The last cards I bought fresh out of a pack are considered vintage today. Back then, parallels meant 1975 minis.

We didn’t have serial numbered cards. Rainbows were in the sky not a parallel card set. It was a simpler time.

I miss it, but I also can’t help myself when it comes to 1975-look-alikes. So when I saw the 2015 Mini set was about to go on sale with a 1975 throwback style subset, that sucked me in.

The concept isn’t new. Topps put current and former players on a 1975 design before (one of the better renditions was 2011 Lineage):

This 2015 subset would be just as good if it had some vintage ’75 players. It was only available through Topps (it’s now sold out). This is what they look like:

 

This 2015 rendition has posed shots, but they’re solid photographs. The backs limit the overall appeal: every card has the same text and cartoon (lifted off Sal Bando’s 1975 Topps #380 card). Even with boring backs, they’re still nice cards and you get a rookie Kris Bryant variation.