Project: Reds '72 Topps

With my '87 Topps Reds Project slowing to a virtual crawl, I've been itching for a new project to get going on. I've decided to attempt and get all the Cincinnati Reds in the 1972 Topps set autographed. It will be a good challenge for a lot of reasons, but not so tough that it's not worth going after. Here's a few reasons I've decided to take on this project:

1. The '72 Reds were a fantastic team, and the second of the Big Red Machine teams to make it to the World Series, ultimately losing the World Championship to the powerful Oakland Athletics in the 1972 Fall Classic.


2. There are a TON of Reds great in this set. It's a good reason to track down the cards of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan and others and pony up a little cash to get them signed.


3. What a great design. Though the colors for the Reds are on the tame side (green and yellow) this set really had some rad color combinations. Some are just eye-bleeding. But, even though it had wild colors, the letting for the team name really has this great elegance to it. You can see these where all drawn and cut by hand for printing. The little errors and nicks here and there really give the set an almost hand-done quality. Check out the stars in the design. There are many different variations of them across the set, which give it a real human element to the design - warm and comforting. This set lacked the fine polish that modern computer-base design brings. I personally miss that aspect of sport card design.


4. No facsimile autographs on the cards. It's a really clean, symmetrical design. It's also one of the few card designs with out position designations on the front of the card


5. The "In Action" cards are pretty fun. I'll wind up having to double up on some tough/expensive signers. But, with time, it will be pretty kick-ass to have the set completed.


6. I actually had a decent jump on this set before I decided to throw down. I had four cards signed already by George Foster, Clay Carroll, Sparky Anderson and Jack Billingham. I JUST missed out getting the Dave Concepcion card signed a few years ago. Bummer!


7. There are a lot of great TTM opportunities with this set. As of this post, I'm already off to a great start, getting two returns in under a week.

There are going to be some tough ones in this set as well. Several players from that '72 team that have passed away. Jim McGlothlin is in the set and sadly passed away at the age of 32 due to Leukemia. Ted Uhlaender passed away early this year and also has a card in the set. Another difficulty will be obtaining some of the high-number cards in the set. While a lot of these cards would be commons in any other set, they end up fetching $8 or more in the open market due to their scarcity. So, even putting the set together, sans autographs, will be fun.

All-in-all, I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's probably going to be more a marathon than a sprint, but I'm ready. Let's go!

You can check out the cards from this set that I have had signed so far right here.

1972 Topps Reds Checklist

20/37

Bold indicates the card is autographed, but not yet posted

003 Bob Tolan
080 Tony Perez
099 Ross Grimsley
121 Ed Sprague
136 Darrel Chaney
157 Don Gullett
236 Jim McGlothlin (DEC)
256 George Foster
267 Dave Concepcion
291 Hal McRae
292 Hal McRae IA
311 Clay Carroll
312 Clay Carroll IA
358 Sparky Anderson
382 Joe Gibbon
417 Tom Hall
433 Johnny Bench
434 Johnny Bench IA
463 Bernie Carbo
475 Gary Nolan
524 Rookies Stars – Ed Armbrister / Mel Behney
542 Jack Billingham
559 Pete Rose
560 Pete Rose IA
586 Denis Menke
614 Ted Uhlaender (DEC)
651 Reds Team
659 Bob Aspromonte
705 Pat Corrales
706 Pat Corrales IA
719 Cesar Geronimo
738 Jim Merritt
745 Julian Javier
752 Joe Morgan TR
762 Wayne Simpson

Others:

089 NL Home Run Leaders Willie Stargell Hank Aaron Lee May

I think I will just stick with getting Lee May to sign the NL Home Run Leaders card ;)