Awesome night card, pt. 77

I am coming up on two blog milestones. I would really like to recognize each milestone in some fashion, either through a giveaway or a desperate attempt to be clever.

But I'll be honest. I've got nothing.

A couple days remain before the milestones hit, but let me tell you, I've been thinking about this for weeks and nothing is coming to mind. The evil month that is March has sapped all of my creativity.

So while I'm thinking about whether I should do something or just ignore the whole thing together -- after all it's just a collection of numbers -- take a look at this Mike Schmidt Topps Big night card.

I have a simple question for you: Was Topps Big the start of the retro craze?

I've heard this mentioned before, including within the last few days, but I can't place the blog. (There are so many). I'm guessing that the statement holds some truth. Topps decided to create horizontal cards that matched the size and resembled the design of its mid-1950s cards. It was an obvious homage to the golden era of card collecting.

But instead of praising the Topps Big cards, many collectors cursed them because the cards didn't fit in a standard 9-pocket sheet.

I'm wondering if I should also curse them for giving birth to the never-ending retro craze that I once loved and now am beginning to wish would finally die.

But isn't there an earlier set that paid tribute to an older set? How about 1987 Topps, which looked like 1962 Topps? How about 1986 Topps' similarities to 1971 Topps? How about 1983 Topps, which looked a lot like 1963?. Do they share in the blame for unleashing a thousand retro sets on collectors? Or maybe it's an overlooked oddball set that is the reason that I have to stare at 1961 Topps again.

I'm curious what others think.

Anyway, Schmidty Big is still a cool card. Even if I have to order special pages to get it in a binder.