Hey, Dan, I have the 69 set but am an ungraded collector.
There are several interesting aspects to the 69 set for me. Through the first 4 series it is full of outdated, capless and airbrushed photos. This seems to be because Topps took no new photos in 68 and early 69. This was likely because of expansion...100 players ( 4 new teams) to be in new uniforms and a lot of minor leaguers promoted to fill resulting roster gaps on established teams forced to give up players. Also, with Marvin Miller in charge, the players union was holding out for a better license agreement from Topps. As a result of an eventual agreement, beginning in the 5th series there are much newer photos and better cards
In an SCD article some time back Keith Olbermann pointed out that through the 4th series every A's player is in an airbrushed KC uniform, and that in those series there are 24 rookie cards with 48 players, 20 pf which are shown in minor league uniforms.
Another impact, no team cards for the first time in 13 years. The Mays card is from 1966, and Aaron from 68. The Larry Haney 209 card, like the more famous 57 Aaron, in a reversed negative. Mack Jones 625 and Gary Geiger 278 are batting from the wrong side ( a gag maybe ?). Then there is the bat boy card, 653. And, the two big rookie cards are from the same team, Fingers and Jackson.
I do not think the white versus yellow was intentional. Maybe DPs. Similar phenomena with the 58 yellow/whites. Maybe the print experts here can weigh in on those.
There are other recurring differences as well , for example there are two different versions of each checklist, White 25 with a red circle shape above his head, 4 or 5 versions of the Popovich card 47, Royals Rookies 49 with differnt Rodriguez, at least 3 of Peranoski 77, Nettles 99 with and without the loop, Longborg 109 with different color flags, Wood 123 with different sky backgrounds, Dalrymple 151 in different poses and uniforms, Edwards 186 with a blue streak by his left eye, Clendenon 208 Expo or Houston, Ricketts 232 with a "Slit B" notation in the margin, Hernandez 258 with a "slit A" notation in margin, Hargan 348 with a mark on his neck that bleeds to the back of card, Bosewell 402 with a white line from name to trophy on front, Washburn 415 with a white or white and red sash in lower left border, Rojas 507 with various amounts of the R in his name on front missing, Boozer 599 with red and blue streak across right arm
A very tough variation is the Pirates Rookie Stars 567 without the black border around "1969 Rookie Stars" on the front .
That year, 1969, was also a good year for Topps insert and test sets
- The 4 in 1 set
-The Decal set
-The Deckle Edge set
-The Stamps set
-The Super ( small) set
-The Team Posters
-The Bowie Kuhn "card"
Have fun with it
