1980.jpg
I've been away from this site for quite awhile now due to a couple of serious personal issues, but I can't resist posting in this type of thread.
Unfortunately, I think the 1980 set was one of the most boring sets in history. Although the design itself was top notch and extremely colorful, a very large percentage of the photos were portraits and the action shots were quite basic with almost none pushing the envelope. Contrast it to the 1974 thread of mine that somebody recently got going again and you'll see how absolutely boring the action shots are on the 1980 cards. Okay, that's neither here nor there, so here are my five 'favorites':
1. The Gary Carter card is without a doubt in my mind the best of the set. Look at the intensity in his eyes as he holds up the ball to the unseen umpire. And from a design standpoint, the way his arm is extended high forces the viewer's eyes to move from lower left to upper right and then back down to his face again and off the page to the left. Magnificent!
2. The Reggie is a relatively a tame action shot, but it shows what we loved about him as a player - that big swing!
3. Nelson Norman is obviously not going to make anybody else's list, but this shot is one you don't ever see - a ground level view of an attempted steal (Mickey Rivers? Willie Randolph?) of second. Pretty cool.
4. Not a 'favorite,' but definitely a memorable one for me. As a Mets fan, me and all of my friends were huge Tom Seaver fans...and then he was dealt to the Reds. I call this one the 'Fat Elvis' Seaver card.
5. Another memorable one. Not sure how it happened, as people around here are always talking about how baseball card packs were created at the Topps plant. They seem to talk about hard facts and what can and can't happen during production. Well, in 1980 I walked to the drugstore and bought a few wax packs. I forget if they contained 10 or 15 cards or whatever, but when I opened one pack, every single card in it was Dave Winfield. I kid you not. A full pack of Winfields. I'm sure I still have all or most of them around here somewhere. But all of that aside, I have one question. Why in heck did Topps give Dave a makeover on his card, adding mascara and eyeliner to his face???