1973 Topps - Over the Halfway Point

My last purchase has put my 1973 Topps set build over the halfway mark.  And as another fellow blogger says, that means it can go to the binder.  This haul came through an eBay purchase.  I got a number of cards that I needed in the lot, which is becoming harder to do.  It is becoming a "get more doubles, than needs" game now as I try to finish my birth year set.

This lot not only brought to me one of my favorite cards from the set, but in my entire collection as well.  The #1 card from the set, the All-Time Home Run Leaders card with Ruth, Aaron, and Mays.  With Aaron only 41 dingers away from tying Ruth, fans would have to wait until April 8, 1974 to see him surpass the record as he ended the 1973 campaign with 713.  Like I have said in a previously, if you have not read Aaron's autobiography, I Had a Hammer, it is a must read about not only Aaron and the record, but also about history and civil rights.  Along with the Ruth card, I was able to get another couple of Hall-of-Famers in Rollie Fingers (1992) and Willie McCovey (1986).

Another aspect of the 1973 set that I like is the manager cards.  On some of these cards, which include the coaches on staff as well, some of the photos have been cropped so close that the ears are missing.  Topps must have corrected some of these as there are different card variations for most of the managers.  Included in this lot were two notable managers, Leo Durocher and Yogi Berra.  Durocher would be in his last year as a major league manager finishing 3rd place with the Houston Astros and Berra would be managing his only NL Pennant winner with the New York Mets.  Berra's Mets would eventually lose the World Series in 7 games to the Oakland Athletics.

This last purchase puts my 1973 Topps Set build up to 352 cards out of 660 cards for 53.3%.   Most of the cards will be a little more difficult (and expensive) to acquire as most will be hard to find Series 5 High Numbers including the most coveted card in the set, the Mike Schmidt rookie.  My 1973 Want List can be found here if you have anything on my list.