SSPC Cards Enter the Card Hemorrhage Collection

You guys and gals all remember what it was like to be a collecting "noob", don't you? I'm not talking about your initial pack-ripping buzz from childhood, but what it was like to, say, return to the hobby in the internet age. (I recognize that not everyone's path is non-linear, and that some of you have been on top of your card-collecting game from day one). I'll tell you what's it like for me - a guy who left the hobby in his teens in the early 80s, as the market started flooding with Donruss, Fleer and more - and then who only tangentially kept tabs on what was going on in the card world until 2016 or so, when I started dipping a toe in again.

Every day amongst the various card blogs, I'm learning about sets and things I had no idea about. My most recent revelation - aside from the 1983 Renato Galasso Seattle Pilots set, about which more later in the week - are the 1976 SSPC cards. These gems were produced for the 1975 season, but not released until the year afterward. I'd never heard of 'em until a couple of weeks ago. 630 cards in all, filled with stars, legends and workday players alike, and each with a color photo on the front and a paragraph of information on the back (no stat lines, unless it's embedded in the paragraph).

How could I not jump all over these? I'm getting these rushes of card-collecting dopamine several times a week now, and it's all I can do to keep from jumping on eBay and various card-seller sites and not blow my savings account. Thankfully this can be a rewarding hobby even at low dollar amounts, and all the folks who've been so kind to trade with this 2020 noob have helped me build up my desired collection a great deal as well.

So I placed two orders on eBay for batches of these 1975/1975 SSPC cards, and I'm pretty psyched about what came back. First - because it was there - I ordered an entire an entire San Francisco Giants team set. Well, that was easy. Now I've got them all, in one fell swoop. Here are a few of them:

If you're wondering who some of these fellas are - because, you know, their names aren't on the front of the cards - the top row is Gary Matthews, Bobby Murcer and 1975 National League Rookie of the Year John "The Count" Montefusco. Just below Matthews is a phenomenal photo of pitcher Jim Barr. Why the long face, Jim??

My other SSPC batch was a custom mix of cards - mostly stars and hall of famers. Nice way to start the whole thing off. I'm really impressed with how great these look.

In the final row of the picture you see above you, you'll find Jim Fregosi, 1975 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Jim Rice, and a young Dave "The Cobra" Parker. SSPCs, man. I'm delighted you guys told me these existed.