My Top Ten Favorite George Brett Cards from 1975-1979

I have not let it be a secret that 1975 is my favorite Topps set.  I might be a little bias because it is George Brett's rookie year, but I like the design more than anything.  The two-tone color background was drastically different than anything before it or after for quite a while.  There are other things that stand out about this set that makes it one of the more collected sets, but you can go to baseballcardpedia.com to see that and other great resources about different sets.

Several of my favorite cards come from this era of Brett's career.  You can see all the cards from 1975 to 1979 here at the 1975-1979 page of "The Unofficial George Brett Card Catalog"  My top ten lists, unless otherwise stated, are limited to cards that I currently own.  The lists are strictly base on my opinion.  Cards might be listed because they have some memorable back story, cool design, or something that simply sticks out, too me, about them.  Feel free to comment, I love talking to other collectors.

My Top Ten Favorite George Brett Cards from 1975-1979

10. 1978 Kellogg's #6

It really could have been a tossup between this one or the 1979 Kellogg's.  It's funny how times has changed,  Back in the 70's it was cool to have a cheek full of chaw.  Not any more.  It is a good reason why they stopped, but I still can't see how anyone thought this was a cool, manly look.  At the same time, I can't see why the leisure suit was ever fashionable either.

9. 1975 Topps #228 

I bet this isn't a surprise that it's on the list, but a surprise why it is so low.  The answer is simple and will be understood as the top ten unfolds.  I have 3 of these cards.  This one is in very good condition, but terribly off centered.  The second one has a crease and the third is in absolutely terrible condition.  I have a long term goal to have one that would qualify for a grade 8 or higher, but that will be unlikely ever to happen.

8.  1976 SSPC #589 

Certain cards just make me laugh.  This is one of those cards for 2 reasons.  1st, what a face!  At least George looks like he is having a good time.  The second is Al Cowens name is spelled wrong.  Makes it a classic.

7. 1979 Topps Comics #9

I know...Not technically a card.  This makes it one of the reasons I like it.  Anything that goes away from the standard cardstock, rectangular style of cards, I'm into it.  Also I find it funny, that even though this is a cartoon drawing, they still added the chaw in his cheek.  

6. 1977 Hostess Twinkies #36 

Surprisingly, It took me a while before I found out about this card.  I learned about it after joining "The Trading Card Database". Side Note, if you are into trading cards of any type, I strongly recommend this site.  This card is similar to the regular hostess except for the back.  It has a black line that symbolizes that it came from individually wrapped Twinkies. Much harder to find, which makes them more valuable.  I got very luck on this one.  For some reason I ask the seller, who listed it as a standard Hostess, to send me a scan of the back  Low and behold, it was a Twinkie card.  It was mine shortly after that.

5. 1978 SSPC #217

Half way done.  I have the full team set of these card.  Sorry George, you can't pull off the wide collar look.  I am still trying to figure out why he is wearing a collared shirt under his uniform.  One of my favorites because I do have the full set and the patience I had to wait to get it.  This set actually has a pre-rookie Willie Wilson in it,  You can see the full set here. 

4. 1975 Topps Mini #228

If you are still wondering why was #9 so high on the list, here is one reason why.  I like the mini card better.  According to Baseballcardpedia.com this was the only year that Topps produced a mini card, until 1987, I believe.  It was also only sent to a few test market locations.  Luckily this one is mine.

3. 1977 Burger Chef Discs #71

I decided to put both the front and back of this card.  The back is what I really like and actually it is the backs of the whole set that make this card so high.  The front is not very exciting, but the backs have several different cartoon drawings that are just funny and fun to look at.

2. 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers #7

The cloth sticker card is one of my favorites and one of my most collected cards.  I have several of these.  If you read my variations top ten you would see that there are two different variations.  You can go to my website and see both of them.

Honorable Mentions 

1977 Chilly Willie Discs #7

Mainly because it is fun to say Chilly Willie.

1977 O-Pee-Chee #170

Very similar to the Topps Cloth Sticker card.

1. 1975 O-Pee-Chee #228

Again shouldn't be a surprise that Brett's rookie is my top card.  This OPC card was my top card in my top ten overall all cards.  as I said on that top ten, "Not only is it a rookie card with the classic green and purple background('75 is my favorite Topps set), not only is it an OPC with the white card stock, not only is half of it in French, but also it is a pretty rare card and I still feel lucky to have it in my collection." I still feel that way today, except that I would change one word.  I would switch the word luck, to the word blessed.  More about that later.  For now it is late and this guy is ready for bed.  Good night!

When life give you dilemmas....Do you know who has the water and sugar?

I tweeted a couple of days ago that I got my first George Brett card of 2016.  

Here is it:


1979 Topps with a 2015 Original Stamp.

I know these cards have spurred a lot of controversy in the trading card world.  Is Topps ruining old cards or bringing new life to what were probably never loved cards?  As a Brett collector, which looks at every card with a distinguishing “manufacturer’s” mark as a different entry in the database, I couldn't help but get this card, especially at the price that the seller wanted for it. 

Now here is my dilemma.  Where should I put this card in the database, under 1979 or 2015?  Oh, if life choices were this difficult all the time, think how much life would be easier.  I went back and forth, finally deciding that since it is a 1979 card, that's were it should stay, with a notation of the 2015 stamp.  For me it really wasn't a dilemma, either choice could have been right and there really would have been no negative effects from making either choice.  Except maybe from the collectors that despise these cards, but their beef would have been that I bought it in the first place.

I have been thinking a lot about words & phrases and their definitions lately.  I think the last blog made that clear.  Dilemma is one of those words that meaning has skewed a little of the years. According to merriam-webster.com the simple definition of this word is a situation in which you have to make a difficult choice.  But if you dig deeper in the definition, it really means that none of the choices are particularly beneficial, but the choice still has to be made, that what makes it so difficult.  Most days choices are pretty easy.  What to eat, where to go, or paper or plastic (boy, I must be getting old). In many cases, any choice that we could make, probably would be a right choice.  With dilemma we are always left wondering did I make the right choice.  A lot of times, in the short term, we are left in a lot of doubt.  

Eight years ago I was left with a big dilemma.  My wife and I had an almost 3 year old son and a little girl on the way and our lives got flipped around.  I work full time for the local music store (still do) and worked part time as a music leader at the church that I was attending.  I had been doing it for two years and to say that my time there at that church was all rosy and cheery, that would be a lie.  That church was going through a lot of problems, and my wife, who is one of the smartest people I know (I married up), could see it and if I am being honest to myself, i could see it too.  I had a dilemma: stay there, continue getting paid, hold on to some hope that God had big plans for the church that he just hadn't revealed yet, and be miserable or get out.  Both choices were painful for me.  On one side I was getting a paycheck from them, there are people that were there that I loved dearly, and I have a family that I need to support or on the other side, lose the money, lose a lot of the security I had, lose a lot of dear friends, go find a new church and for the first time in my life not have a church family.  I decided to go with the first choice.  I decided to choose the decision that seemed the most logical.  I'm a logical thinker and try to make most of my decision very logical without putting much emotion into it, sometimes this drives my wife crazy.  But looking back, I made this decision strictly by emotion.  "I can't lose this money!" "What will happen to my family?"  "Will we be able to eat?" "Will we be able to pay rent?"  All of these questions I answered emotionally and, looking back, very selfishly.  You see, there are two people that I never consulted about it.  One is my wife and the other more importantly being God.  I tried to hide the stress that I felt I was under from my wife (I am not a great actor, so it wasn't hidden very well) and it put a big stress on our relationship.  But more important, I had turned my ministry into a job, instead of turning my job into a ministry and left God completely out of all decisions, because I wanted control of my life and my outcomes, no matter who it may hurt.  Well, as I have said in previous posts, God has a way of sometimes taking the reins and screeching you back in the direction that He wants you to go in.  I use to say that I was relieved of my duties at the church, but now I say that God put it in the hearts of those elders to fire me, because He had bigger plans for me that did not involve that church.  God has done a lot of refining me over the last eight years.  I am nowhere close to being done, there still a lot of imperfection.  By God's grace and His discipline I look more like him now than I did 8 years ago.  

You might have scratched your head with the title of this blog.  I can't remember who said it, but "when life give you dilemma, make dilemonade."(Corny, I know)  If you are in Christ, there is a possibility that the dilemma that you are in is strictly a time of God's refinement on your life, that he is bringing you through a time of purification making you more like Him, and it is called the Refiner's fire for a reason, usually there is some pain involved.  The only way to survive it, even if you don't physically, is to know who has the "living water" and bring sweetness to the sourness of life.  

Well it's late and tomorrow is church with the family that has been a part of my family’s life for the last eight years.  So it is time for this guy to go to bed.  Good night!