The vintage just keeps pouring in!

First, a quick update on the '74 Traded set.

 As you can see, twelve more traded cards arrived this past week - the rest should be here soon - as well as the checklist. It is quite miscut, but unmarked.

 Now, on to the "real" vintage - 1973. Hah, yes, just one year earlier. So what makes this real? It's a full Topps issue before 1980 and I'm going to try to put the set together.

Matthew of Number 5 Type Collection offered up his extras from the '73 set, and I said I'd take what was left after everyone else had their pick. He emailed me and said he was sending me some 1973 cards. What I received was about 10% of the set stuffed into a bubble mailer! So, I have no choice (as if it was pulling my leg) but to say thank you! Instead of showing you scans of 60 cards, I picked the ten best parts of the lot:

10. Vintage Giants

This is San Francisco. Vintage Giants (heck, even no-name mid-1990s scrub Giants) go for a premium here. Receiving a Giant was a great way to start off this list.

9. World Series Action

 A great action shot here helps celebrate the A's first World Series victory in Oakland and the start of a dynasty. And the A's, too, are a local team, sort of. Nobody respects them on this side of the bay.

8. Tommy John

 The man had a career-saving surgery named after him. What's not to love?

7. The Next Willie Mays

 Well, Cesar Cedeno didn't quite live up to the hype, but he was named to four all-star teams and won five Gold Gloves.

6. Tim McGraw's Father

 Tug McGraw is probably more famous as a 1980 Phillie, though he was with the Mets when they won the World Series in 1969.

5. Bert, you're shouting again, Bert.

 To understand the title of this card, you have to watch this video.

Hey, I'm writing this at 1AM, after spending a day at the zoo with a couple of one-year-olds. Be glad I'm not posting tons of videos of giraffes peeing.

4. B-Wil and R-Car. (Or, A HOF Duo)

 I hate modern nicknames. That's why I applied them here. Don't they sound lame?

3. A Twins Hero

 Tony Oliva's number is retired by the Twins. Interestingly, all of the Twins retired numbers are of players who played in Minnesota - none of the Washington-only players have been honored (but then, I don't think Walter Johnson ever wore a jersey number).

2. Mustache In Training

 It's getting there. Really, it's a well-established mustache, but the handlebars aren't there yet.

1. They aren't really part of the set, but they're still cool.

Topps tested team checklists in the 1973 release, issued with blue borders and orange backs. Both cards are nicely miscut, and the back of Yankees card shows that the original collector was about halfway done with the set.

I have a small handful of prior-purchase '73 Topps cards sitting in a stack to deal with, but otherwise I sit around 10% complete with the set thanks to Matthew! There were some duplicates in the lot, which are available for trade (hopefully you can send me even more 1973s!) - 274, 285, 290, 291, 291, 409. Yeah, I have two extra Rogelio Moret cards.

I'm excited to be starting my first full vintage set, but this is an all-or-nothing attack on set building on a tiny budget. My goal is completion (except, perhaps, the Schmidt rookie, and maybe the other $30+ cards) by March. It won't be easy - I'm working off basically no budget while still keeping my interests in the other collections. Condition isn't important, though I'd prefer not having total beaters.