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More, more, more '75 minis!!!!!!!!!!! ... Hey, at least it's not ponies!!!!!!!!!!! ... M-m-m-m-minis!!!!!!!


It looks like another week without buying cards.

That's why I love receiving packages from far away and cards that I ordered days ago. When they arrive, it's like you just bought them! Yay!!!! Please, please don't take away my U.S. Postal Service!

I received the two Lineage '75 minis that you see here from Spiegel. You'll see the rest of what he sent some other time.

Those two minis, and these 18 ...


... which I received from Community Gum, bring me to over 30 minis from the '75 insert set.

Considering there are 200 of these things, that's not very much. Especially since I need two versions of all of the Dodger minis.

I'll probably put up a want list soon. But I want to make it visible. Maybe I'll put it at the top of my want lists page, or just throw it on the sidebar. I'll spend some crucial weekend time pondering that.

But for now, some more observations about the '75 minis. I don't care if you're sick of it. Go stare at the multiple posts of the Josh Hamilton logo-less Panini card if you're bored with this.

Observations:

1. It has occurred to me that the '75 minis -- the actual '75 minis that came out '75 -- may be the first parallel set of all-time. I'm not a huge card historian, so there may have been a parallel set that's even older. I know there are a whole lot of variations on base cards that go way back, but I don't know if there were whole sets intentionally issued as parallels.

If the '75 minis were the first parallel set, what a strange world it produced. There are some parallels that are my favorite cards of all-time. And there are some that are the most awful cards ever made.

2. Among the Lineage cards that I received from Community Gum, quite a few of them were miscut. But that's not some printing flaw. I believe Topps intentionally made the borders off-center because that was a lot more common back in the mid-'70s. However, as someone who actually collected cards in the mid-'70s, I don't recall there being THAT MANY off-center cards.

It's hard to say, because I was a kid, and I just didn't notice things like that too much. If I had to pinpoint it, I'd guess that I'd receive an off-center/miscut card maybe once every other pack or maybe once a pack? That's really nothing but a guess. But the rate I've been seeing from the Lineage minis, that's a lot more than one per pack. That's like three miscut cards a pack.

3. How about those Diamondbacks cards? The longest team name that Topps had to worry about in 1975 was the Cardinals. With the way Topps had to squeeze "Diamondbacks" on the top border, there is a whole lot of extra space on the top. Oh, and this doesn't have much to do with anything, but Gerardo Parra is a little skippy punk.

4. I'm still obsessed with the border comparison. There's no hope for me there. After getting all these cards, I don't see any new border combinations in the Lineage minis, but I'm still going to list them all:

1. Green-purple
2. Orange-blue (didn't exist in '75)
3. Yellow-orange (didn't exist in '75)
4. Green-yellow
5. Orange-yellow
6. Yellow-Light blue
7. Red-yellow
8. Purple-pink
9. Pink-yellow
10. Light blue-green
11. Brown-tan

Additionally, here are the original '75 mini border combinations that are missing from the Lineage that I have seen so far:


Brown-orange: I'm glad to see that Lineage at least used the brown-tan combination, because you can not NOT use brown in a '70s color scheme.


Tan-light blue: This color combination is used pretty sparingly in the '75 set. But that's what makes it so special. It would be cool if this combination was in Lineage.


Yellow-green: Not sure why I haven't seen this combination in Lineage. There are green-yellow bordered Lineage cards. All you have to do is turn the colors upside down.


Red-orange: This was one of the color-combinations that was special to me as kid in '75. I really liked the red-orange borders. Too bad I haven't found it in Lineage.


Green-light green: All right, this is one of the ugliest border combos in the '75 set. But it is used with almost more cards than any other border combination. You've GOT to put this color combination in a '75 mini tribute set!


Red-blue: Probably my favorite color combination in 1975. If Lineage had just replaced the orange border in their orange-blue bordered cards (the Braun, Morneau and Dawson) with red, it would have produced my favorite Lineage minis.


Yellow-red: Another iconic color combination in the '75 set, used with a number of notable stars like Tiant, Aaron and Cedeno. Should've been in the Lineage set, instead of the non-existent '75 combination, yellow-orange.


Blue-orange: This color combination is right up there with red-blue as my favorite. It would have been too cool to see this combination in Lineage.


Orange-brown: Another combination used with more cards in the '75 set than almost any other combination. But it's not in the Lineage minis. The orange-brown combo was featured in countless living rooms, dens, wet bars and kitchens in 1970s America. Shame on Topps for not wedging that into the Lineage set.

Again, I haven't seen all the Lineage cards. Perhaps I'm missing a combination.

But you can be assured that if there is another combination in the set, I will find it, analyze it, dissect it, pulverize it, and sprinkle its remnants upon all the collectors of the world, until they say, "Please, please, no more, give us anything, give us ponies, instead!"

Sorry, can't help you. My daughter's a teenager.



That's all I've got.

Minis forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments

What we now call "parallel" cards go way back in the hobby.

If you go back in time, the earliest "parallels" were probably the N173 Old Judge premuims, which were cabinet-sized reproductions of the same images on the N172 Old Judge cards issued between 1887-'90.

After that, there are the T200 cards from 1913. Each card is a team card, and each come in two sizes, with the larger size being much harder to locate.

And those are two that just pop up at the top of my head. If I weren't sitting at work right now, I'd probably go look to find others...
dayf said…
Shug0 Chara Doki? This is what I have to look forward to a few years from now??

I... I'm ok with this.

(is this show online?)
Anonymous said…
I'm going to attempt to throw a wrench in (or add-on to) your Lineage 75 mini collection - via trivia.

I looked into this fairly thoroughly - who is the only player with a different picture (and different team) on his Lineage 75 mini and 75 mini relic cards?

Hint: he has a card in the original 75 set.

Well, at least this fact throws a wrench in my collection. This makes me want to collect 201 of these cards...
That was a mega-mini post. Beats the hell out of seeing that awful Josh Hamilton card again.
steelehere said…
1952 Bowman Football was available in both small and large versions.
night owl said…
@ Chris and steelehere:

What a relief. I didn't want to pin the parallel madness on '75 minis.

@lifetimetopps:

I have no idea. Haven't seen all the mini relics. McCovey?

@dayf

It's anime, so it's online. http://www.crunchyroll.com/shugo-chara. All tween angst and subtitles.
Jim said…
When I first saw the Diamondbacks, Rays, Blue Jays and Mariners featured on these mini cards, it just looked wrong, since there were no originals in '75 to compare those to. The set continues to grow on me, and it's a nice preview of 2024 Topps Heritage!

(I don't think I've seen a mini Marlins card yet, and yes, Parra is a punk.)
Anonymous said…
Mr. October; They have Reggie in his Oakland garb for the relic mini, but as a Yankee for his regular card. I've looked up just about every player who a) was retired, AND b) played on multiple teams. He's the only one I've found with a different photo.

I like this, mostly because Reggie in green and yellow looks so much cooler than him in pinstripes. But it also makes me want to get the damn card...
dayf said…
@ Nocturnal Birdie

Oh... No...

There are HOW MANY episodes of Japanese Girly Overload??

I'll be over here... um, watching football or something.