The '75 Crown Jewels (Part 1 of 3)

I'm going to take a break from my recap of some of the top stories of the off-season because in the mail today I received two packages from eBay. As many of you know, I'm collecting the 1975 Topps set because it's my "birth year" set. With the '75 set are three cards that I consider the crown jewels - three Hall of Famers, two in the sunrise of their careers, and one in the twilight. Of course, these are Robin Yount and George Brett's rookie cards, and the Hank Aaron Card #1 commemorating his 715th home run and the breaking of Babe Ruth's record.

It would be pretty easy to collect the other 657 cards in the set and not have to spend too much. The trick, I think, is not to overpay on Aaron, Brett and Yount. Of course, if you were in to PSA 10s and all that crap, you'd need to spend a pretty penny on the crown jewels. I'm not about that. My '75 set is in a binder, and, unlike my modern-day sets, I like this one having a bit of character. No creases, thanks, but I don't mind the rounded corner or bubble-gum stain here and there, and many of the checklists I got so far have been marked.

So with that in mind, I'm happy to reveal the first crown jewel that I have acquired - Card #223, Robin Yount:

 

Special shout-out to Larry Yount in the trivia question, and I love the throw-away line at the end of the blurb: "He's popular with fans." As we all know, that turned out to be quite the understatement.