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And so it begins


I received enough of a push recently -- from three different directions -- to officially drop the green flag on starting my completion quest for the 1973 Topps set.

The first push came when I completed the 1972 Topps set. No other set to get in my way now.

The second push came when I lost my want lists. The rehaul now includes the 1973 Topps set and, man, I may have made a wrong call including names with all of the numbers! If that angry mass of text intimidates you and keeps you from sending me anything ever again, I completely understand.

The final push came when I received a package in the mail from the mystery sender again.

Last year I received a couple cards from him and then now this package that mostly included some 1973s. He apparently completed the '73 set already and was nice enough to send a few extras my way, but I don't know if I believe any of this because there's no name with the note he sent and no return address. Really, I don't mind if you want to be anonymous, just tell me so I'm not pestering other people who didn't send the cards.

Then again, this may be a case of my deteriorating brain forgetting someone who I'm supposed to damn well know.

But enough about my hang-ups, let's see some of the '73s.


Here are some '70s favorites to get my '73 completion quest off to a "rough" start. This foursome received plenty of love and care at one point. I plan on upgrading all four. But for now let's just enjoy that they're in my possession.


I may or may not do upgrade these two. The rookie subset appears in the final 60 cards of the set, which aren't exactly tough to find -- this is not 1971 or 1972 here -- but they can be an inconvenience. Check out possibly the worst airbrushing job ever on Mario Guerrero.







These fellows will head right to the 1973 Topps binder that I have not created yet. Jose Pagan is the penultimate card in the set! And it's already mine!


And let's not forget Reggie! A little paper loss is not going to deter me from officially placing this in my collection. Let's not be persnickety. It's Mr. October, on one of his worst-looking cards! 1973 Topps you beautiful disaster!


Mystery sender also provided five of the team checklists because everyone always forgets the checklists. I really appreciate this.

Not related to the '73s but also appreciated were two more Edward Vela art cards to go with the Pee Wee Reese I received from mystery man earlier.



Absolutely beautiful. Couldn't have selected two finer individuals for these two cards. I'm thrilled that I get to add this Ron Cey card to my collection, signed by the artist himself on the back!

So there you are, the 1973 set gets off to a mysterious start.

I know I'm going to want to start hacking into that giant want list soon. Now I know why I usually refrain from adding set want lists until I've made a decent dent in the thing.

Comments

Scott Crawford said…
I saw a '73 checklist this past weekend, at the one-person card show garage sale. I have no recollection of seeing one in person before that. 5 is...pretty good. I'm gonna have to work on those. They're not even on my set want list, and I'm less than 60 from finishing.
Mark Hoyle said…
You will knock this set out quick. Sending a few your way tomorrow
steelehere said…
Good luck get another second year Ron Cey card for this set.
Anonymous said…
If a cheap-ass collector like myself can finish 1973, you should have no problems. Have fun!
Tony L. said…
That Mario Guerrero is definitely a bad color job, but Ray Busse next to him isn't exactly anything to write home about either!
BobWalkthePlank said…
Good luck! One of the first things I want to do when I get completely organized is chase an older set.
Fuji said…
I just had a case of deja vu. I picked up a 1974 Topps set that contained team checklists similar to yours, but they have red borders. Best of luck on your 1973 set. That's the last set I need for my Topps project. I'm gonna take the lazy collector's path and find a complete set either at the TRISTAR show or on eBay.
GCA said…
Woo! Yeah, I would stick with just numbers until you get down to the last couple dozen.
Stack22 said…
Do you think the '73 card stock is off? Or maybe the ink used causes the card stock to deteriorate more? I've found that the 73's in my collection are consistently more worn than say '72 or '74, and usually in the same way, with a sort of flimsy peeling apart at the edges and extremely rounded corners (the Ralph Garr looks like a common example).

There must be at least one card blogger who either works in a lab or has a spouse/sibling/friend who does who can "science" up a couple of cards from the era and see if '73 is different.