I Love The '70s

I've mentioned before on this and other blogs that there is a very large gap in my sports card collection: The 1970s. I went through a classic rock phase once, when I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Boston, Peter Frampton, The Who, etc.. and I gobbled up '70s movies from dystopian sci-fi like Soylent Green, The Andromeda Strain, and Logan's Run to sports classics like The Bad News Bears, Slap Shot, and Rollerball - which is kind of both.

 Yet somehow sports cards of the 1970s never got top billing in my collection. Until now..

One of my most frequent trade partners has been Bo, author of the blog Baseball Cards Come To Life! (I reisted the urge to call this "Bo knows trade packages"..and it's possible I've used that before.) Bo has been hoarding vintage cards lately, and had plenty of dupes to trade.

I offered up a small lot of '60s Sox featuring my 1969 Topps Tony Conigliaro dupe, which got the ball rolling on a swap. Bo sent me one in return - Hall of Fame skipper Dick Williams, the year he managed the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox of 1967.

 The rest were all swingin' stars of the seventies, baby..

Let's start with some sluggers from the 1970 Topps set. Harmon Killebrew's 49 homers in '69 (giggidy) led the A.L. ...but did you know who led the league in WAR that year?

 Rico Petrocelli, who appears in this trade package four times. Dig it.

 

Fred Lynn finished third in the A.L. in RBI in 1975 but led the league in runs scored, doubles, slugging, and OPS. He was the first player to win Rookie of the Year and league MVP in the same season. Dyno-mite!

 

Nearly every Topps set of the seventies was represented in this trade package. Here's another 1970 card. I don't know much about Dick Schofield (Sr.) but his son's Angels cards popped up often enough when I was a young collector. Apparently he's Jayson Werth's grandfather. Far out, man!

Here's a guy I'm familiar with. Ted Simmons was one of the top catchers of the decade and in my humble opinion, should be a Hall of Famer. This is his second-year card, and one of my favorites in the stack. I'm all out of '70s catch phrases.

I also picked out this '73 Dick Allen over a '70 issue of his..didn't realize from the pic that it was miscut. It's too bad I don't know anyone who collects miscut cards and White Sox.

The colorful 1975 Topps set is represented by the colorful Dock Ellis - who is pictured wearing what appears to be a batting glove. I've never seen a pitcher wear one while pitching before.

Here are some Hall of Famers from the 1976 Topps set, the legendary Ty Cobb..

And a trio of league-leading aces. Jim Palmer won the Cy Young award in '75, leading the A.L. in new-age stats like adjusted ERA+ and WAR..as well as the old-fashioned favorites like Wins, ERA, and shutouts.

The only years that didn't appear in this trade package were 1974 and 1979. It just so happens I made a small PWE trade with TCDB user John5150. John is working on the 1979 Topps and 1984 Topps sets. I sent him a few from each set and got a couple of his dupes in return:

 I also picked out a pair of Sterling Sharpe Packers cards, and some basketball stars:

That's Vince Carter on the SP Authentic card. The Shaq Ultra brings this back to Bo...

...who threw in 100 basketball cards, including a bunch of 1993-94 Ultra needs - and a postcard of the big Aristotle:

This was the first thing I pulled out of the package. According to the text on the back, it was what fans would get back from Shaq instead of a TTM auto:

  

Must have been disappointing for a young fan to receive this instead of a real auto. This trade package, on the other hand, was radical. Thanks for the trade, Bo!

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Sports Card Tour 2018 - Orlando

The Collector's Sports Card Tour is going to Disney World! Today we're in Orlando.

Orlando has been home to the Magic since their inception in 1989. They were NBA finalists in 1995 and 2009.

The Magic became contenders overnight when Shaquille O'Neal arrived in 1992. Shaq's impact on the sports card and memorabilia world was as powerful as his thunderous dunks. Every kid I knew was suddenly ripping open packs of Topps, Upper Deck, and (when we could afford it) Fleer Ultra hoping to pull a Shaq RC.

Shaq memorabilia was everywhere, too. I never saw any Starting Lineup figures but I did have this Shaq Attaq figure in my hobby room for a few years.

The Shaq craze came at the perfect time for the NBA - and the hobby. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were nearing the end of their careers. ESPN's flagship highlight show Sportscenter was reaching its peak. Increased competition in trading cards meant more Shaq rookie cards-and more collectors. 

When Michael Jordan "retired" from the NBA, Shaq and his new wingman Anfernee Hardaway were ready to take over.

Well, almost. The Magic were swept by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in the 1995 Finals. Then MJ returned to basketball, thus closing the Magic's title window. Shaq left for the Lakers a year later.

Hardaway was very popular as well, and almost as marketable. (I didn't have a Lil' Penny doll.)

A devastating knee injury in 1997 derailed Hardaway's promising career. He's one of a small group of retired non-Hall of Famers whose cards I keep in my star player box.

ESPN's 30 for 30 Documentary "This Magic Moment" speculates on what might have happened had Shaq and Penny stayed together in Orlando. When that era ended, Orlando attempted to reload with superstars Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady.

Hill's tenure with the Magic was defined by a chronic ankle injury. McGrady blossomed into a superstar, leading the NBA in scoring in two of his four seasons with the Magic. Even with T-Mac at the top of his game Orlando couldn't get out of the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Dwight Howard led the Magic to victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 Eastern Conference Final. Before their date with the Lakers in the championship one of the ladies I worked with asked me if I thought Orlando had a chance. I had absolutely no idea - I hadn't followed basketball in about a decade. She knew her stuff and I had a feeling that there wasn't anyone else in the office who did..so I watched a little bit of the Finals and tried to keep up.

Since Shaq rookie cards have been devalued (to about a dollar on COMC) this Howard relic is my best Orlando Magic card. I had it on my watch list for over a year - the design and colors appealed to me but the price wasn't right and it wasn't a priority. Eventually the price decreased to $5.05 and it came home with the rest of the COMC 500.

I claimed a stack of Orlando/Miami/Memphis cards from Kerry (Cards on Cards) to boost my binder pages, but they haven't arrived yet. Until then here are some other Orlando cards of note:

I'm waiting to see what Victor Oladipo does next year before I move him to my star player box. The Elfrid Payton Gauntlet insert is in my 'hits' box. The black throwback jersey is neat (but I preferred the blue jersey shown in Hardaway's Collector's Choice cards.)

Here's another look at that all-black uniform on Steve Kerr. Wait..Steve Kerr? When did he play for Orlando? I don't remember that at all. I do remember Catledge though. This card fooled at least one of my friends into thinking they pulled a Shaq out of their paq. 

And finally some Orlando rookies, including a pair of J.J. Redick (the Chrome isn't a true "RC")

Orlando has had some other pro sports teams throughout the years.

Does anyone remember this fictional football team?

My last Sports Card Tour post featured the Oklahoma City Thunder...for this post we have the WLAF's Orlando Thunder.

You'll see more of these World League cards in future SCT posts. I used to have a bunch in my collection but only two or three have survived. This isn't one of them; I swiped the image from Trading Card Database.

Here's an Orlando card I'd like to own..particularly because of who is on the other side:

The Orlando (Sun) Rays were a minor-league affiliate of many teams including the Cubs and - not surprisingly - the Rays. I remember Peter Gammons suggesting that the then-Devil Rays merge with the Marlins and play at Walt Disney World as the Orlando Sun Rays.  I thought it was a good idea, but if the minor league O-Rays failed due to low attendance then the major league franchise wouldn't have fared much better.


Favorite Magic player (current): Don't have one

Favorite Magic player (all-time): Shaq

Next tour stop: Ottawa

 
Thanks for reading!

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