I think I like the 74-75 Topps set just because it is so poorly done. While the design of the cards is actually pretty decent, the photography is horrible. There are two types of shots that seem to dominate the set. The first, like the Dennis Ververgaert card pictured above, features portraits of the players that look like they could've come out of a high school yearbook. If you looked at the photo alone you'd be hard pressed to even recognize this as a hockey card.
The second type of shot that is featured prominently is the player fully dressed, but simply standing in front of a wall in a hallway or locker room somewhere, like this Ken Hodge card. As a rough guess, I would say probably 2/3 of the individual player cards in the set show one of these two types of photographs.
One thing that I do really like is that coach cards were included. This is something I wish we saw more of in today's modern hockey releases. In fact, I can't recall pulling a single coach card from a pack since I got back into collecting in 2007.
Here's another example of the "standing in front of a wall" pose. Nearly every Blackhawks player card I have features this wood-grain wall in the background. It's like they lined the players up and just had them stand in the same spot one at a time. Awful.
The Team Leaders cards are one of the few areas where these yearbook style headshots actually work rather well. I always appreciate adding a new Golden Seals card to the collection as well!
Without looking, I think I can safely say this may be the only hockey card in my collection featuring a headband...
This was one of my favorite cards in the package because it actually includes what appears to be an in-game photo! The stick blade to the right of Stewart's shoulder illustrates just how different blades and sticks in general were back then. Look at how flat that thing looks, and such a small amount of tape!
A very early Bob Nystrom card, his second year card if I'm not mistaken. He looks much different without his trademark moustache!
Finally, this Dick Redmond beauty. Again, we have the wooden wall. How bad is the lighting in this picture? I seriously think an 8th grade art student armed with a camera could've produced better work than this. Ed, thank you again for the wonderful package! As much as I just bashed these cards, they are a welcome addition to my collection, and a significant chunk of a set I hope to one day complete. I will be dropping your return package in the mail today!
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