"Must have" 1970's cards

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by brewing

This would be my list
1970 Ryan or Bench
1971 Dick Allen (1st mustache on a Topps card)
1971 Thurman Munson
1972 Roberto Clemente (love the ball in the air, plus it was my first Clemente)
1973 Mike Schmidt
1974 Tom Seaver (great photo of the best pitcher)
1974 Hank Aaron
1975 Topps/Mini George Brett
1975 Topps/Mini Robin Yount
1978 Reggie Jackson (cool card)

Glad to see the 74 Seaver on your list. I think that is one of the best action cards ever made. I admit I am biased toward the 1974 set, but I don't think that set gets enough love. There are some great action shots in addition to the Seaver. The Ryan and Reggie cards come immediately to mind.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Vintagevault13

Glad to see the 74 Seaver on your list. I think that is one of the best action cards ever made. I admit I am biased toward the 1974 set, but I don't think that set gets enough love. There are some great action shots in addition to the Seaver. The Ryan and Reggie cards come immediately to mind.

Absolutely agreed!! The '74 set has so many great shots in it -- action packed and others, like the Frank Robinson. A while back there was a thread that I believe was started by me(?) that lauded it (titled something along the lines of "Why no love for 1974's?"), but I can't for the life of me locate it and now it's driving me bananas!! Ugh. The group scans I still have on my HD date from July 2013. Don't wish to hijack this thread, but it should definitely be revisited. It probably doesn't receive it's proper due simply because the whole set was released at the same time and waaaay overproduced. Still an awesome set, though!!

[4reals]

I only collect Dodgers...off the top of my head my top10 in the 70's would be:

1970 Bill Russell RC
1971 Steve Garvey RC
1971 Baker/Paciorek/Baylor RC
1972 Traded Frank Robinson
1973 Schmidt/Cey RC
1973 Walt Alston (first Tom Lasorda appearance since '54)
1974 Steve Garvey
1976 Dodgers Team Checklist (last Walt Alston appearance)
1977 Dale Murphy/Kevin Pasley
1979 Pedro Guerrero RC

[wake.up.the.echoes]

Originally Posted by 4reals

I only collect Dodgers...off the top of my head my top10 in the 70's would be:

1970 Bill Russell RC
1971 Steve Garvey RC
1971 Baker/Paciorek/Baylor RC
1972 Traded Frank Robinson
1973 Schmidt/Cey RC
1973 Walt Alston (first Tom Lasorda appearance since '54)
1974 Steve Garvey
1976 Dodgers Team Checklist (last Walt Alston appearance)
1977 Dale Murphy/Kevin Pasley
1979 Pedro Guerrero RC

Awesome list! I would add these two faves to any Dodgers-centric list:

1. 1972 Topps #761 Rookie Stars Oglivie/Cey/Williams
2. 1973 Topps/OPC #609 Rookie Second Basemen Blanks/Garcia/Lopes

[mrmopar]

Value aside, I am going strictly by which cards I find visually appealing (among the better players, of course). The various AS badges & rookie cups add to the appeal for me:

71 Munson
73 Stargell
74 Seaver
76 Lynn, Bench
77 Fisk, Garvey
78 Jackson
79 Carew, Rose

Limiting to just 10 is very tough. Most of these sets are favorites of mine, having grown up collecting many of them live. These 10 were some of the first I thought of, but so many more are missing.

[hcv123]

1971 Ryan
1971 Mays
1971 Clemente
1971 Munson
1972 Carew
1973 Reggie Jackson
1975 George Brett
1975 Hank Aaron #660
1978 Eddie Murray
1979 Ozzie Smith

[wake.up.the.echoes]

Top 11 (chronological order) Topps/OPC "rookies"

1972 Fisk
1973 Schmidt
1974 Winfield
1975 Brett
1975 Yount
1978 Murray
1978 Molitor/Trammell
1978 Burger King Trammell
1978 Burger King Morris
1978 Burger King Whitaker
1979 Ozzie

That is my list for today. It will likely change tomorrow. Haha.

[Gr8Beldini]

1970 Bench
1971 Clemente
1971 Munson
1972 Carew
1972 Rose
1972 Morgan Traded
1973 Mays
1975 Aaron (#660 - centered please.)
1977 Fidrych
1977 Reggie

[MattyC]

Good call on the 660 Aaron being centered-- talk about a card where it really might be as rare as 1 in every 250 is square and centered. The miscuts and off centering on that card are insane.

[swarmee]

Guess we also omitted the 1972 classic Billy Martin "you're number 1" card.

[paulcarek]

In addition to all the great choices already mentioned, I've always had a soft spot for this one. The best looking card (IMO) of my all-time favorite player:

[KCRfan1]

My top 10 would be:

1970 Bench
1971 Munson, Ryan
1972 Rose
1973 Clemente, Mays, Schmidt
1974 Aaron
1975 Brett, Yount

I have always liked the 70 Bench, plus it's an MVP year for him. The 71's of Munson and Ryan are great action shots, and as we all know the 71's can be difficult to find in great condition due to the black borders. The 72 Rose is just a nice looking card imo. For the 73's, I like Mays and Clemente as those are the last cards for each player, and the Schmidt card is the rookie card to have from any set of the 70's. The 74 Aaron is the first card in the set, and a great tribute to the new home run champion. From the 75 set, and final two cards, Brett and Yount. HoF's from one of the most popular sets in the 70's, and after the Schmidt rookie, these are probably the next two rookie cards to have from the 70's.

Fun topic, and lots of opinions.

[quitcrab]

1973 Brooks Robinson. He is ready rob someone of a hit.

[MattyC]

1. 75 Brett
2. 73 Schmidt
3. 78 Murray
4. 74 Schmidt
5. 71 Ryan
6. 76 Brett
7. 75 Yount
8. 74 Aaron HR King
9. 72 Clemente
10. 78 Molitor Trammell

11. 74 Winfield
12. 72 Fisk
13. 71 Munson
14. 78 Brett
15. 75 Ryan HL #5

[rats60]

1970 Bench
1970 Mays
1971 Ryan
1972 Clemente
1973 Schmidt
1974 Aaron
1974 Seaver
1975 Brett
1975 Yount
1975 Rose

Just missed the cut
72 Fisk
74 Winfield
78 Murray
78 Molitor Trammell
79 Ozzie Smith

[Econteachert205]

I think you must have a few kelloggs and hostess cards of your choice as well a a disc or two. Gotta mix in the oddballs from the 70s.

[Exhibitman]

If you don't have these you don't have $hit:

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

I think you must have a few kelloggs and hostess cards of your choice as well a a disc or two. Gotta mix in the oddballs from the 70s.

How about a 1975 Hostess Twinkies Robin Yount without a stain? That is the key rookie in the set and extremely difficult to find without oil stains. In addition, the pictures are different than Topps sets - as Topps let Hostess parent borrow the pics Topps didn't use for the normal Topps production sets.

Z

[sandmountainslim]

Why does the 1971 Munson card seem to be more desired than his 1970 Rookie? Do you think it will remain this way or will the rookie eventually surpass it in desirability.

[KendallCat]

Love the 70's cards and obvious answers are the 1973 Schmidt, 1975 Brett, and 75 Yount. I think those are the big 3. Next would be the 1978 Murray and 1979 Ozzie Smith.

Personally I like the 1970 Bench since it is his MVP year and a tough high number. After that the 1974 Ryan is an awesome card with his fastball looking like it is about to come right at you. I love the 74 set and the action photos. In 1971 the Clemente and Jackson are great looking cards, and my favorite is the 1976 Bench.

[CW]

Originally Posted by sandmountainslim

Why does the 1971 Munson card seem to be more desired than his 1970 Rookie? Do you think it will remain this way or will the rookie eventually surpass it in desirability.

I might look at two factors here... desirability and value.

The '71 might be more desired simply because of its visual appeal over the RC. It features one of the coolest action poses in the hobby. Many collectors just like solo cards rather than the multi-player RC used in the 60's and 70's.

The '68 Ryan RC is an iconic card, but it doesn't really have a wow factor when it comes to the visual aspect. It's basically two cropped portraits set against a burlap sack.

The reason the '71 Munson has more value, especially in higher grades like 8 and 9, is because the '71 set has those super-tough black borders.

In those higher grades, the '71 will always surpass the '70 in terms of value and desirability. The visual aspect just adds to the appeal.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

My top 10 would be:

1970 Bench
1971 Munson, Ryan
1972 Rose
1973 Clemente, Mays, Schmidt
1974 Aaron
1975 Brett, Yount

I have always liked the 70 Bench, plus it's an MVP year for him. The 71's of Munson and Ryan are great action shots, and as we all know the 71's can be difficult to find in great condition due to the black borders. The 72 Rose is just a nice looking card imo. For the 73's, I like Mays and Clemente as those are the last cards for each player, and the Schmidt card is the rookie card to have from any set of the 70's. The 74 Aaron is the first card in the set, and a great tribute to the new home run champion. From the 75 set, and final two cards, Brett and Yount. HoF's from one of the most popular sets in the 70's, and after the Schmidt rookie, these are probably the next two rookie cards to have from the 70's.

Fun topic, and lots of opinions.

I'd agree with all of Lou's picks with one exception:

1976 Aaron (his last card & a great photo!)

instead of 1972 Rose

[DBesse27]

Edited my list and made it 11:

1971 Topps Thurman Munson
1971 Topps Steve Garvey
1972 Topps Roberto Clemente
1973 Topps Yaz
1974 Topps Mike Schmidt (not the multi-player RC)
1974 Topps Dave Winfield
1975 Mini George Brett
1975 Mini Robin Yount
1976 Topps Jim Rice
1978 Topps Eddie Murray
1978 Topps Trammell, Molitor

Fisk has some great action shots in the decade, but can't include him in a top 10

[brett 75]

This would be a great one to add as a must for the 1970's ! Not mine but want to add to my collection some day. Also like the 1970 and 1971 Clemente Supers