Recent Acquisition: 1974 Topps Mike Schmidt PSA 7

Since rejoining the collecting world a few months ago, I've set a number of collecting goals for myself.  There are a few kinds of these, but mainly they represent things that I couldn't afford, couldn't find, or which didn't exist when I was originally collecting from 1987-1994. 

1974 Topps Mike Schmidt, graded PSA 7.

This 1974 Mike Schmidt card is at the intersection of two of these goals: developing a deeper collection of Mike Schmidt cards, and developing a collection of about 50-60 PSA-graded cards as highlights of my collection.  While Schmidt is well-represented in my collection, both in terms of my original period of collecting and what I've added in the past few months, this is only the second card of him that I have from the 70s.

The first card I have of Schmidt from the 70s is shown in one of my first posts, about my first acquisitions in decades.  That card is his 1973 Topps rookie card, which I bought ungraded but then sent to PSA (and posted about the result from PSA).  When writing about the Schmidt rookie card, I said that when I was a kid, I never thought I could own a Schmidt rookie card.  He was every boy's hero where I grew up, and I never even saw one, they were so valuable in that time and place.  But, the market changed and I grew up, and this summer I realized my dream of owning a Schmidt rookie card.

Following up on that, I thought I should have at least one more Schmidt from the 70s, and it seemed like 1974 was the next best card to pick up -- it's funny seeing him without a mustache, and this card was pretty affordable in an eBay auction.  I don't know if I'll get any more Topps cards of Schmidt from the 70s, but I do plan to pick up some Kellogg's and Hostess as I round out my player collection.