No white borders for Topps for their major sports releases in 1971. They went for a bold look for both baseball and football, with all black borders for baseball, and either red (AFC) or blue (NFC) for the NFL. All-Pro football players got both colors.
In basketball Topps went with a taller card instead of the standard size. The basketball design and the amount of room for the photo are great; the blank backgrounds and lack of logos, with players wearing their jerseys backwards, are not so great.
Outside of the big four sports, Topps focused on the new popular TV shows for the older children/younger teens who made up the bulk of the card buying public.
The Brady Bunch featured a great TV design, reminiscent of 1955 Bowman, and even more so the World Series subset from 1967. It's a great looking set, I'm surprised I hadn't seen it before.
The Brady Bunch and Partridge Family became TV classics. The third TV show that Topps put out a set for did not. Bobby Sherman's Getting Together only lasted one season. The Topps set for that show had pink borders and a flowery design.
So they had licenses for baseball and hockey, but not basketball and football?
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the '71 NHL look. I prefer it to a couple of the league's other early '70s sets.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind collecting the Brady Bunch set but not willing to spend the money on it.
Wow, they left the last names on the NBA jerseys?
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