The 5 Missing Topps Baseball Cards of the 1970s
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The 1970s were a decade of transformation, not only for society but for baseball. As Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and other legends of baseball's Golden Age made their exits, a new generation of superstars—Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and Eddie Murray, among others—made their entrances. The Hobby of baseball card collecting itself saw change as well with conventions evolving from one-offs in Mike Aronstein's basement into full-blown gatherings not unlike the card shows still around today. Many of the cards once tossed were now treasured, and already what was once exclusively a Hobby was evolving into a business.
RELATED: The Ten Essential Topps Baseball Cards of the 1970s
Looking back at the Topps baseball cards of the 1970s, half a century later, collectors can take their pick among roughly 7,000 different cards, dozens of Hall of Famers, colorful sets, and even more colorful characters. What they can't do, unfortunately, is pick up these five cards, all of which should have, or at least could have, been but weren't.
1972 Topps Traded Nolan Ryan
If you noticed the picture above isn't Nolan Ryan, that's actually the point! On December 10, 1971, the California Angels traded six-time all-star and (at the time) "Greatest Angel Ever" Jim Fregosi to the New York Mets for Nolan Ryan and three other players. Though Ryan was not yet a baseball superstar, his 100 mph fastball and early season strikeout tallies certainly qualified him for a 1972 Topps Traded card. That said, the Ryan Express was hardly the subset's biggest omission.
1972 Topps Traded Willie Mays
RELATED: The Five Essential Baseball Cards of Willie Mays
Collectors in 1972 were treated to a base card of Willie Mays on the Giants, not to mention an "In Action" card of Say Hey with San Fran. There was only one problem. Shortly after the pair of cards came out, Willie was traded to the New York Mets. Granted a May 11 trade didn't give the folks at Topps a ton of time to prepare a Traded card of Mays for the 1972 set's final series, but when the player in question is Willie Mays, why not hustle a little harder than usual! As it was, the only way kids could catch Willie on the Mets in 1972 was to scoop up an impossible Topps Candy Lid test issue or, barring that low-probability option, head to the ballpark!
1972 and 1973 Topps Rusty Staub
Heading into the 1972 season, Rusty Staub had been an all-star each of his past five campaigns and had already tallied 1300 hits. He was a legit star in the league and absolutely a player kids would have loved to see in their packs. There was only one problem. Staub had opted out of his trading card contract. The result was that Topps had no Staub cards in 1972 and 1973. Apart from oddballs and team issues, le Grand Orange was simply MIA in the trading card universe.
Reggie on the Orioles
Thumb through Reggie Jackson's Topps cards of the 1970s and you'd find him on only two teams, the Oakland Athletics (1970-1976) and the New York Yankees (1977-1979). Without flipping the cards over, you might never know Reggie spent an entire season in Baltimore where he led the league in slugging and came just short of cracking the 30-30 club. Well, actually that's not quite true. Collectors looking really, really closely might have spotted Mr. October (last player, middle row) on the 1977 Topps Orioles team card. Still, what 1970s collector doesn't wish Topps found a way to extend the 1976 Topps Traded subset just a bit or at the very least leaked out a few more 1977 Topps proof cards!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.