigation. Cost is $30 postpaid, first class mail, payable via money order to the following:

Brian Powell
P.O. Box 743
New Carlisle, IN 46552

Testimonials

“I must say I enjoyed it from start to finish. I grew up in the late 1960s and early ’70s and remember excitedly pulling cards from boxes of cereal and bubble gum.
Mr. Powell provides wonderful memories of these treasures, and the struggle of trying to get your favorite players, along with just enough background on the companies involved and the products the collectibles came with. I still collect these cards when I can find them, and they never fail to remind me of my childhood. This book is fantastic, and would highly recommend it to**anyone who ever chased these treasures.
– Matt Coudriet

“I am a younger collector with a heavy focus on career-contemporary Mantle cards and I one of the most complete Mantle sets out there.*As a younger collector, I did not have the privilege of collecting these at the time of original issue or even meeting many of the pioneers of the hobby.*Brian's book really captures these experiences first hand.
I consider this a true treasure and gift to the hobby and am incredibly grateful that I have a copy of my own.”
– Chris Debono

All sales are final. Indiana residents must add 7% sales tax, or $2.10, to their money order. For further information, contact Brian Powell at bfpowell2003@yahoo.com.

To download Adobe Reader for free, visit https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/prod...df-reader.html.

Happy holidays collectors
Any other robinson opinions?

If this has turned into a Frank Robinson appreciation thread, I gotta say how much I love his 1973 and 1974 cards. Airbrushing aside, his '73 is an awesome action shot, while his '74 is an artistic portrait that would make Vermeer proud...

Attachment 338483


And this second year card was cheap, because it has a small, non-factor of a gum stain on back...

Attachment 338484

It is a pretty even split on Baseball Card Twitter. Without my own vote it would have been a tie!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...73738f42a4.jpg

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I can see why you feel this way, he's not even smiling. For me though, this just happened to be the first "old" (before the term vintage was en vogue) baseball card I ever owned of a Hall of Famer. My mother paid maybe $15 for it at a shop when I was about 11 in 1988. So to me, again just for purely personal nostalgia - this will always be one of the end-all, be-all vintage cards. Luckily they can be had pretty cheaply still today in 2018. I picked up a nice PSA 6 a few years back. :o

I look at it like I do World Series Championships. The Orioles won in 1970 but I hate those cards and like the fact that the 71’s have the World Series cards for 1970. That’s why I like the following year cards.

That's cool, John. A sentimental, emotional attachment, especially one from your dear mother, will always win out. The 1966 Topps Sandy Koufax isn't bad; I just wish he looked happier. At least he isn't grimacing the way Willie Mays looked in 1961. Much of the time, Say Hey looked spectacular, such as '53, '54 - '56, '58 - '60, '62 - '69. Back to Mr. Koufax, most of the time Sandy's Topps cards looked terrific, as did his Bazooka, Post Cereal, and JELL-O. Some of his best were the Bell Brand, Morrell, and the Dodgers' official postcards.

Have a happy new year, John. All the best. --- Brian Powell

Well said, Clint. --- Brian Powell