Set Write-up - 72 Topps
FB
Posts: 1,684 ✭✭
Guys,
I just went to update the writeup on my 72 Topps set and realized that they have a 2000 character limit on it. Since that means that I'll have to cut my write-up down by 1/2 - I wanted to post it in its original form before I take the hatchet to it.
Yeah - I know that its lengthy and wordy - but, I love the set and the time - so here it is in its entirety.
The Bakka Collection - 1972 Topps
This set is my favorite set from childhood… I was 9 years old at the time and all I wanted were rack-packs… Wax was too much work and cellos weren’t that easy to find – so it was always rack packs for me... Long car trips meant a couple dozen racks to keep me quiet while I memorized the stats and “fun facts” while in the back of a Ford "Country Squire" station wagon.
I loved the colors… I loved the funky design… I loved that this was the biggest, baddest, mother set that Topps had ever produced to date with 787 cards topping the 752 from 1971. This set had Boyhood Photos and Traded Cards and Award Cards along with the In Action cards. It didn’t have a lot of great rookies – but then again at the time – all the rookies seemed great to me!! Looking back, I even loved the frustration of collecting this set one series at a time… not realizing how much fun that was until the 73 set was distributed as a whole, except the last series coming later in the season. By 74, the whole set was available from the start of the season. That took some of the challenge (and a lot of the fun) away for me.
1972 was a great year even beyond baseball cards… Gas was still $.32 per gallon in many parts of the country and that was good because the median income was only $9697. Postage stamps cost $.08 apiece. The Godfather, Deliverance, and The Poseidon Adventure were some of the films to make their way to the big screen. We also got to see the Apollo program winding down with numbers 16 and 17. M*A*S*H premiered in 72 along with The Bob Newhart Show, Emergency! Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Kung Fu and Sanford and Son. Who can ever forget the Brady Bunch going to Hawaii!!! (No matter how hard we try…) Atari introduced the arcade version of Pong.
1972 was the year that we met Ziggy Stardust and some of the songs to make the charts included Candy Man, American Pie, Black Magic Woman, Layla, Crocodile Rock and School’s Out for Summer – and they still couldn’t beat the entries by the Partridge Family and Donny Osmond on the charts – well maybe 72 wasn’t THAT great….
The year wasn’t without its problems. The US was still at war in Vietnam. Police apprehended five men attempting to bug Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex—start of the Watergate scandal. The muscle car era was coming to an end and disco was just starting. Eleven Israeli athletes along with 5 of the guerrillas and a policeman were killed at the Olympic Games in Munich after eight members of an Arab terrorist group invaded the Olympic Village. The games went on without 22-year-old swimmer Mark Spitz, who had set an Olympic gold medal record by winning four individual and three relay events, all in world record times. Spitz, an American Jew, was an inviting target and agreed to leave the country.
Prior to the 72 season – there were a number of big name trades, like Nolan Ryan from the Mets to the Angels for a washed up Jim Fregosi. Gaylord Perry was traded to Cleveland for Sam McDowell. Joe Morgan and Cesar Geronimo and others went to the Reds for Lee May and Tommy Helms. Baltimore sent Frank Robinson to the Dodgers in exchange for Doyle Alexander and some minor leaguers. Richie Allen left LA for the White Sox in exchange for Tommy John. Steve Carlton was traded by St. Louis and banished to Philadelphia in exchange for Rick Wise because he asked for a $10,000 raise in the off-season. The Cardinals soon regretted it when “Lefty” won 27 games with a 1.97 ERA and 310 strikeouts for a team that won 59 games all season!
One trade that was REALLY big news at the time was when NY Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich traded wives, kids and family dogs during the season. That one still kills me to this day!
The 72 season was a season of great baseball… The Big Red Machine had added Joe Morgan over the winter and was finally coming together. The Charlie Finley’s Oakland A’s and their wild haircuts and beards were tearing up the American League. It was the last season for Hall of Famers Hoyt Wilhelm, Bill Mazeroski and of course no one expected it to be the last for Gil Hodges or the great Roberto Clemente… We lost Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Pie Traynor and Zack Wheat during the year as well. It was also the first season to see a work stoppage, and most teams didn’t play more than 154 games. Although it wasn’t until years later that a World Series was finally lost – this was the first step towards it… Hoyt Wilhelm pitches his final season at age 49…
Building this set has been a blast. I have met such a great group of people over the years on eBay and on the Set Registry that I’m sure that I won’t be able to adequately thank them all. But – I’ll give it a try… First of all – the original Fab Five (Erik Jarvi, myself, Neil Downey, Mike Castaldi, and Carlos Aponte) have all helped me at one time or another, either by trading or passing along knowledge. We didn't know anything about building graded sets when we started - and checked the pop reports each week to see what cards still didn't have a PSA 8! Who knew what "Low Pop" meant?
I’ve gotten to know and make friends with Larry Emard, Dave Read and others along the way too. And still others like Steve Pekovich, Ray Boehm, Shoeless Joe, Joe Checkovich, Discount Sports have helped me continue to upgrade as the years have gone by. And now the newest era of 72 collectors are here and I’m getting to know and receive help from Jim Vitale, Rich Corpis, and Mark Wagner. To one and all – a collective THANKS!!!!!
So, this is my tribute to the 1972 Topps set. I hope that you like it…
edited because I can't spell Write-up!
I just went to update the writeup on my 72 Topps set and realized that they have a 2000 character limit on it. Since that means that I'll have to cut my write-up down by 1/2 - I wanted to post it in its original form before I take the hatchet to it.
Yeah - I know that its lengthy and wordy - but, I love the set and the time - so here it is in its entirety.
The Bakka Collection - 1972 Topps
This set is my favorite set from childhood… I was 9 years old at the time and all I wanted were rack-packs… Wax was too much work and cellos weren’t that easy to find – so it was always rack packs for me... Long car trips meant a couple dozen racks to keep me quiet while I memorized the stats and “fun facts” while in the back of a Ford "Country Squire" station wagon.
I loved the colors… I loved the funky design… I loved that this was the biggest, baddest, mother set that Topps had ever produced to date with 787 cards topping the 752 from 1971. This set had Boyhood Photos and Traded Cards and Award Cards along with the In Action cards. It didn’t have a lot of great rookies – but then again at the time – all the rookies seemed great to me!! Looking back, I even loved the frustration of collecting this set one series at a time… not realizing how much fun that was until the 73 set was distributed as a whole, except the last series coming later in the season. By 74, the whole set was available from the start of the season. That took some of the challenge (and a lot of the fun) away for me.
1972 was a great year even beyond baseball cards… Gas was still $.32 per gallon in many parts of the country and that was good because the median income was only $9697. Postage stamps cost $.08 apiece. The Godfather, Deliverance, and The Poseidon Adventure were some of the films to make their way to the big screen. We also got to see the Apollo program winding down with numbers 16 and 17. M*A*S*H premiered in 72 along with The Bob Newhart Show, Emergency! Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Kung Fu and Sanford and Son. Who can ever forget the Brady Bunch going to Hawaii!!! (No matter how hard we try…) Atari introduced the arcade version of Pong.
1972 was the year that we met Ziggy Stardust and some of the songs to make the charts included Candy Man, American Pie, Black Magic Woman, Layla, Crocodile Rock and School’s Out for Summer – and they still couldn’t beat the entries by the Partridge Family and Donny Osmond on the charts – well maybe 72 wasn’t THAT great….
The year wasn’t without its problems. The US was still at war in Vietnam. Police apprehended five men attempting to bug Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex—start of the Watergate scandal. The muscle car era was coming to an end and disco was just starting. Eleven Israeli athletes along with 5 of the guerrillas and a policeman were killed at the Olympic Games in Munich after eight members of an Arab terrorist group invaded the Olympic Village. The games went on without 22-year-old swimmer Mark Spitz, who had set an Olympic gold medal record by winning four individual and three relay events, all in world record times. Spitz, an American Jew, was an inviting target and agreed to leave the country.
Prior to the 72 season – there were a number of big name trades, like Nolan Ryan from the Mets to the Angels for a washed up Jim Fregosi. Gaylord Perry was traded to Cleveland for Sam McDowell. Joe Morgan and Cesar Geronimo and others went to the Reds for Lee May and Tommy Helms. Baltimore sent Frank Robinson to the Dodgers in exchange for Doyle Alexander and some minor leaguers. Richie Allen left LA for the White Sox in exchange for Tommy John. Steve Carlton was traded by St. Louis and banished to Philadelphia in exchange for Rick Wise because he asked for a $10,000 raise in the off-season. The Cardinals soon regretted it when “Lefty” won 27 games with a 1.97 ERA and 310 strikeouts for a team that won 59 games all season!
One trade that was REALLY big news at the time was when NY Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich traded wives, kids and family dogs during the season. That one still kills me to this day!
The 72 season was a season of great baseball… The Big Red Machine had added Joe Morgan over the winter and was finally coming together. The Charlie Finley’s Oakland A’s and their wild haircuts and beards were tearing up the American League. It was the last season for Hall of Famers Hoyt Wilhelm, Bill Mazeroski and of course no one expected it to be the last for Gil Hodges or the great Roberto Clemente… We lost Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Pie Traynor and Zack Wheat during the year as well. It was also the first season to see a work stoppage, and most teams didn’t play more than 154 games. Although it wasn’t until years later that a World Series was finally lost – this was the first step towards it… Hoyt Wilhelm pitches his final season at age 49…
Building this set has been a blast. I have met such a great group of people over the years on eBay and on the Set Registry that I’m sure that I won’t be able to adequately thank them all. But – I’ll give it a try… First of all – the original Fab Five (Erik Jarvi, myself, Neil Downey, Mike Castaldi, and Carlos Aponte) have all helped me at one time or another, either by trading or passing along knowledge. We didn't know anything about building graded sets when we started - and checked the pop reports each week to see what cards still didn't have a PSA 8! Who knew what "Low Pop" meant?
I’ve gotten to know and make friends with Larry Emard, Dave Read and others along the way too. And still others like Steve Pekovich, Ray Boehm, Shoeless Joe, Joe Checkovich, Discount Sports have helped me continue to upgrade as the years have gone by. And now the newest era of 72 collectors are here and I’m getting to know and receive help from Jim Vitale, Rich Corpis, and Mark Wagner. To one and all – a collective THANKS!!!!!
So, this is my tribute to the 1972 Topps set. I hope that you like it…
edited because I can't spell Write-up!
Frank Bakka
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
0
Comments
Frank... great piece! A nice time capsule that just took me back to my wee little days! Those certainly were dark days for the Yankees. Thanks for including that wife swap. I couldn't remember what year that was. Crazy, but that trade was for keeps! One of them got divorced, but I think the other is still married today.
I tried to capture a little of the spirit of the year with the title of my 1972 set, "Watergate Summer", and I did the same with my 1957 set, "Sputnik Autumn". I've refrained from carrying the practice too far however, as I don't think naming my 1974 set "Trick Dick Resigns" or my 1973 set "Oil Embargo Autumn" would hit the spot.
I have always thought that Steve Carlton's 1972 season was one of the greatest pitching feats of all time given that he personally won 27 of their 59 games that year - 46%. Truly amazing.
Steve
<< <i>Those certainly were dark days for the Yankees >>
How about submitting it for publication in SMR as a feature article ?
That way it will be preserved, the knowledge will be passed to a broader audience, and further fame and glory will be heaped for all time on the Bakka Empire. Who knows maybe even a few readers will contact you because they think that they may have some cards for your set.
Fuzz
"If the word "romance" could ever be applied to a set of baseball cards, then this is the set. In my opinion, and I'm not alone in thinking this way, the 1957 Topps baseball set is a work of art that is simply the best set ever produced - period.
This set evokes sentiments few cardboard collections could ever hope to match: nostalgia, robust youth, and a distinct sense of poignancy. It just misses absolute perfection because of the absences of Messers Musial and Killebrew (Jackie Robinson retired at the beginning of the 1957 season rather than accept a trade to the Giants). It's also a great rookie set: Brooks & Frank Robinson, Drysdale, Kubek, Bunning, Mazeroski, and many more.
The combination of fading veterans, superstars in their glorious prime, and superstars to be is simply unbeatable. There's also a whiff of tragedy as we have the last card of Campanella as an active player.
The set is fiercely nostalgic - what do you see when you look into the background of those wonderful photos but the old Yankee Stadium, Ebbetts Field, and the Polo Grounds. What Dodger and Giant fan can avoid pangs of pain when they look at those blue and black caps and know that would be the last time you saw a white "B" or an orange "NY" on a baseball card?
This was also a trailblazer, setting a new standard for photography, establishing a new card size,and not to mention the first set ever to list historical player stats by year.
So, what's not to like? Like I said, I think this is the best baseball card set ever produced - period."
Running up the steps at Yantacaw school with a stack of those held with rubber bands of course.
Back then I was a huge Knicks fan but loved the Mets too. I remember when I opened a pack and on
top was a Tommie Agee card! My first Mets card. Great piece.
Mark
The sky's the limit.
Your friend.
RayB
Fuzz - not a bad idea. I may expound on this piece and remove the thank you sections and just write it as a piece about the 72 set - not just MY 72 set.
Neil, Ray - those were definitely great times making trades of 72's at the Parkway McDonalds. I'm sure the workers figured that we were dealing drugs.
Steve - I don't mind a hijack - but that writeup deserves its own thread too!
Mark - yup, I was in Spring Garden school at the time and while mom had the Country Squire - dad had a 36 Buick (that mom hated...). If dad would pick me up from school, we'd stop at the corner store and pick up a pack on the way home. (I still think this is cool - Mark and I went to High School together and haven't seen each other in probably 20 years!)
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
As always you are an exemplar for the hobby - your good-natured, knowledgeable and passionate enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air in contrast to the bitter mean-spiritedness that hangs like a fug over other areas of our "community".
More power to you!
Jonathan
Topps Baseball 1967
Mike Payne's 300 Great Cards
MVPs in their MVP years
and T206???
RayB
1963 Fleer
Lou Brock Master Set
I just don't want to - and you can't make me!!!!
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
EO
when i first came the boards and asked for advice on building my first graded set (1972 topps) the response was overwhelming. you told me the guys from the 72 registry were some of the best guys on the boards and you were right!! i've had nothing but positive dealings with all the registry members.
i enjoy watching the progress of other members as they work toward completion as well as the competition at the top.