Card Show Recap - I Love the '70s

This past weekend I had the good fortune to attend a local sports card show, which is a rarity for me. I would say this is probably the third one I've made it to in the past year, and before those three it had been a good long time.  The show was medium-sized, not quite the same scale as the large one I attended back in April, but a decently-sized hotel ballroom show nonetheless.

I made purchases at four tables in the end, and will make each into its own small post.  First up today are the 10 cards I bought from a friendly gentleman to help me fill some holes in my early '70s hockey sets...

Thanks to a big push in the form of a generous package from Mark Hoyle a few months ago, I've been steadily chipping away at the 1973-74 Topps set.  Since getting the chunk of cards from Mark, I've knocked off some of the bigger names myself, including Bobby Orr and Ken Dryden.  This particular vendor had four that were still on my ever-shrinking needs list for the set, including this awesome Guy LaPointe All-Star subset card.

Here's another great one, from the Stanley Cup playoffs subset at the very end of the checklist.  I love these because it's somewhat rare to get in-game action photos on hockey cards this old.  This set came out almost 10 years before I was even born, and the 'Hawks were winning playoff series' even back then...

Probably the most boring of the cards from this table, but a need is a need, and the card was priced at just 50 cents.  It's got a gum stain on the back, but it's still far from the worst looking card in my set binder.

The last of the '73s is this Jacques Lemaire.  According to my online want list I needed it, but it looks like I already had a copy.  Whoops, there goes $1!  I don't think I'll have trouble finding a home for whichever copy loses out in the condition battle...

Since I'm getting so close on the '73 set, I decided to pick off a few cards from the next set I'll be working on once that's complete, 1972-73 Topps.  Horrific airbrushing here, but the card is in great shape and the price was right.

A few wrinkles here on Lou Nanne's card, but again it was cheap, and this guy is a US Hockey HOFer.

Here's a real HOFer, New York Ranger Rod Gilbert!

Can't say I knew anything at all about Greg Polis prior to this pickup.  He was taken 7th overall by the Pens, and had a couple of solid seasons with them, and a couple more with the Rangers mid-decade, before he started to decline.  I've always been a fan of those baby blue Penguins uniforms.

Another HOFer, and my second Jacques Lemaire card of this post!  Lemaire had arguably his best year personally in '72-73, with a career high 44 goals, and 51 assists to accompany them.  He also recorded 20 points in just 17 playoff games in 1973.

Lastly, my favorite card in the lot, and one I've been after for a looong time, Keith Magnuson!  This is one of the more visually unique and interesting hockey cards I've ever seen, and was certainly well ahead of it's time given that it's now over 40 years old.  The Madison Square Garden ceiling is the perfect backdrop for a shot like this, what a great artistic approach by the photographer.  I'm sure it's a love-it-or-hate-it kind of card, but personally I'd rank it among my favorites of the entire decade.

Well, there you have it, 10 new '70s hockey cards, including some HOFers, for the reasonable price of $7.  At this rate I might finish off the decade of Topps sets sooner than I ever thought I would.  All the cards from both 1971-72 and 1972-73 Topps hockey that I still need are now on my Want List, if you have any to spare drop me a line!