Moment Of Greatness

I have only posted about the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments set once here and it was part of a catchall thread at that.  Recently two proof sheets popped up on eBay and while they are not unknown, scans of the reverses are now viewable so I figured they would be a worth a look.

The set is tough but not impossible, 55 large cards (they measure 2 1/2" x 4 3/4") with black borders and both a color headshot and a black and white photo of the "greatest" moment in the career of the player depicted make fora snazzy looking pasteboard.  There are 33 short prints and 22 double prints, which gives a sheet of 77 cards.The October 15, 1971 issue of The Trader Speaks relates that the cards were tested in Brooklyn in July of that year.

While a display box flat is known (and is shown in my previous post, no wrapper has been found.  The test probably fizzled, perhaps due to the prominent use of black and white photos at a time when the print world was awash in color.  I am still digging into how the majority of the cards entered the hobby since they are more abundant than a normal test issue but likely it was some combination of the Card Collectors Company and a few Topps insiders.  I don't think they would have been Fun Pack fodder due to their odd size.

They are hard to find but not necessarily scarce and sets can be assembled with reasonable dispatch, although if you want NM cards you may be searching for a while.  I think it's a great looking set.

With that, here are the fronts (previously seen in a click through link from my previous post), and backs: