1961 Dice Game

[bobsbbcards]

Here's another image for reference (alas, one that doesn't match).

[bobsbbcards]

Larry, I've seen pictures of your Richardson and Kubek from the Mr. Mint auction, but I can't remember the poses. Do they match the 1960 side panels? I think Kubek does, but Richardson I'm not so sure.

Here's a list so we can keep track:

Earl Battey - NO
Del Crandall - ??
Jim Davenport - ??
Don Drysdale - YES
Dick Groat - ??
Al Kaline - YES
Tony Kubek - ??
Mickey Mantle - YES
Willie Mays - YES
Bill Mazeroski - ??
Stan Musial - YES
Camilo Pascual - NO
Bobby Richardson - ??
Brooks Robinson - YES
Frank Robinson - NO
Norm Siebern - ??
Leon Wagner -YES
Bill White - ??

My guess would be that Crandall, Davenport, Groat, Maz, Siebern, and White will match. I've never seen any of them though, and there are no scans that come up on any Google search.

[ALR-bishop]

Had never realized the link between the 60 insets and the 61 Dice, Bob. Maybe because I only have one...since you and Larry are hogging the rest

[bobsbbcards]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Had never realized the link between the 60 insets and the 61 Dice, Bob. Maybe because I only have one...since you and Larry are hogging the rest

"No Dice For You!"

[sflayank]

Youre amazing bob
I never knew this
From memory i believe richardson is batting and so is crandall..kubek is fielding...but dont quote me
Cards are unavailable at present so cant double check
The other 5 still have never seen
Y r u. Guessing they will match

[ALR-bishop]

Larry--- other worldly maybe, but amazing ?

[bobsbbcards]

Originally Posted by sflayank

Y r u. Guessing they will match

The Battey and Frank Robinson '60 side panels are "cramped" pictures--catcher in a squatting position and Robinson leaning over for a ground ball. Neither one would have filled the vertical space on a Dice Game card. Also, in the '60 Battey, he's got a "Duh, I'm a catcher look on his face."

The Kubek and Richardson are in between--they're sort of crouched, sort of standing. Same with Pascual, and he's turned to the side a bit. The rest of them would make fantastic Dice Game poses--nice and upright, especially the White and Davenport.

[bobsbbcards]

Position-wise, the 18 players selected make sense:

Pitchers (2) - Pascual* (AL) and Drysdale* (NL)
Catchers (2) - Battey (AL) and Crandall (NL)
1st Base (2) - Musial (AL) and White (NL)
2nd Base (2) - Richardson (AL) and Mazeroski (NL)
3rd Base (2) - B. Robinson (AL) and Davenport (NL)
Shortstop (2) - Kubek (AL) and Groat (NL)
Outfield (6) - Siebern, Mantle*, Kaline* (AL) and Wagner, Mays*, Robinson (NL)

* - indicates they were in the 1960 Topps All-Star subset

It's a bit surprising that more All-Stars aren't represented in the Dice "set."

[hcv123]

Well, I too never knew about the 1960 inset poses! Thanks for teaching me my something for today! Someone was asking about Levi and what he collects earlier - I believe he is a HUGE Mantle collector - Not sure what else - I know he used to love the test issue/rarer items because they were highly profitable and easy sales.

[ALR-bishop]

As a Cardinals fan I sort of resent a Reds guy putting Stan in the AL

[toppcat]

I just spot checked about 7 guys and all were in the 1962 All Star Games. I don't have time to check the whole list right now but it looks like that might be the All Star year in question, making these a 1962 or 63 issue. I suspect these were pieces originally created for internal design purposes, like we've seen with many others that Topps cobbled together over the years, and then they went into an early test stage which resulted in the cards we know today. The 1960 inset photos being used don't necessarily correlate to a 1961 date for Dice Game; Topps often used archival photos years after they were used in a set for such creations.

[sflayank]

White and kubek didnt make 62 team
Other 16 did

[bobsbbcards]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

As a Cardinals fan I sort of resent a Reds guy putting Stan in the AL

I wish St. Louis was an AL team--that's why I put him there. Get over it.

[toppcat]

I see Kubek missed a large part of 62 due to military service. And how Bill White missed being an All Star in 1962 is beyond me, his stats were stellar that year. Aparicio and Tresh were the AL All Star shortstops that year, Banks and Cepeda got the NL nod that year at 1B.

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by bobsbbcards

Some of you may not know that most of the 1961 Topps Dice Game cards were lifted off the small B&W side pictures from the 1960 set.

Bob,

Well, I did know about the Brooks matching, but really didn't relate that to other '61 Dice Game cards. A while ago on eBay thetoppsvault had some of the original picture/artwork for the '60 Topps side pictures, but no Brooks. Hopefully it's still in their archives, but who knows. I don't have that particular picture in my collection and I think it's such a cool shot of Brooks.

[sflayank]

So who has the 5 players weve never seen?

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by hcv123

It is. I appreciate knowing that I was in the chain of ownership. Still have a number of items that fit the bill.

What I really love about those family and friends think I'm nuts thing is when I tell them about selling something that they thought I was nuts for buying at a huge profit - I don't usually hear about how nuts I am at the end of those stories :-)

+1. Even my wife doesn't complain as much about my card buys anymore!

Highest regards,

Larry