Lately, I’ve been finding a lot of great vintage cards. My latest two vintage additions are 1954-55 Topps Hockey cards of Lorne “Gump” Worsley and Alex Delvecchio. Unfortunately, the 1954-55 Topps set is not one that I am currently focusing on. That, for me personally, is a bit of a problem, since I tend to end up owning a handful of cards from many different sets, instead of hyperfocusing on finishing one set before moving on. (More scans after the jump).
Then again, it isn’t like I can walk into any old card shop–or show, for that matter–and find each and every card I need for a given set. So, I decided not to pass up on these two cards since they were “good enough” for my collection, condition-wise, and are of two Hall of Fame players.
Gump Worsley is my favorite player among those I’ve never seen play. I’ve read his autobiography probably a dozen times, and can honestly say that if I was alive in the 1950s or 1960s, he would have been my favorite player. This Gump card is far from perfect, but the only real major blemishes are that “ding” on the Rangers logo and a light crease to the left of Worsley’s head.
I’m no expert on the 1954-55 Topps set. I only own 5 cards from it, and have not seen each and every one. But I would be that this Alex Delvecchio card is one of–if not THE–most beautiful card in the set.I love the way Delvecchio is leaning, creating a diagonal. The photo, combined with the Red Wings logo and the red and blue bars at the bottom form a “Z” shape, which gives this card a very dynamic composition.
The patriotic red, white and blue make an appealing color scheme. But many cards are so expensive, so I will put off concentrating on this one until I complete a vintage set that is closer to finished.
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I could not agree more! That Delvecchio is a beauty and what I was surprised to learn when I landed my first 54-55 Topps card is that they are large just like the 53-55 Parkies are.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Benny Woit is nearly as appealing visually! I will have mine posted online hopefully very soon.
bought a box of cards at an auction and there is a stack of these cards in it, however they look a bit like reprints but no marking of that. some of the cards the front background is a brighter white than the other cards which is odd so maybe some are reprint and some not? any ideas?