70 Cards from the 1970s

Lately I've been adding some 1970s cards to my collection through trades, blogger gifts, and purchases. Rather than scan and discuss them individually, it occurred to me that I could create a special '70s post. 

btw the main character of my memoir looked a lot like Donna, but she was a brunette

I have more than 70 cards from this decade in my collection. Not a lot more.. maybe 150 to 200 total. So I'm just going to select seventy to discuss. Some are new arrivals, some are old favorites, and some are just kinda rando. 

Let's jump right in...

Bought this from Dave and Adam's during the pandemic (along with a 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle) with that sweet stimulus cash. Thank you, President Biden :)

Both of these were COMC purchases from a few years back. Aparicio was $14.20 as-is, while Torre was a mere $1.04 ungraded. I promptly submitted it to PSA and.. woila! A $250 card. I love grading.

Here are some more graded cards in my '70s collection (don't worry, I'll get to the 'real' stuff soon).

 

 Anyone reading this a fan of The 1975?

 

How about The 1975... Topps Baseball card set?

This George Brett RC is my most valuable single from the seventies. I'm thrilled that I could finally pair it with...

Robin Yount's rookie card. I know what you're thinking - where's the '77 Yount? I had one a long time ago, but it was very well-loved. I'll get another one some day - probably ungraded, but you never know. 

While Yount has always been a player I like and collect, I can't really explain why I've accumulated so many Twins stars from the decade.

Both slabbed and free-range:

I know what you're thinking - why do you have a 1975 Topps Tony Oliva graded and ungraded?

Je ne (I don't)

 
The Twins were once the Washington Senators - but not these Senators...

 ...who were managed by...

I had that TCMA card on my wantlist for a while. Finally picked one up on COMC for $4.00. 

Staying in Texas for just a second...

Love those 'Tequila Sunrise' uniforms. My upcoming 100 Greatest Non-Hall of Famers project has reminded me that I need more Astros stars of the '70s in my collection.

Here's "Pops" and GrandPop. (Just kidding.) I got this Gary Sutherland in a TCDB trade and just realized it's miscut. Grrrr...

Ladies and gentlemen, your 1979 West Haven Yankees! I'm slowly chipping away at this team set; there's a Dan Schmitz sitting in my COMC inventory right now. One of these days I'll wander over to Quigley Stadium and take some pictures for you guys. It's not a very professional-looking park these days, but it is my home town field.

All hail the online dime box! They have '70s singles now. I actually picked up a 1970 Topps Dal Maxvill in VG shape... but I quickly traded it on COMC for three Whalers cards, including:

The non-Hall of Famer in the Howe family. Nice little trade that only cost me ten cents and a stamp.

I have a few Whalers from the 1979-80 Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets but since they were a WHA franchise for most of the decade, my favorite NHL team to collect would have been the Montreal Canadiens:

I've got another Larry Robinson slab waiting for me at COMC HQ, but I really need a Guy Lafleur to complete the collection. Maybe a Pete Mahovlich, too.

Here's a bunch of Bruins from the 1972-73 Topps/OPC sets:

And here's a trio of Toronto Maple Leafs from 1971-72:

Parent and Ullman were recent pickups from Desert Ice Sportscards. Under $30 total for the pair.

I know what you're thinking - don't you have any Red Wings, Rangers, or Blackhawks? Well, I shipped some '70s Rangers cards off to Billy. I hope he got 'em, I don't remember seeing them on his blog. As for my next Original Six team build...

It's on the way. 

Recently Jon sent me some Starting Lineup basketball figures for my growing collection, along with some Damian Lillard singles and these three hockey cards he had lying around:

There's one Red Wing at least. Thanks, Jon!

Speaking of basketball...

All of my 1970s NBA singles are courtesy of my 2018 Secret Santa, Mark Hoyle. There were a couple dozen Hall of Famers in the stack he sent me. Here are some of my favorites. Hot take: Bill Walton is overrated. Alex English is underrated.

Mark's stack covered most of the league's top stars from the decade - especially Gail Goodrich. If I were to fill in the holes in my 1970s NBA collection I'd need a Julius Erving, a George Gervin, a Pistol Pete, and a John Havlicek. If there are any other big stars missing from my collection I'll explore that another day.
 

On the other hand, my 1970s NFL collection is nearly non-existent. I received a few in my NFL Week swap meet (got a whole ton of 1980 singles, too) and I do have a small handful of Packers. But these three are notable because: 1 - Houston, Oilers 2) There's a car on the field behind Fouts! 3) This '78 single popped out of a repack a few years back. It's the oldest single I've ever pulled from Fairfield, though it is scratched up pretty good. In fact none of these three are in very good shape, Fouts is way off center and Houston has a small stain on the back.

The main reason why I have very few football cards before 1982 is the lack of logos. So many helmetless poses.  

My 1970s collection would be a lot better if I'd hung on to some past purchases from COMC, including:

bought for $13.60

bought for $6.99

bought for $5.50 each

bought for $5.00 each

Guess I went on a '79 binge once upon a time. Hunter cost $4.80 while Palmer was just $4.00.

$3.80 for this one. Can you believe a vintage Hall of Famer in high grade was that cheap? Can you believe I sold it? What an idiot!

$3.70?!? I wouldn't believe it if COMC didn't keep records of every sale. There's one on the site for $56 now. Sigh.

Perhaps it's time to rebuild my 1970s card collection. I've got a few cards in mind, but I'll save them for a future post.

 

Do you have a favorite card or set from the 1970s? I think I know Night Owl's answer.

Thanks for reading!



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