Thursday, May 10, 2012

Cardboard Masterpieces, Pt. 7

1976 Topps Traded #74T Oscar Gamble

As I was browsing through my Yankee binder this afternoon, I couldn't help but stop when I saw this card.

This is one of those cards that makes you stop and stare. After a couple seconds of looking at this card for about the hundredth time, I came to a stunning realization.

I hadn't featured it on the blog yet.

Over five months of blogging, and this card is nowhere to be seen. How could I let this happen?

Not only is it simply an awesome card, but it was even better than a dime box find. I discovered this iconic card in a nickel box last year, if you can believe it.

So let it be known on May 10, 2012, I finally featured the famous '76 Topps Traded Oscar Gamble "'Fro" card on this blog.

It's safe to categorize a card as "special" when my dad remembers it from his childhood collecting days. Guys like Kurt Bevacqua and Rowland Office are in that exclusive club.

Which leads me to ask, is this the most "iconic" card of the 1970's? I didn't grow up during that time, so others may have a better answer to that question than I ever could.

But for me, it's a toss-up between '76 Gamble, '75 Herb Washington, and '77 Mark Fidrych. It's one of those questions that I've never been able to give a firm answer to, even though I've been asking it to myself for a couple of years now. 

It's certainly an unorthodox "masterpiece", to say the least. It doesn't have a tremendous action shot, and it doesn't commemorate a historic moment in baseball history.

I think the Afro is enough, though.

2 comments:

ShaneK said...

It surely is one of the top iconic cards of the 1970's if not all-time. For the 70's I'd say my top 5 would bee in no particular order:
1. 1971 Topps Thurmon Munson
2. 1976 Topps Traded Gamble
3. 1976 Topps Johnny Bench
4. 1975 Topps George Brett
5. 1975 Topps Robin Yount

night owl said...

It's certainly the most cited '70s card. I actually prefer the 1975 Gamble.