The Well-Matched Card

Note: While this post was sitting in my queue, another Greg in another area of New York (he's better known as Night Owl) happened to publish a post on a similar subject. Like-minded Gregs, you could say. 

Whereas Night Owl's post much more thoroughly covers the entire 1974 set, this post focuses on just one card. Regardless, I hope it will add to the cheers for 1974 Topps.
 

Have a look at this card:

1974 Topps #155, Bert Campaneris

It might be the most well-matched vintage baseball card I've ever seen.

In 1974, Topps matched the colors in their design to the colors of the represented team—most of the time, at least. (The Cubs and Angels, for example, had a magenta banner instead of a more accurate red, and the Dodgers had that same magenta color in the thin borders that surround the image.)

For Oakland, though, it was an easy choice. And for Bert Campaneris's card in particular, that easy choice paid off. Look at the green "Oakland" banner at the top and then look at the green in Bert's baseball cap. Look at his jersey and then look at the yellow in the card border. Even the palm trees in the background match, and they frame the card left and right.

Not all of the A's cards in the set earn a perfect score, of course. Sal Bando's green jersey almost looks black on card #103, while Deron Johnson's is more of the traditional Oakland gold color on card #312. Even the green banners on one Oakland card can vary slightly in color from the banners on another. 

But that just makes the color matching on Campy's card up there even more impressive. Think of the times you've briskly thumbed through a stack of cards, stopped, and gone back a couple of cards to get a better look at one that caught your eye somehow. That's the effect here, and it's terrific.

If you're already thinking of a vintage card in your own collection that exhibits the same type of color-matching perfection, why not share in the comment section?

And thank you for reading, as always.