Today I find myself posting up for the 900th time on this blog, and
I cannot thank you all enough for following and contributing to what
has become a daily treat for me.
Honestly, when I started this I figured I'd entertain myself for a
few months and let it die out as I got "bored" with what in essence
would be my little personal baseball card "diary".
But as it's grown I've come to rely on this as a daily does of entertainment.
I hope you're all still with me here, as I have a ways to go!
FYI- I already have myself set up with posts until about New Years 2017!
Yes, you may say I've become obsessed!
For today, instead of highlighting a card# through the decade, I
wanted to restate what was my original mission here, so I'm reposting my
first two blogs, the impetus to why I created this all in the first
place.
We'll jump right back into the usual topics tomorrow, so bear with me…
Thanks again! Hope you all keep reading…
Originally posted May 25th, 2013
A Brief Introduction to Someone's Obsession with 1970's Topps Baseball Cards...
As a sports card collector for some 35 years, as well as a Graphic
Designer for over 20, I've always had my "favorites" as far as card
designs go, whether it was a set or even an individual player. Who can
argue with the fact that the 1952 Topps baseball
set, or 1953 Bowman baseball set were simply sublime in design? Or what
about those Allen & Ginter or Mayo Plug masterpieces from 100+
years ago? Little rectangular pieces of art!
However, as a "child of the 1970's", I must admit I have always had
a warm spot in my heart for those Topps baseball sets of the decade. We
were given psychedelic, eye-gouging designs like 1972 and 1975, while
also having bland, almost inexplicably boring
set designs in 1970 and 1973. And who can forget that frustrating (for a
condition-sensitive collector today) 1971 set with the black borders?!
Topps seemed to be trying to catch up with the "go-go" '70's, exploding
with color, design, and sometimes even photography
after pumping out "middle of the road" offerings ever since Bowman
bailed out of the baseball card game in 1956. I mean, besides the
"clean" 1967 design, which was really just an updated version of the
1957 design, Topps really just kind of phoned-it-in between
1960-1970 in my opinion.
Then, out of nowhere, they hit us with that aforementioned 1971
set, black and bold with some horizontal cards thrown in for extra
"kick", only to visually rape us with that acid-trip of a 1972 set! As a
matter of fact that set was so visually explosive
that it seems to have made Topps take a step back for a couple of years
in 1973 and 1974 to have some time to reload before they jumped into
the color pool again with their 1975 edition!
Personally, the apex of Topps baseball was indeed the run between
1975 and 1978. Those four sets were, and still are, just magic to me.
The colors of 1975 and 1976, along with the clean designs from 1977 and
1978 made these sets my favorites to this very
day. On top of it all, I was always a sucker for the All-Star cards
being the players' regular issue card. I'm sure many would disagree with
me here, but I never liked separate All-Star cards for players. I
always felt that when you pulled a player's card
from a pack, and saw that "All-Star" designation on the card, it was
awesome to turn to the back to see the very stats that made them an
"All-Star" to begin with. That run of regular issue All-Star cards from
1975-1981 will be examined further in the near
future, sort of a sub-set of articles actually. But for the near
future, allow me to jump right into the cards of that crazy decade that
burned themselves into my brain and have stuck with me all these years…
Topps 1976 #300 Johnny Bench.
Where do I even begin with what is my all-time favorite baseball card? First off, can a man actually be "in love" with a piece of cardboard? Ever since I pulled one of these our of a wax pack when I was seven years old, I was mesmerized.
What a bad-ass look on his face, standing there with an inexplicable dust-cloud hovering around him at home plate. This was a time when the Big Red Machine was terrorizing everyone on their way to two straight championships, including a sweep in the World Series that very year of my beloved Yankees.
Yeah Pete Rose may have been the hard-nosed leader of this juggernaut, but looking at this card always made me this Bench was one dude not to mess with!
The photograph, the cropping, the overall coloration in the card's design, and of course the "All-Star" designation screaming out to you on the lower left, this card has it all, and it's held up in my eyes all these years later.
Simply a classic baseball card.
Where do I even begin with what is my all-time favorite baseball card? First off, can a man actually be "in love" with a piece of cardboard? Ever since I pulled one of these our of a wax pack when I was seven years old, I was mesmerized.
What a bad-ass look on his face, standing there with an inexplicable dust-cloud hovering around him at home plate. This was a time when the Big Red Machine was terrorizing everyone on their way to two straight championships, including a sweep in the World Series that very year of my beloved Yankees.
Yeah Pete Rose may have been the hard-nosed leader of this juggernaut, but looking at this card always made me this Bench was one dude not to mess with!
The photograph, the cropping, the overall coloration in the card's design, and of course the "All-Star" designation screaming out to you on the lower left, this card has it all, and it's held up in my eyes all these years later.
Simply a classic baseball card.
