The 1975 Topps countdown, worst to best (No. 60-41)

 

After a hiatus lasting months, I grabbed my first 1975 Topps buyback since the Great Splurge during April, May and June.

I was a bit burned out and the prices set on these things weren't helping. I wanted to see if prices went down. That doesn't appear to be the case yet, but a single card isn't going to hurt me, so now the Greg Luzinski buyback is mine.

This is the 518th card in my buyback quest to get all 660 cards from 1975 Topps in buyback form. I'm still at 78% of the set -- 78.3% to be exact -- but I have a feeling those buybacks will be languishing awhile so I've got plenty of time to get back to this.

I'm also doing other '75 Topps things, like for instance just the other day, I finally acquired a well-center Dick Allen card. My All-Star Allen has been off-center for as long as I've been collecting the set. It's wild to see it without a too-thin left side. Very happy with that.

All right, let's get to the countdown now. This is the third-to-last episode as we travel through the final 60 cards. We pick it up with the continued run through the remaining MVP subset cards.

60. 1969 Most Valuable Players (card 207)

I didn't pull this card early in my first collecting year, instead I saw it at some point after I had acquired the actual '69 Topps Harmon Killebrew card, one of the first examples of owning the actual card before I saw the MVP subset. It was wild.

59. 1959 Most Valuable Players (card 197)

Two Chicago players sharing equal space on one card. And I've always liked the 1959 set and design.

58. 1965 Most Valuable Players (card 203)

I remember first learning the 1965 American League MVP and being baffled by the name. I had never heard of the guy before. Now I'm kind of upset I never saw him play.

57. 1972 Most Valuable Players (card 210)

I knew right away that there was something off about that Dick Allen photo on this card.

56. 1963 Most Valuable Players (card 201)

Card gets a boost with the appearance of Sandy Koufax, and I like how it's balanced out by one of the few underrated Yankees.

55. 1974 Most Valuable Players (card 212)

I treasured this card for three reasons as a youngster: 1. It was the most recent of the MVPs shown in the subset, therefore I KNEW THESE GUYS; 2. It was one of the MVP cards I pulled in the first three packs I ever bought; 3. One of the players was Steve Garvey, on my favorite team.

Thanks to the one vertical and one horizontal card, this card is a little out-of-kilter, but thank goodness Topps didn't do what Topps Heritage did with a vertical-horizontal situation.

 

54. 1957 Most Valuable Players (card 195)

Heavy, heavy hitters on cards I can only hope to own. My only chance if I actively try to complete the '57 set, which doesn't seem likely.

53. 1956 Most Valuable Players (card 194)

Besides, I've already completed the set from the year before! ... I first got to know this card in mini version and for reasons lost to time, it became massively creased in the center, from left to right. So it's odd to see it regular size and with zero creases.

52. 1967 Most Valuable Players (card 205)

This right here is what sparked my love for the 1967 Topps set. I liked the images immediately as not even a 10-year-old boy. I guess it helps that there are two classic cards here.

51. 1971 Most Valuable Players (card 209)

Same deal with this card (that is wildly diamond-cut and I never knew that until scanning it). All of my love for the '71 set emanated from this card. Same goes for the Vida Blue and Joe Torre cards.

50. 1962 Most Valuable Players (card 200)

Highest-ranked MVP card is one that features a non-existent card in Maury Wills. But unlike the other non-existent cards to appear in the MVP subset, the Wills looks 100-percent realistic, which is pretty impressive before the wide use of computer software, etc. It's such a good mock-up that Topps has repeated the Wills card in various other sets and it should finally just make a stand-alone 1962 Wills already.

49. Larry Bowa (card 420)

I was such a Larry Bowa fan as a youngster. I thought all of his cards were cool. I never saw the '75 Bowa in person but caught a glimpse somewhere, maybe at the Hall of Fame that year. There's not much to it, but I sure loved it. Just a classic pose on the bright '75 All-Star design.

48. Dave Parker (card 29)

Dave Parker has the batting pose down, complete with glowering stare. He's also featuring the "21" patch that the Pirates wore commemorating Roberto Clemente. These patches were worn during the 1973 season so I think this is a slightly old photo of Parker.

47. Tom Seaver (card 370)

Kind of an evil crop by my scanning device. There was no pitcher more revered at this time than Tom Seaver and it's cool to get a photo of him chilling by the batting cage. The photo is a bit dark in hand but looks brighter here.

46. Frank Tanana (card 16)

Boy, Topps really underlined the arrival of Frank Tanana with this card. Not only did it feature the All-Star Rookie cup but Topps dressed the photo in Angels border colors. An enormously pleasing card as far as color matching and Tanana's look to the side only helps. (Atlhough if he's actually on the mound looking in for a pitch, I would've liked to see all of that).

45. Chuck Taylor (card 58)

I had no idea who Chuck Taylor was when this card came out in 1975. Kids at school would joke about the sneakers but that wasn't helping. Who was this guy with the fantastic card?? Who is the guy leaning forward in the background? Whose legs are hidden behind Taylor? How fast is that pitch coming out of Taylor's arm? 200 mph? It seems like 200 mph.

44. Claudell Washington (card 647)

More color-matching for a rookie sensation. Topps highlighted an imposing stare by Washington, cropping in very close. Then it had to squeeze in Washington's long name in the signature. Somehow it all works.

43. Nolan Ryan '74 Highlights (card 5)

Topps conveyed the greatness of Nolan Ryan's fastball with the heroic sky shot, which is appropriate. I've long thought this was the best-looking card in the Highlights set and it's one of the first ones I saw, along with the Kaline. I'm not sure there's any ball in that glove though.

42. Game 1 of 1974 World Series, Reggie Jackson (card 461)

For a long time I didn't know that this was Reggie Jackson in the photo. The picture seemed a little too far away for me and the player seemed so young! I was used to a little bit mature Reggie from his Yankees days. But it's a nice look at Jackson's athleticism and power.

41. Game 2 of World Series, Joe Ferguson (card 462)

The lone positive card for the Dodgers in the World Series subset in '75 Topps. But I also like it because it's a great moment-in-time shot, showing the Dodgers greeting Joe Ferguson upon his arrival to the dugout after hitting a home run in Game 2. There's even a glance at Jimmy Wynn, whose time as the Dodgers is so rare on cardboard.

OK, that's it for this round of '75s. These cards seem a long way away from those first 100 cards of airbrushed headshots I showed at the beginning of the countdown.

Still love every single one of the cards in this set though. I wouldn't be collecting a buyback set of them if I didn't.