In 1964 Topps hid their artwork behind a coating that needed to be scratched off with a nickel or dime. Most of my '64s are unscratched, or were scratched and have faded - not really sure how it worked, and how it would age after 57 years. Here is a typical example. Hard enough to see in person - can you see the sleeping Boston pitcher?
Others of my '64 even have heavy scratch marks visible on them. Perhaps kids used the wrong coin (why not a penny or a quarter?) or scratched too hard?
Still, a few of my '64s have cartoons that are pretty easy to see. Here are the most interesting of those that I have:
Gotta admire the ingenuity of Topps back in 1964. Very creative. I'm sure most collectors wouldn't utilize this feature to preserve the condition of the card, but it would be neat to see Topps do something like this again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Fuji. Maybe on a product like Topps Big League, since it's geared a bit more toward young and/or low-end collectors.
ReplyDeleteTopps had already done that with at least of their football releases. I'm not a big fan of this feature as an adult, but probably would've loved it as a kid.
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