While they were quick enough to have him depicted on his new team for his regular issue card (#660), I always felt that they whiffed when they went ahead and used what was supposed to be his "Record Breaker" card (#1) as his "All Star" card.
Now, I've already stated a couple times before how I've always been a fan of the "All-Star" designation on a players regular issue card instead of a separate All-Star sub-set. So that was enough for me to want a true "regular" card for him with the All-Star call-out at the bottom. But why this is especially annoying for me is because in the very same set, Topps did something unusual and had Bobby Murcer properly shown as an American League All-Star, even while airbrushing him into a Giants cap as per his trade over the Winter from the Yankees. So here you have someone shown on a National league team, with "A.L. All-Star" emblazoned at the bottom. Understandable enough.
So why not do the same for Aaron? Why create, what is in my opinion, a lame All-Star card on a record breaker card, and then have this ugly airbrushed regular issue card with a plain old position baseball at the bottom?
Anyway, sad as it is, this always irked me. As much as I love Aaron's last regular card the following year in '76, it always bothered me that the 1975 regular card was so "blah", especially in a nice colorful set like '75.
So, after all these years, here's my take on a nice #660 1975 Hank Aaron card, with the proper All-Star call-out at the bottom, and a nice shot of him in his new Brewers uniform.
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| #660 as issued by Topps |
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| My little "fix", with a nicer photo |