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| One of these cards features the design of the 2013 Chachi Set - 1971, 1973, 1985 or 1988 |
The Phillies Room Executive Team recently met to discuss plans for the upcoming 2013 Chachi release. It was a productive meeting, but in the end we remained deadlocked between two solid choices. This is not an easy annual decision, and the decision is getting harder and harder as the years go by. In the early days of the Chachi sets, way back in the mid-2000s, it was fairly easy to pick the designs as I just went with the designs from my favorite Topps sets of yore, starting with the 1975 release.
However, in today's confusing and fast paced world, it's getting harder to pick a favorite among several "great" but not "outstanding" Topps sets from the '70s and '80s. We've narrowed the choices down to the designs featured above from the 1971, 1973, 1985 and 1988 Topps sets. But that's as far as we got.
That's where you come in.
I'm not a big contest guy, and the contests I've hosted on his blog have been few and far between. I'm not in this crazy Phillies-baseball-cards-personal-family-stories-blog racket for the fortune and glory. But it's still gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when someone leaves a comment on one of my posts, or when I gain a new follower, or when I know people enjoy reading my ramblings about the Phillies, past and present.
So I'm hosting a contest, with a poll, and a few prizes, although it's not so much a contest as a way for me to interact more with current readers and (hopefully) new readers. Without further ado, here are the rules of the 2012 Phillies Room Help Pick the 2013 Chachi Set Design and Maybe Get Free Stuff contest:
1. To enter, please vote in the poll at left and leave a comment that you voted. (This counts for 1 entry.)
2. Promote this contest on your blog, if you have one, and let me know (via the comments) that the contest has been promoted. (This counts for another entry.)
3. In your comment, please tell me why you voted the way you did or let me know if I'm overlooking a better classic Topps design or just let me know why you're here and if you like what you see.
4. There's no need to "follow" this blog to enter, but it would make me feel good if you did.
6. There will be two winners:
a. One winner objectively selected at random, based on the number of entries earned.
b. One winner subjectively selected based on the best comment left on this post.
7. The winners will receive a copy of the classic Boyd and Harris book, The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book. If you don't already have this book, and you collect baseball cards, you need this book. (Hat tip to Section 36 for hosting a contest with a baseball book as the prize. Great idea.)
8. Voting and entries are due by Wednesday, October 24th, which coincides with Game 1 of the World Series.
One quick cavaet - whichever set with the most votes may not actually be chosen as the design of the 2013 Chachi set. We're just looking for feedback here and ultimately I have (or more accurately, my wife has) the final say.
So that's it. Vote, enter, share and thanks for reading!
I'd normally go with the '71 set, but I think Topps Archives has killed my interest in seeing current players on that design.
ReplyDeleteI'm going with the '88 style. I've always liked the Phillies cards in that set. Weird, I know.
I went with '85. You don't often see that set get a lot of publicity, but it was actually a pretty nice effort by Topps.
ReplyDeletePlus, one of my all-time favorite Phillies cards came from '85. Kent Tekulve's Traded issue.
I voted for the 1985 set. Although others would say the 84 Donruss or 89 Upperdeck, 85 Topps is the best design for the 80s IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI voted for the 1988 Set, and promoted the contest here: http://section-36.blogspot.com/2012/09/ill-take-1988-for-win.html
ReplyDeleteBasically, I can't get enough of the floating graphics on the 1988. They just call to me! Plus, the thought of making you get the player's head to obscure some of the team name makes me all giddy.
I went with the '73 theme, as I like the clean design and the silhouette & colored circle in the corner. Looks truly vintage!
ReplyDeleteI voted for 1973 because that's a 1970's set that doesn't get enough love. I also know that, unlike the 'throwback people' at Topps, we can trust you to use the right icon for left- and right-handed pitchers.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw something at you which you can take or leave... You could tweak the design to use more Phillie-ish colors, or have the position icons in Phils colors rather than color-coded by position (orange for catchers, green for outfielders, etc.). Like I said, just a thought. I noticed you tweaked the colors and logo on the 1985 card, so you can't be a complete purist. :-)
70s and 80s? What about the 1960s? I vote for '67.
ReplyDeleteI vote for 1973. I've always loved the photos in that set. But you have to do one thing if you do it--have some ridiculously far away, but exciting, action shots (maybe with cars and a chain-link fence in the background), a la:
ReplyDeletehttp://1973toppsphotography.blogspot.com/2010/09/before-there-was-interleague-play.html
and
http://1973toppsphotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/playing-in-used-car-lot.html
Bonus points if you get some bad airbrush jobs somehow--that will be a real test of your photoshopping skills!
(E.g.: http://1973toppsphotography.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-man-called-fly-rod.html)
The design is just so-so, but the real distinguishing mark of that set is the photography. So if you are game for that (and it's not going to be easy, since it appears Topps photographers were unfamiliar with the telephoto lens at the time so you may not be able to find such odd pictures), go for it! You might even use some of your own photos to add some authenticity to the set.
I love the 1988 set, so that got my vote. I also like the 1985 design, but I'm on a bit of '85 overload at the moment.
ReplyDeleteJT, The Writer's Journey
Since Topps has already reused the '85 in an eTopps set, and used the '71 in the recent Archives offering, that leaves this as a choice between '73 and '88 for me. I'll make the team's records in that season a deciding factor, which means go for the '88 set.
ReplyDeleteI would choose 85, I always enjoyed it and it was the first full set I collected with my dad, I remember Mike Schmidt was the last card I needed.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for the 88 set. This was the first year I really got into collecting cards and learning the true pain of being a Phillies fan.
ReplyDeleteI went with the '73. Just a classy look to it. Big phan of the position silhouette which gives it something that most sets haven't done and has been overlooked.
ReplyDeleteYou're site was one, if not the main inspiration for my own custom card site. I love the 1985 Topps, it's my absolute favorite and was thrilled when I seen this is one of your options for the 13' Chiachi set. It's the first cards that I can remember opening packs of - and it was after my 84' Tigers won the World Series
ReplyDeleteI voted for the '88 set. The 71s were done in the archives, and I have a the utley and howard 2007 etopps which were done in the 85 design. I really like the 73 design but I think the determining factor in my picking the 88 design was that the original 88 set was just so bad. I could never understand why Topps, which had 132 more cards in it's base set, could never match Donruss and Fleer's player and prospect selections.
ReplyDeleteset---love black borders
ReplyDelete1973 for sure!
ReplyDeleteI would say the '85 design, but it doesn't look right with the newer logo. I think it should be the 1973 design because it seems like that set never gets much love. I like the simplicity of the front and the position siluhotte is just so unique!
ReplyDelete