Saturday, April 2, 2011

Card of the Week: 1980 Topps #320

Look at that stare. Eckersley is just glaring in at the hitter as he goes through his wind-up. It must have been a scary sight. It must have been even scarier eight years later when he was one of the top closers ever.

This is a well-done card. I like the banners that hold the information. It adds a baseball feel to it. The shadow effect that makes the flags look like they’re flapping is a nice touch. I’ve never been a big fan of the facsimile signature on a card. For one thing, it makes it harder for me to get the card autographed myself. The double signature does not look good to me. But, on this particular card it doesn’t detract too much from the overall effect. It’s placed in a less busy portion of the picture, without blocking anything out that I need to see.

The picture itself is a great shot. It’s well cropped. The background is so cluttered it’s clean. Nothing stands out to detract from the wonder that in the pitcher in mid-throw. Eck’s hair is flowing out from under his cap. It’s fantastic, especially considering the typical card photo from 30 years ago.

The card has all the information I need on the front. Name. Team. Player. And, when sifting though a stack of cards, it’s easy to see the team name in the bottom left if I’m looking for Red Sox cards. It’s also easy to see the name in the upper right if I’m looking for Eck himself. The name’s not in script, or gold foil, or written vertically. It’s nice and easy. I love it.

What a nice card.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What people are reading this week