The Baseball Cards Hall of Fame Thread...

[carlsonjok]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

• 1976 Topps #300 Johnny Bench - an exquisite, majestic shot of the imperial catcher shrouded in a cloud of dirt, standing on guard with intimidation, just daring the runner to make a break for the plate. And the all star graphic just adds that much more deliciousness to the scenario. Phenomenal!!!

Attachment 460958

I always found the 1976 Bench card to be derivative of earlier work by C. Schulz.



Now if you want a bona fide action shot of a catcher, you can't go wrong with the 1971 Munson card.

[rats60]

1. 1956 Topps Clemente



Great action photo in the background with the colors of the Ebbets Field right field wall. Clemente making one of his routine great catches.

2. 1965 Topps Koufax



Topps best design in my opinion. There are many examples of great photography in this set. My pick is Koufax, the best pitcher of the live ball era, staring down the hitter.

3. Turkey Red Ty Cobb



One prewar card. The Turkey Red set is the most beautiful set of cards ever made. This is such a great image with the colors and background it really pops.

[scotgreb]

With so many from which to choose, here's one a little less mainstream . . .

Hubbell 1933 Sport Kings42 PSA 55.jpg

[G1911]

The 53 Bowman Reese is my favorite image on a post-war card.

I'd nominate this one too for the action shots category, for the strength of the image, hat flying off mid-slide.

The 73 Davis is not a good representation of the player, personally I'd put in the worst of the 70's list. It is different.

[egri]

Can we nominate entire sets? I'd give the nod to the 1935 Diamond Stars and 1949 Leaf sets. The DS's design captures the Art Deco style of the era, and the Leafs look like Andy Warhol designed them.

[mrmopar]

That Bench is an all time great in my mind. So many, but it clearly does stand out as one of the greats. The dust, the all-star badge and the fact that it is future HOFer Bench. Fosse is another catcher with a great card due to an action shot and the A's color scheme is great, but no AS badge and Fosse was no Bench. Too bad the Munson card was just a portrait from the same set.

From 1971 & 1973-1981, the sets were loaded with great action shots before that pretty much became the norm (i left out 72 & 82, both of which had the In Action subsets) and most cards were action in a set. Lots of great shots that made epic cards. Way better than the 60s and 50s images.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

That Bench is an all time great in my mind. So many, but it clearly does stand out as one of the greats. The dust, the all-star badge and the fact that it is future HOFer Bench. Fosse is another catcher with a great card due to an action shot and the A's color scheme is great, but no AS badge and Fosse was no Bench. Too bad the Munson card was just a portrait from the same set.

From 1971 & 1973-1981, the sets were loaded with great action shots before that pretty much became the norm (i left out 72 & 82, both of which had the In Action subsets) and most cards were action in a set. Lots of great shots that made epic cards. Way better than the 60s and 50s images.

I am surprised you didn't mention 1983 Topps. Pretty much every card is an action shot. It was the best of the late 70s-early 80s era and the last great Topps set in my opinion.

As a collector from the 60s, the 1971 set was a revolution in card designs. I have never like the Munson card, but the first 4 series were loaded with something new, action shots instead of all posed shots. He are my favorite cards from the set.

[mrmopar]

83 was probably the beginning of using mostly action shots in sets, possibly 82, scattered with fewer dumb poses. I see that as the beginning of the "modern era" of card images.

I am surprised anyone would not like the Munson card. However, we each have something unique that draws us to what we like and don't like. That is probably one of my favorite cards of all time. For me, it has the star power, the great action shot, the trophy, the horizontal orientation in a mostly vertical set and the black borders. That card is as close to cardboard perfection (for me) as one can get.

If that was Garvey sliding into the plate and it was his card, that is the only way this card is topped in my mind.