1974-75 Topps Hockey...Just 11 Left!

Quick break from the 2011 Top 20 Countdown today. While I was browsing eBay the other day I came across one of the more interesting cards I still needed for my '74-75 Topps hockey set. The condition and price were both right, so card #250 from the set is now in hand:

This card is sort of a mess of design and color, and it doesn't really even look like it belongs in the set. I guess that's appropriate for the mid-'70s. Unfortunately, it also symbolizes the Bruins' loss to the Broad Street Bullies in the '74 Stanley Cup Finals. Had I stopped here I would have been an even 20 cards shy of finishing this set off, but the seller had a ton of really good condition '74-75s and offered $5 max shipping, so I knocked these off the want list as well:

Gotta love those Seals sweaters...

Marcel is the only Hall-of-Famer in this bunch. He scored 121 points in 1974-75!

Finally, the bane of every vintage collector's existence, the unmarked checklist card. At $4, this was the most expensive card in the lot.

All told, with shipping factored in, these 10 cards cost me just shy of $2 a piece. While this is more than I'd generally like to pay, they are all in sufficient condition that they'll never have to be upgraded, and the fact that I'm getting so close to the end on this set made the purchase worth it.

11 cards to go on this one...