1981 Topps SuperStar Photo Card - Reggie Jackson

In 1980 Topps produced a smaller set (60 cards) of giant cards called Baseball Superstars. These are 5"x7" high gloss portrait photos with facsimile signatures on them. Confusing the issue, they were distributed in a couple different ways, came with two back styles, and in 1981 they distributed them again with the same photos and sometimes the same backs. There was also a 15 card set you could send away for that also had the same photos. So two years, and 4 kinds of essentially the same product. What I like about them is that they are on card stock and were sold in packs (among other methods) so they qualify as cards. I also like the high quality of the photo. What I don't like is the low quality of the composition. A high quality close-up photo of a poorly lit and and unkempt athlete is not a winning combination.

Here is Reggie Jackson when he played for the Yankees. Reggie is a player I never appreciated. Players from the 70s, if their careers wound down before the end of the 80s, were in a bit of a blind spot for me. I heard of the legends of the 50s and 60s (probably because these were the stars when our parents were young), but I didn't have the connection to the 70s stars. Seventies baseball was a baseball in transition. The mound had been lowered in 69, the DH was introduced, expansion, free agency, and other factors made it an unpredictable game. Yet, a few teams seemed to dominate. Baltimore, Oakland, and New York for the American League, Los Angeles and the Big Red Machine of Cincinnati for the National League. Reggie played on the Oakland and Yankee teams. He had quite a run.

I recently read Sixty Feet Six Inches by Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson and gained a new appreciation for Reggie. He is an interesting guy, and a devoted batsman. I highly recommend the book. Here we see him with his trademark earflap-less helmet, glasses (with them he had 20/10 vision), and unbuttoned jersey. I included a scan nest to e regular size Bob Gibson card so you can get an idea of the scale.