Four months ago I was contacted by a collector from Toronto who sent me some cards from his childhood collection, all of them O-Pee-Chee from the 1970s.
They came from his basement -- I'm guessing they were patiently waiting for someone to come around, as cards in the basement do -- and while I expected just some Dodgers, Jeff sent me so much more.
Well, I got another unexpected envelope from Jeff last week and I was blessed with some more basement cards -- almost all of them '72 OPC!
There was a nice selection of cards from all areas of the 1972 set.
I'll start with the team cards since I led with one with the White Sox (record loss No. 121 is on the docket with a defeat Tuesday against the Angels).
I'm not turning over all these cards to display the French on the back, but I'll do it with one of the team cards so you know everything is on the up-and-up.
There you are, frappeurs and lanceurs.
There were some Rookie Stars, too. Though I'd say none of these guys turned out to be stars.
And two more nifty Dodgers for the team set build! I'm down to needing four cards to finish off this team set! It helps that OPC didn't include Steve Garvey in its set.
All right, now it's time for a top 10 countdown of the remaining '72 OPC cards, because the quality of cards deserves a top 10 list.
10. 1972 Rookie Stars, Orioles. This rookie stars card does feature a star.
9. Sparky Anderson. Back when Sparky was the manager of one World Series loser.
8. Vida Blue. This '72 Vida has the evidence of a 50-plus-year-old card housed in a basement. But it's no less cool.
7. Jim Palmer. I feel bad that Palmer is ranked just seventh on this list, but you'll see why.
6. Billy Martin. Martin didn't just give the finger to American kids. He did it to kids around the world.
5. Bob Gibson. Gibby's card has gone through the 1970s wars. Way off-center, creasing, staining. But he's still smiling!
4. Ted Williams. I will always have a soft spot for Ted Williams cards, although he didn't seem like the soft-spot type.
3. Frank Robinson. Frank Robinson's final Orioles card.
2. Reggie Jackson. I am after any-and-all 1970s Reggie cards, but getting an O-Pee-Chee version from 1972 never entered my thoughts. Blogging is still a wild world, everyone.
1. Roberto Clemente. Legendary card -- will be celebrating the ninth anniversary of getting the Topps version soon, and now here's the OPC version! In terrific shape, too.
Oh, I've got to show the back for Clemente!
There was also this 1975 OPC leaders card in the envelope. I have this already for the Dodgers collection, meaning it can be redistributed to the main '75 OPC "chase"!
I never realistically expected to be chasing full OPC sets from the '70s -- I still don't, really. But I've started to accumulate a fair amount for not only 1977, but now for 1972 and 1975, too! I'll need to go through the totals the next time I post about these great cards.
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