When someone says “1952 Topps Mickey Mantle” there’s simply one image that comes to mind for collectors — the image of the Oklahoma-born slugger looking over his right shoulder where his Louisville Slugger resides.
The blue hues and the yellow bat — the results of colorized images back in those days — are dramatically different than what we often expect from the cardboard of today, yet they are the basis of everything, too.
Seeing one of these memorable card images recently got Buzz wondering whether fellow collectors would be able to identify photographs from memorable vintage baseball card sets — but without the accoutrement that make 1952 look like 1952 or 1965 look like 1965.
Not every baseball card photo from the past is as perfectly polished in our memories as The Mantle is — even if we’ve seen many cards many times. They just can’t be.
So, with that in mind, Buzz has selected 25 faces from MLB history as seen on vintage cards — most stars, but a few not — and removed their borders. Can you identify what years each of these photos came from? Call it a final challenge of 2015.
Buzz isn’t giving you the answers — but maybe you’ll feel the need to answer who and when in a comment below.
Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
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