In 1969, Topps had the contract to produce baseball cards again after losing it for several years to competitors like Fleer. They decided to introduce an innovative concept for their 1970 baseball card project – code named “Project 70” within the company.
For the first time ever, Topps decided to photograph each Major League Baseball player individually and feature just a single image on each card rather than the classic posed team photo on the front and stats on the back. This was a huge undertaking as it required scheduling and coordinating photo shoots with every single MLB player. Topps Photography Director Dick Bailey spearheaded the project and went about working with team publicity directors and photographers to arrange for each player to visit the nearest Topps photo studio location.
Altogether, there were over 800 individual photos taken between 1969-1970 across Topps various studio sites. Bailey and his team had to work tirelessly to get each player booked for their shoot, make travel arrangements as needed, and ensure quality control of the many thousands of prints that were developed from the negative rolls. It was an enormous increase in production effort versus the team photos of years past but Topps felt it important to try something new and capture each player individually.
One big challenge was that not every player cooperated fully. Some showed up visibly out of shape or disheveled since they knew it was just card photos. Others flat out refused to participate at all citing various complaints. Still, Bailey was successful in obtaining quality portraits of nearly every MLB player that year across both the National and American Leagues.
With the individual photos in hand, Topps designers then worked to lay out mockups of the cards. Something novel they experimented with was including vibrant rainbow colored borders around each photo instead of the typical drab gray or white. These borders could then be customized with a small graphic, icon or texture to help distinguish between teams, roles or other categories. Additional innovations included only printing the player’s position on the front rather than their full name, position and team which was typically included.
When finalized and sent to the printers, the 1970 Topps baseball cards were unlike anything collectors had ever seen before. Overall design was simplified with large photo, colored border and minimal text. The cards featured a very “close-up” portrait style that offered collectors an intimate view of each player. And of course, the switch to individual photos rather than team shots was groundbreaking. Reaction was mostly positive though some griped it was too different from previous designs fans had grown accustomed to.
The intricate planning and innovation required for Project 70 paid off. Topps sales were very strong that year as collectors were drawn in by the novel appearance and greater focus on each specific player rather than a classic posed group shot. Inspired by the success, Topps would continue featuring individual player portraits for subsequent series. And the competition took notice too, with both Fleer and Kellogg’s returning to the baseball card market in 1971 with a similar portrait-style format.
In the decades since, the 1970 Topps baseball cards have become amongst the most iconic and valuable in the hobby. They represent not just a great vintage release but a turning point that changed the style of modern sports cards forever. Project 70 showed Topps willingness to take a creative risk through an extensive undertaking. The results pushed the entire baseball card industry in a new direction and remains one of the most influential sets in the collecting world today.
