This card always has a special spot in my heart because it was the very first "old" star card that I ever bought as a "collector", around 1980. I don't remember what I payed for it, but hey, for an 11-year old back then, this was HUGE, even if I wasn't crazy about the picture.
It seems Topps really tried to fill this set with action shots right out of real game play.
Problem was, it seems that their photographers were always in the wrong place to catch the action, and came away with bad photos, usually from far away.
Check this one out. Yeah, Bench is running over to catch what seems to be a foul pop. Decent action. Problem is, it would have been a much better shot if the photographer was stationed at the OTHER side of the field to catch Bench running towards him, not away from him. I always wonder what other photos Topps had access to with many of these cards, just to see if they really picked the best one they had on hand. Seems impossible that THIS was the best they had, no?
Anyway, I tried finding a nice shot of Bench doing the very same thing but from a better angle, but I haven't had any luck. So for this do-over I went with a nice action shot of another sort, reminiscent of his 1976 card.
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| Topps issued card |
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| My do-over |
