Welcome Back, 2011

I can understand why forty or fifty years ago Topps used old photographs on baseball cards.  New pictures weren't as easy to come by.  I get it.

But in today's digital world, with boatloads of pictures available with a few clicks, is there any good reason for Topps to use three year old pictures on any product?

I can't think of any.

Topps apparently did.

Darwin Barney's 2014 Sticker has a picture from 2011.  And it is blatantly obvious that the picture is three years old.  The giveaway?

The Ron Santo patch on his sleeve, which the Cubs wore only during the 2011 season.

Why, why why use an old picture???

I went to Getty Images.  All of the pictures from Topps products over the past several years can be found on Getty Images.  Go here and you'll see the Barney picture is from a game against the Phillies on June 11, 2011

Now look here and you'll see the search results at Getty for any picture with Darwin Barney from March 1, 2013 through October 1, 2013.....last season.

There are 560+ results.

And none were good enough for the crack design team for Topps stickers.

The 546 results from 2012 were also deemed unworthy for the stickers.

That forced the team to use a picture from 2011.

I found one from 2013...Barney in a road uni, making a throw.