A Pleasant Surprise; Card Show Recap #15 Part #3

Before the Black Friday show, I hadn't been to the Mansfield sports card show in a number of months for a number of reasons. Non-Sunday shows not being possible, wanting to save money for The National, and it not being a weekly show all contributed to the fact that I wasn't able to attend for quite some time.

This time, the main question was not if I could attend, but if I wanted to take part in the COMC Black Friday sale instead. Ultimately, I chose the baseball card show and could not be more happy with my decision. 

Not only did I come back with a nice variety of cards, but I also received a pleasant surprise from someone I met in-person for the first time while at the show.

I've been trying to attend the Mansfield show the same day as fellow Red Sox fan and loyal reader Mark Hoyle for months now, but as I said before, it hasn't worked out. If I remember correctly, we were at a show or 2 the same day earlier this year but hadn't realized that until the show had been over for a couple of days.

Mark seems to be a regular at the Mansfield sports card show, and his Twitter page is chock-full of awesome Red Sox cards and memorabilia finds from previous trips. Once I had been at the show for about 15 minutes, we met each other at the front and chatted for a little while. 

Before we parted ways, he generously handed over a package of 1976 and 1979 Topps cards from the want list, much to my surprise and appreciation. To make things even more special, he told me that a majority of the cards included in the box were pulled by him out of packs back when he was a kid. Don't worry, Mark, I promise I'll take care of them.

After completing 1972 and 1975 Topps having been completed over the last 6 months or so, I reminded myself it was time to turn my attention towards these 2 sets with more emphasis on 1976 due to it being the older of the 2 70's sets that I'm currently building. That time hasn't quite come yet, but I also haven't spotted much or any '76 or '79 Topps at the shows I've been attending.

One of the most underrated Topps sets I can name, 1976 Topps takes a page out of '75 Topps' book by featuring bold color combinations just like 1975 Topps did. What helps to separate 1976 Topps from the latter is less emphasis on the colors and more on the images and equally colorful jerseys.

There are only so many colors and combinations out there, meaning sometimes in a Topps set, a couple of teams need to share a certain shade or duo of different colors. Despite all of this, 1976 Topps does an excellent job at making certain that the set doesn't get redundant.

In addition to having a perfect-sized checklist of 660 cards, teams with the same color combo, at least in this instance, have the colors flipped in order to create a wider range or unique cards across the set. 

I'm no vintage set guru, so I can't say for certain if something like this has been done before, but even if it has, it shows why '76 Topps is one of my favorite sets in a decade full of some of the best sets ever made.

Because 1976 Topps is a set from the middle of the 1970s, it means there are plenty of cards with colorful uniforms, action images, and intriguing backgrounds. Out of the 30 or so cards from the set that Mark generously gave me, these 4 were my personal favorites due to how well they represent the decade that the set is from. 

In particular, Nyls Nyman (awesome name) and his red White Sox jersey show the short-lived red-striped uniforms that, combined with light green, gives the card a slight Christmas feel.

Moving on, Mark was kind enough to send me off with another 30 cards or so from 1979 Topps, the 2nd 70s set I'm piecing together and yet another example of an underrated product. With the perfect placement of the retro Topps logo on the baseball, '79 Topps also includes color combinations and bright banners that vaguely resemble '76 Topps in some way or another.

Like the lot of 1976 Topps cards, I instantly picked out some favorites amongst the 1979 cards with Gene Tenace on the Padres taking top prize as my favorite of the entire group. Even though 1979 was the last year of the 70s and times in baseball were changing, the colorful uniforms that became so popular throughout this decade would be able to live on for a little while after.

Team cards are featured in both sets, but only 1979 Topps includes prospect cards, a concept that would be expanded upon throughout the 1980s, becoming rookie stars and/or future star cards including the same number of players, 3. Of the 6 total players between the Mariners and A's prospect cards, Bud Anderson and Dwayne Murphy are the sole names that I can recognize.

Thanks to Mark and the Mansfield sports card show, I was able to have an incredible Black Friday without spending hours in line at Target. Instead, I ventured through dime boxes and was the recipient of a wonderful box of cards that will go towards my completing of these 2 70s sets.

Thanks again for the cards, Mark. I truly appreciate it.