The 'they could be spies' of 1983 Topps

 

It's rare that a single card gives me two post ideas. Now consider that the card is this 1983 Topps Jeff Newman and the odds of that are incalculable.

 

One of my very favorite parts of Topps Traded sets, especially those from the 1980s, is how they capture the passage of time, even if it's really only a year or half a year that's gone by. That passage is demonstrated in how players sometimes change their look.

 

In the very hairy 1980s, that meant changes in facial hair and there was no better way to demonstrate that progression than in the Traded sets of 1983 and 1984, which each provided inset photos of the player in head shot form.

 

I was reminded of this with Jeff Newman's two 1983 Topps cards. His 75th birthday was yesterday and I took the opportunity to showcase his different looks:

 

Look at the drastic change in inset photos. It's almost as if Jeff Newman ducked into a bathroom stall, pulled out a razor and gave himself a trim, stuffed his Oakland A's clothes and hat in the trash can, pulled on Red Sox attire and casually strolled out of the restroom with nobody knowing the difference. It's like he's a spy.

 

There are several examples of this in 1983 Topps/Topps Traded. I went through and found nine. I kept it mostly to notable changes in facial appearance. There are other examples, like a player growing longer hair, but that's not going to throw anyone off the scent!

 

These ones just might:

 

"There ain't nobody that spies like us!"

 

A few observations:

 

1. I don't think everything's real about that Rick Waits Brewers inset. Beard seems legit though.

 

2. Anybody who moved to the Reds or Yankees were forced into spy mode thanks to those two teams' archaic facial hair policies. There's just one example of a player shouting "FREEDOM" with his facial hair growth once leaving one of those teams. That's Larry Biittner.

 

3. I don't remember Von Hayes with a mustache. He's one of the '83 examples where he doesn't have a mustache in the action shot but does in the inset. George Vukovich is showing the opposite on his Phillies card: mustache in action and clean shaven in the head shot.

 

OK, that's it.

 

This is the less-involved post idea from that Jeff Newman card. The other one requires a lot more effort, including more card-pulling.

 

So we'll see when I get to that. 

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A new post is up on the 1993 Upper Deck blog!