Back o'the Plak

Further to my recent post on the 1968 Topps Plaks, I received my Tom Davis statue in the mail today. Having never seen one of these up close I took the opportunity to check ol' Tommy out and found something interesting.

Firstly, here is my freshly scanned Davis:



Not counting that little connecting blob on the left, he measures 1 1/4" at his widest and 2 3/16" at his tallest. His head is about the size of a quarter. There is a tiny connecting blob that attaches the two insertion tabs to the base so it is actually one piece. It is held together quite sturdily, believe it or not. The Plak measures about 3/32" of an inch thick as near as I can tell. You can't see it in the scan but Davis' neck and ear are semi-translucent while the rest of the statue is not. The rest of it is more solid but mottled a bit, which you can see better on the back scan below.

Of particular interest is the fact the back has a number molded into it:



#17 corresponds to his number on the checklist. The back is very smooth by the way.

I have sent out some inquiries to see if other Plaks are numbered as well and will report any findings here. I am extremely interested in seeing if both Mantle variations have the same number or if any numbers for the five unproduced Plaks will turn up. In case you were wondering, the numbers for the five missing busts are 10 (Peters), 11 (Frank Robinson), 13 (Aaron), 18 (Drysdale) and 19 (Mays). Mantle, the only bust that has two different looks, is number 9.

The Plak looks much nicer in person than it does from any other photos or scans I have seen. When held at arm's length, it resembles Davis a bit more than can be shown here.