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Posted By: Paul

Since someone else posted a thread about 1953 Topps cards, I thought I'd push the limits of this board with a question about the "Flexichrome" process Topps used after 1953 (they may have used it in 1952 as well).

As I understand it, an artist would hand tint a black and white photo to obtain the pictures used on cards like 54 Topps and some later ones like the 1960 McCovey and Yaz. This tinting process was obviously very different than the painting process used in 53 Topps, 50-52 Bowman and earlier sets like 33 Goudeys.

But what exactly was the difference? Why do the "tinted" 54 Topps cards look so different from the "painted" 53 Topps and 33 Goudey cards?