More from the Battersbox

To go along with the Bobby Hull post from Friday, the remainder of the cards from the Battersbox that I received will be on display in this post.

I'm only at 10% of the '68 Topps football set complete, but I'm loving the cards so far.  The Hewritt Dixon card on the bottom of the scan features him in his Broncos uniform before his trade to the Raiders. He had just finished his 2nd season in the AFL when this card was released, finishing 5th in pass receiving the year before.  On Football reference, he is listed as a full back for most of his Raiders career, a position that is almost extinct in today's game.

Jack Clancy listed as a flanker, another name that is all but gone in the modern NFL.  Jack spent the '68 season injured when he ruptured a ligament in his left knee.  His '69 season was cut short due to ligament damage in his right knee.  His final season in '70 was with the Packers only catching 16 passes

Another victim of the lack of airbrushing is Bobby Hunt, who is featured in his Kansas City Chiefs uniform.  The last 2 years of his career were spent in Cincinnati where he only picked off 5 passes after his first 6 seasons where he gained 37 picks.  

As much as I love the '68 Topps FB set, the '69 may even be better.  These are the first 2 cards I have for the set; I'm hoping that someone can remind me of another set out there that features a black back with white writing.  This set is also quite light, just 263 cards.  The colors are really nice and some cards don't even have borders on the front.  I found the Vintage football card gallery site which provides all the cards available before 1979, so if you're looking for something to look at while the TCDB site is down for maintenance, this is your ticket.  

Keeping with the '69 era, a trio of Topps baseball cards finished out the order.  I can't access the TCDB site right now, but I know I'm closing in on the 75 % mark for this set, which is a big improvement over the start of this year when I might have had a third of that amount.  I find myself poking around ebay looking for the Reggie Jackson RC (there's a well-loved copy on the site for $90 right now).  Mantle, Ryan and a couple of others will slow this set build down a little.

Late 60's through early 70's football and baseball seems to be the sweet spot for me right now; I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these in the coming few months.

Robert