Which 70s Set Should I Build? 1973 Topps edition

I've been trying to decide which 1970s set to start building for my next vintage set build, but I can't seem to make up my mind. So, I'm going to take a little closer look at what I already have in my collection and try to narrow it down.

I don't know about you, but I rarely see cards from this set in good condition. Which is to say, most cards I've encountered from the set are in G-VG condition, or worse. I feel like my opinion of this set has been tainted by all the faded colors and rounded corners and creases. Is this a thing? Are the cards of this set notorious for bad condition, or is it just me?

The big name rookies in this set of course share a card at the end of the set, Ron Cey and Mike Schmidt. There are quite a few more less famous rookie cards in this set, such as Buddy Bell above. Also included were Dave Goltz, Goose Gossage, Gary Maddox, Rick Reuschel, and Gary Matthews.

I have a 1973 Wantlist, but it's not to complete the full set, it's just a list of cards I thought I'd like to add to my collection at some point.

1973: 10, 13, 35, 45, 50, 52, 72, 73, 86, 90, 92, 97, 111, 130, 150, 151, 152, 155, 160, 171, 174, 180, 190,  210, 220, 231, 236, 253, 263, 265, 273, 280, 300, 307, 320, 322, 330, 333, 360, 376, 378, 380, 384, 420, 431, 440, 447, 452, 468, 495, 498, 518, 545, 568, 574, 575, 597, 599, 615, 627

The card backs look good to me. Players with longer careers, like Frank Robinson, still get their full MLB career on the back with room for a cartoon and a little blurb. 

Here's a full page of my favorites from the set already in my collection. I have never been a very big fan of this set. I do like the positional pose logos on the fronts, but there's just something about the cards themselves that look amateurish to me - like they were printed poorly, on less than the best card stock. 

What do you think are the Pros and Cons of the 1973 Set? I'd love to hear your opinion!

Check Out My (Final ?) COMC Order

Dude, Where's My Cards?

Still waiting for an update on the shipment I requested on 12/2/2019. I emailed on 12/23, they replied the same day and said they'd look into it and get back to me. 

No response/update for over a week, so I sent a follow up on Jan 3rd. No Reply.

I emailed again on January 8th - no reply.

Hmm, maybe they aren't getting my emails? I started a new email thread on January 22nd - no reply.

I emailed again this Monday, after hearing nothing for another week, with no communication from COMC since that first response way back on December 23rd.

So, I have pulled all of my cards from sale on the website. I tried to have them shipped back to me, but they wanted to charge me $81 to ship my own cards back to me. Fine, you can keep them, I marked everything I sent to them as "For Charity."

I still had a sizeable number of cards that I already paid for, on the site, ready to ship. I had been using a strategy of placing a shipment order at the beginning of each month (after the $5 bonus), then adding store credit a week or two later and starting the process again. I would eat up all the store credit, save $4 of the bonus $5 to cover shipping, then repeat.

My first shipment request from COMC was way back on 9/17/2014. I had been ordering one shipment a month, EVERY MONTH, since March of 2015. This was before I even had a COMC account.

After not seeing my shipment change over to "packaging" status for 6 weeks, I decided to divest in the website altogether. I didn't have enough "store credit" to cover shipping, so I added $10 in store credit (the minimum allowed), and added my last cards to my last shipment to bring the amount left to $0.01

While I will really miss the site for its ease of navigation and all the great inventory, I decided that I didn't want to reward this poor customer service any longer. It's one thing if they lost the cards, or damaged them, or sent them to the wrong address... Any reason would have been better than not replying at all after 2 months. These were the last cards I ordered from COMC, they still owe me 61 cards from the December shipment that never materialized, and probably an apology too.

This is the only time I've had an issue in over 5 years using the site, but it's ridiculous to be ghosted on a simple shipping inquiry. What do you think, am I overreacting?

Arbitrary Acquisitions

Summer keeps on rolling - I haven't been to a card show in a few months now, both for financial and for scheduling reasons. Missed out on the National, as well. But that doesn't mean I was completely shut out of new cards.

"Twinkletoes!" I only have a pair of 1940 Play Ball cards, after adding this George Selkirk over the summer in a COMC bundle.

I don't think I will chase the set, but I couldn't pass up the awesome nickname. The other Play Ball in my collection? Stormy Weatherly, of course.

On to a set I am building, I added a short stack of 1959 Topps. Wally Post and Sherm Lollar were probably the biggest names of the bunch. The 1958 NL shutout leader, Johnny Antonelli is also in the group.

When I saw this Ted Williams  / Paul Bunyan mashup, I assumed that it was a photo taken in Minnesota, but Bunyan gets around. This was taken in Maine, where Ted was given an 8 foot long baseball bat.

Once you fall down a COMC rabbit hole, there's no telling where you'll end up, like fence leaning rebels, Robbie Alomar on the horn, Nolan Ryan selling out for Classic, and even a Felipe Alou photobomb on Tim "my moustache is the 11th Canadian Province" Blackwell's card.

I did actually buy some new retail - including a blaster of Allen & Ginter, which yielded a couple big rookies and a couple even bigger egos. No problem though, Reggie and Rickey proved they could back up the talk.

Saw this one on eBay and made the decision to buy it right away - several of these SPs have dropped in price since they were released, I may have jumped the gun on this one. But this may even count as a bat rack card - there are shipping boxes of Louisville Sluggers in the background!

This card, however, I waited a few decades before snapping up in an eBay auction. I was the only bidder for this well-loved card.

Bob Bonner didn't pan out as the Orioles' shortstop of the future. Good thing they had a backup plan.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! The 1988 Topps Traded Set

There are some combinations of years (1988), teams (Dodgers) and players (Kirk Gibson), that seem forever linked together. The Topps Traded Set gives the collector the opportunity to get everything they remember all in the same place.

Four Hall of Famers in the set, including Roberto Alomar's rookie card. One of the newest members, Lee Smith makes an appearance, still in the prime of his career. Frank Robinson is managing again, now about to turn around a dismal Orioles team and lead them through a thrilling pennant race. Goose Gossage returns to the Windy City, this time with the Cubs.

The backs are once again a day-glo version of the base set, if the "T" on the card number wasn't enough of a hint, surely the bright colors will tip you off that these are from the Traded Set.

Lots of rookies in this set, including a young Brady Anderson, pre-sideburns. Rookie Cup Winners Buhner, Gant, Grace, Sabo, and Weiss have their Rookie Cards here in the '88 Traded set.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! These guys were on the '88 Gold Medal winning Olympic Team. All four were first round picks in 1988 as well.

Some of my personal faves from the set. A hilarious expression on Chili Davis' face. The A's and the Reds were loading up for a 1990 confrontation in the World Series. The Athletics were really aggressive in acquiring new players in the late 80s - they weren't shy about trying some things out.

After a big year in 1987, just one Twin in the 1988 Traded Set. It cost the Twins Tom Brunansky to get this guy, and man he just wasn't the right fit. Chuck Knoblauch fortunately came along soon after this in the draft to take over at second base.

Here are some salty ornery old baseball lifers, for ya. 

Yikes! That's some bad airbrushing, buddy! I mean, Buddy!

Black History Month COMC Pickups

During the month of Februrary, I've been honoring Black History Month by posting about some of the prominent African Americans that have made contributions in the game of baseball (and beyond the field as well).

While making these posts, I would sometimes have to omit some cards because, well, I didn't have them (yet). I have been checking in to COMC throughout the month and picking up cards along the way. This Jackie Robinson card was featured in one of Fuji's posts, I have to say it's now one of my favorite Robinson cards too.

Frank Robinson was still managing in the 2000's, in a period of time when I wasn't buying cards. I was browsing through his cards and found these, I really love the Expos Manager card. I realized during my post on Dontrelle Willis that A) I didn't have his rookie card, and B) I didn't have a good card showing his big leg kick. Check and check.

Here's the back of that first Frank Robinson card - it has one of the factoids I heard most often the day Frank passed. He went to same high school as Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, and that they actually were teammates on the basketball team.

Had to check for more Denard Span needs, as I do most of the time when I log in to COMC.

For most of the posts this month, I've been checking my 56 set and my in progress 1959 Topps set for cards to post. I was surprised to find that I still needed a card for my '59 set of Sam Jones, the first African-American to toss a no-hitter in MLB history, and a member of the 20 game win club, the "Black Aces."

The back mentions his 1955 no-no, and also references his nickname, "Toothpick."

Last but not least, I am always looking for Kirby Puckett cards that will be new to me.

Frank Robinson MVP 1935-2019

This is possibly my favorite baseball card of all time. Its subject is Frank Robinson, one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Before Aaron Judge, before Mark McGwire, Frank Robinson held the record for most homers by a Rookie, hitting 38 in 1956 enroute to the Rookie of the Year award. That would be just the beginning of an illustrious career.

Robinson was on 14 All-Star squads in his career, and was the MVP of the 1971 All-Star game. In 1958, Frank won his only Gold Glove award.

Robinson's first league MVP award came in 1961 with Cincinnati. He led the league in slugging pct. and was walked intentionally more than any other player in the NL, and would lead his league in both categories 4 times over his career. His 1961 MVP season? He hit 37 homers, drove in 124 runs, scored 122 runs of his own and slashed .323 / .404 / .611.  His 1962 season was even better, with 39 Homers and 136 RBI, leading the NL in runs scored, OBP, SLG, and doubles.

Following a decade in Cincinnati, during which he averaged over 100 RBI, 100 runs scored, 167 hits, 32 homers and 16 stolen bases per season, the Reds traded away their superstar for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschin, and Dick Simpson. The Reds owner said that Robinson was now an "old 30" and that his skills were declining.

About that... How about 49 homers, 122 RBI, and a .316 average, all league leading totals. He was the AL MVP, the first player in MLB history to win an MVP in both leagues. Robinson was also the MVP in the 1966 World Series, completing perhaps the best season of his amazing career. This was nothing out of the ordinary for Robinson - his batting style was stand very close to the plate, daring the pitcher to come inside. He would take first base if they did hit him, and was never shy to come back in the next at bat with a hard base hit.

Robinson would play 6 seasons with his brother from another mother Brooks Robinson, bookended with World Series titles in 1966 and 1970. The 1970 World Series victory was against his former team, the Reds. He would return to Southern California, where he grew up, following the 1971 season, again coming off an American League Pennant. He had an injury shortened stint with the Dodgers, but he would hit 30 homers for the Angels in 1973, and was traded the following season to Cleveland, where he would once again make history.

Frank Robinson was the first Black Manager in Major League Baseball history, serving as a Player / Manager in Cleveland starting in 1975. His first at bat as a Manager / Player was a Home Run, that Cleveland fans would vote as the most memorable moment in the team's history.

After a stint with the Giants in the early 80s, Robinson would return to Baltimore, this time as the team's manager. In 1988, the Orioles had a rough season until Robinson came aboard to change the team's fortunes around. While they finished second in the AL East, Robinson was named the Manager of the Year in 1989, thanks to the hard work he did to make them a competitive squad.

Despite the great play on the field and the history making turn as manager, Robinson sometimes seems to be an afterthought in newer releases - the Reds tend to get players from the 70s "Big Red Machine" teams first, and the Orioles' tend to focus on guys like Ripken, Murray, and Jim Palmer. Robinson still has a lot of post career cards, but you'd think the guy with the 4th most homers in the 20th Century would be closer to Aaron/Mays/Ruth on new cards too.

This was not the post I planned to make today, but I learned this afternoon that Frank Robinson passed away. The '61 NL MVP, '66 AL MVP, '66 World Series MVP, '71 All-Star Game MVP, and 1989 Manager of the Year was a giant in the game of baseball, from his 1956 Rookie of the Year campaign to being named President of the American League following his retirement from Managing the Washington Nationals. He will be greatly missed.