Extreme Generosity Part 1

Earlier in the week, I received one of the most generous packages since becoming a blogger, or maybe even ever, when Mark Hoyle sent me an awesome package of cards in the mail. He originally messaged me on Twitter where he stated that he had a few cards to send me. However, these "few cards" ended up being over 100, including many handpicked cards from my 1975, 1976, and 1979 Topps want lists.

I'll go in order and begin with 1975 Topps, a set that Mark sent me a plethora of cards from that I needed, 23 to be exact. 1975 Topps is going to be on my radar even more as soon as I complete 1972 Topps. Before this order, I was missing less than 150 cards from the set. But now, I believe that number is closer to 100.

Some of the cards that jumped out at me while looking through the 1975 Topps stack were of some good 70's players that made that decade one of the greatest in baseball history. Dave Cash and Ron Fairly may not be well-known be everybody, but their cards were some of my favorites of what Mark sent to me.

I also found a duo of Giants cards that featured some pretty unique images. The Dave Radar shows a very interesting angle of him with a batting helmet on while the Chris Speier shows him just after making contact with the baseball. I don't know a ton about the set, so I'm not sure if this is a mistake or not, but I love how even though Radar and Speier are from the same team, the colors on the cards are different.

1976 Topps, one of the most underrated sets ever made, was next and just like 1975 Topps, Mark generously sent over 23 cards that I needed to complete the 660-card set. Also, like 1975, the set features unique color combinations, a key part of what made 70's baseball cards so enjoyable.

There were also action-shot cards within the 1976 stack, more so than the 1975 stack. My favorite of the bunch would have to be Steve Ontiveros, who has proved before that his cards are some of the most intriguing cards of the 70's. Just take a look at his 1975 or 1979 Topps base cards.

Another cool part of the 1976 Topps cards that mark sent me had to do with the uniforms. I don't know if all cards in the set featured awesome jerseys simply because it was the 70's or if I just got lucky. All I know is these 4 uniforms are some of the favorite jerseys of the entire decade with the Indians and White Sox being shown being some of my favorites of all-time. Not many people associate the color red with the White Sox. That is unless you watched 70's baseball.

The final set that I received cards from was 1979 Topps, another vastly underrated set. I guess I fell in love with the old-school Topps logo on the baseball so much that I could look past the less than stellar picture quality. Anyway, one of the first cards from 1979 that greeted me in this trade package was Willie Horton on the Blue Jays, a team I never knew the 5-time All-Star played for.

I also just learned that he shares my birthday. Thank you, Wikipedia.

What a difference 3 years can make. The White Sox and Indians wore very colorful uniforms on their 1976 cards. Now, both teams switched to all-black, not that I mind anyway. The White Sox' colors are black and white, to begin with, and the Indians jersey shown on this Dave Freisleben card features some awesome red, white, and yellow sleeves that may or may not be an actual part of the actual uniform.

One of the final cards I spotted out of the 3 70's sets I was sent cards from was of Al Bumbry, and the epic photo captured and printed on this card. The super-cool bat swing, the orange jersey, the afro, all of it screams 70's. 

It's cards like this that made me decide to collect 1979 Topps. It's cards like the Ed Crosby card that made me begin collecting 1976 Topps. And it's cards like the Dave Cash that caused me to attempt to finish up 1975 Topps. These cards drew me to complete these 3 sets, and Mark recognized that enough to send me some awesome cards that help me make some progress.

However, this (somehow) wasn't all that Mark sent me. He through in some Red Sox cards, but those will have to wait a day to be seen.