The 1975 Topps countdown, worst to best (No. 260-241)

 

The first details on 2024 Heritage, featuring the 1975 Topps design, have come out.

There's nothing about the key info -- release date -- but there's enough to get people fired up. The main complaint is that the short-prints are shifting from the back fifth of the set, cards 401-500, to the front fifth, 1-100.

 

I don't really know why Topps did this. For me, if I'm going to ignore short-prints, it doesn't matter where they are in the set, I can ignore the numbers on the back just fine, so this doesn't affect me. The major offense, for the second straight year, is that there are short-prints at all. Topps, I guess, is just going to keep ignoring tradition -- even though that's all Heritage is -- and pretend there were short-prints in mid-1970s sets. I was there. There were no cards in the 660-card sets that were more difficult to get than others.

 

Anyway, this won't stop me. It didn't stop me with last year's Heritage set. I finished it despite the SPs. If I can do it for the '74 design, I'm sure I can do it for the '75. I know there will be more people collecting this set than last year, but unless they get really obnoxious about it, I can handle it, SPs at the front or the back, whatever.

 

Other than that, there was a little bit of info on the inserts and parallels, which I won't bother with. 1975 was probably about the time when I started being a little aware of what was going on in the world, so the flashback set might be interesting to me. But the parallels stuff is Heritage nonsense and I don't care.

 

This set will definitely be about the base set -- like the one I'm celebrating with this countdown series. We will almost have gotten through two-thirds of the set by the end of this post. Let's see what will get us there.

 

 

260. Johnny Grubb (card 298)

Classic batting shot in front of a nice crowd.

259. Tony Taylor (card 574)

Tony Taylor hanging out in Candlestick Park, a long way from some of his teammates. I like how the Phillies colors correspond with the border color, not quite matching but sort of matching.

258. Cesar Geronimo (card 41)

A lot of the spring training shots on the Reds cards are very nice. Lots to take in, even if you can't see any people. I also like the look at Geronimo's name on the back of his jersey and look how nice he signed his long name.

 

257. Ted Martinez (card 637)

I have always liked this card. Martinez is all in, full uniform, decent mid-1970s facial hair and invested in that pose. Flag and the Mets scoreboard logo in the background always a plus.

256. Darrell Porter (card 52)

Darrell Porter's card could very well show the same photo session as his 1974 card. Same stadium, same spot. But Porter's more active this time and includes his looping signature, which is a nice touch that doesn't get enough love among collectors these days.

255. Lee May (card 25)

Like a few of the Astros cards in this set, May and his uniform seem like the most interesting thing in this photo for miles.

254. Fred Kendall (card 332)

Yes, more mid-swing pose shots. Give me all the mid-swing pose shots! Kendall's uniform and helmet goes well with this color combo.

253. Juan Beniquez (card 601)

All of them! This was a favorite Red Sox card among us youngsters in '75. I like the old-school Fenway look (at least I think that's what that is).

 

252. Gary Gentry (card 393)

Another childhood favorite, Gary Gentry looked so regal. I remember being stunned when I found out he's mostly remembered for being a clean-cut Met.

251. Tom Burgmeier (card 478)

Fascinating card back in '75. Why is this Burgmeier guy so happy about playing leapfrog? Why is head so big and his body so small? One of the wildest cards in the set to our eyes.

 

250. Bill Melton (card 11)

I was too young for the Beltin' Melton days, I mostly remember him as an Angels bust, but I did have the mini version of this card (that went through the wash), and I recall thinking that he seemed like a powerful dude.

 

 

249. Steve Foucault (card 283)

I've held off on posting this card for as long as I could. This is one of my favorite cards in the set, in fact, if you were to ask me for a card that represents the set best, maybe as a template for the set, I'd pick out this card. I'm trying to dial down on personal bias with this countdown but it's just going to be a factor. The perfect matching on this card is what got me. And I loved the bearded look. It's just now occurring to me that Foucault (I've still never learned how to pronounce his name) is pretending to look in for the pitch.

248. Dave Concepcion (card 17)

Lots of activity on this card. That spaceship-looking seating appears on a couple of Reds cards in this set and I definitely took note in '75 (see a future card in this countdown).

247. Ron Reed (card 81)

Ron Reed had a long career but this is his only card in which he's wearing a mustache. I'm willing to bet it's also his only card in which he's sharing photo space with six towels.

246. Tony Oliva (card 325)

Standard batting shot but it's Tony Oliva and his ever-present card grin is worth a few extra points as is "Des. Hitter".

245. Joe Rudi (card 45)

I have not covered all the head shots in this set, there are still a fair number left. That's because certain ones really show character, like this pleasant, droopy-dog shot of Joe Rudi. Once again an excellent color combo for an A's card.

244. Jerry Koosman (card 19)

Another head-and-shoulders shot that I really love. This card was one of the original cards I pulled out of the first three packs I ever bought. I was a fan of Koosman from that point.

243. Roger Metzger (card 541)

Roger Metzger seems to really be enjoying himself here. That's why I like it, and that pose is classic.

242. Bruce Miller (card 606)

Who is Bruce Miller? I don't know! I didn't know then when I had the mini card, and I've done absolutely no work on it since. But I love this pose and the composition of the photo.

241. Vic Harris (card 658)

See? I like it. Vic Harris seems to be getting more velocity into his throw than Miller (glove down vs. glove up). I like the view of the stands, too.

I want photos like this in 2024 Heritage. I'm hoping they're really paying attention to this countdown over at Topps and noting what the cards actually looked like. I don't want to see any shots of players staring vacantly off into the distance with bat on shoulder or wild upper-cut swings.

Probably hoping for too much. But when you love a set more than any other, standards must be met.