C.A.: 1975 Topps Reggie Jackson

(Greetings, I'm back after a rare two-day break from posting. While I appreciate out-of-town visiting more than ever these days, I still feel lost without my cards. So let's get back into it. It's time for Cardboard appreciation. This is the 301st in a series):

As much as I loved baseball cards as a kid, I wasn't very observant about them.

The aspects that stayed with me back then were the design, the player on the card, what team they played for and probably the pose, or the action shot. On the back, I noticed the stats and the cartoon, if there was one. I glanced at the bio sometimes, too.

That was about it. The elements that jump out at me these days -- that the player was airbrushed into a different uniform, that there is a teammate in the background, that there is a piece of equipment in the background, that a word is misspelled or incorrect information provided -- almost always sailed over my head.

I'd like to think I was like most kids in that way. Too many interests, too much sugar, a way too early bedtime, who had time to be super-analytical about their baseball cards?

 

So, no, it took a long time, way past 1975, before I realized that Reggie Jackson's 1975 Topps card lacked the outstanding yellow-and-red border and bold position star that every 1974 All-Star Game starter received in the set.

 

I don't know how I missed that, although it was probably because I couldn't have told you an All-Star lineup until 1976. But, when I did realize that Jackson was robbed of the greatest All-Star Game card tribute ever created, it really rankled me.

 

It's bothered me ever since. How could Topps have missed that? What a terrible error. I was almost angry. And it's been one of those "if onlies" of my all-time favorite set. "If only" Jackson had received his proper All-Star tribute in the '75 set. If only.

 

If only.

 

 If only ... THIS!

This is an actual real card. It was created by Gio of When Topps Had (Base) Balls, one of his many wonderful card tributes to the greatest baseball decade ever.

I happened to spot this card on A Cracked Bat a few months ago and I sure did want it. Julie was nice enough to keep me in mind, and when it came time to send me a couple of cards from her Pick Pockets giveaway, I found the All-Star Reggie tucked in with the other two cards!

 

 

This card helps the '75 set make sense. For those of you who have been bothered by that plain, old position baseball and the blue-and-orange border combo (which I quite like, by the way), and who have your 1975 Topps set in a binder and are irked every time you reach the Reggie page (cards #298-306), how marvelous does this now look?:

OK, I know, it's a bit jarring. I'll give you a moment.

That's actually how the page is supposed to look! Reggie is supposed to have that All-Star treatment!

With the new Reggie card, now all of the American League all-stars can be presented as they appeared in the lineup for the 1974 All-Star Game.

 

Doesn't everything seem right with the world?

Sure, I know, Carlton Fisk didn't actually play in the All-Star Game. He had just suffered a season-ending injury in a plate collision in June of that year and Thurman Munson started. But Topps was honoring the All-Star ballot winners for starter at this point in time.

Also, there's that weird Bobby Murcer card that kills the AL lineup vibe (reality is always infringing on our perfect card world). Topps was under that weird impression that it had to airbrush Murcer into a Giants cap and change his team.

I wonder if Gio could create a Murcer card in his old Yankees uniform with the Yankees team banner?

Speaking of which:

That's the National League starting lineup for the 1974 All-Star Game, and Hank Aaron shows up with his giant star but with the orange-and-brown borders of the Highlights subset. I'm assuming Topps did that instead of repeating what happened with Murcer by placing an All-Star logo on Aaron's airbrushed Brewers card at card No. 660.

Gio could have very well made a yellow-and-red All-Star tribute to Aaron already, I'll have to check.

But I'm getting greedy. The Reggie was the biggest mistake that needed correcting and I'm so happy the "corrected" card is mine.

Those are the other cards that Julie sent as my Pick Pocket winnings. Two more Swell items. Notice they each have yellow-and-red borders, to continue this post theme.

I am much more observant about what's on my cards these days, probably a little TOO observant. But it's all great fun, and it allows me to play with my cards just like I did when I was collecting the '75 set as a 9-year-old kid.

 

 

And that's why I love this new Reggie Jackson card (and the old Reggie Jackson card) most of all.