What's your favorite Topps pre 1980 set?

[goudey1933]

Mine from my childhood 1972...1975 a close second.
Scott

[CobbSpikedMe]

My favorite pre 1980 Topps set is the 1954 set. I'm getting closer to killing my set but still will need the Aaron for a while I'm sure. All the rest should be doable though.

As for your picks, those are my two favorite sets from the 70's for sure.

[rats60]

1955 Topps and 1965 Topps

[SMPEP]

1952

[bigfanNY]

I like them simple 57 Topps 61 and my personal favorite 69. 72 I must agree was a fun set to collect as a kid.
J

[Johnny630]

55 and 66

[JollyElm]

For me it's always going to be 1972. All of the odd players chosen for the 'In Action' subset, the trippy-looking team names, the bizarre inclusion of trophies, the vaunted high numbers and the shear volume of cards makes the album quite enjoyable to look through.

[PowderedH2O]

My favorite is 1963, but my favorite from the 1970's is probably 1978. 1978 was the first set that I actually finished.

[commishbob]

1959. The first cards I ever owned were ‘59s and it’s my favorite for just that reason

[ALR-bishop]

1968 3d

[1963Topps Set]

1956 Topps - is the most drop dead gorgeous cards I have ever seen.

1963 Topps set - Very colorful and my birth year set. It was a dream come true to complete this set.

1971 Topps set - the very first year I was involved in collecting,

1959 Topps set - The very first vintage set I ever finished. I recall like yesterday picking up the Al Kaline All Star card at a show (there was no EBay then!)

[Exhibitman]

1954: My first vintage set.

1971: My first year collecting.

1976: My favorite year in baseball. I was 11 and the Yankees won the pennant. I hated the 75 set design and thought the 76 set was just a burst of fresh air. And the All Time All Stars are one of my favorite Topps subsets.

[SMPEP]

1976: My favorite year in baseball. I was 11 and the Yankees won the pennant. I hated the 75 set design and thought the 76 set was just a burst of fresh air. And the All Time All Stars are one of my favorite Topps subsets.

Those 1976 All Time All Stars are what started me collecting vintage cards. Why get a Dale Murphy card when you can get a Pie Traynor?

[BillP]

on any given day....

1) 63 or 66 or 67
4) 54
5) prob 58.

I like the color contrast of these sets. although I know 58 & 63 has their detractors. 66 too. 54 & 67 universally liked. Picked 58 over 59 and 62.

never liked horizontal format so 55 56 and 60 aren't collected. 61 is bland and I think very plentiful except for the final series. 64 and 65 just ok.

Long term collector here.

thx bill

[egri]

In some semblance of order:

1) 1953
2) 1957/1955
4) 1954/1960
6) 1964

Honorable mention to 1958; I don’t like the base cards, but do like the All-Star set.

[Bigdaddy]

Top five today:

1. 1956 - miniature works of art
2. 1977 - my first year really collecting, love the AS cards
3. 1957/1967 - same clean, uncluttered set; 10 years apart
4. 1976/1978 - one or the other on any given day
5. 1965 - amazingly clear and crisp photos

TJ

[silvor]

1979

The first year I really "collected".

[bnorth]

1953 Topps for me.

[profholt82]

1956 Topps - is the most drop dead gorgeous cards I have ever seen.

Agreed. The design of 56T is a thing of absolute beauty. And the player selection that year is star-studded as well. Probably my favorite set of all time.

[baseballfan]

today:

56
53
52

[Zach Wheat]

1952.

[GasHouseGang]

1971: Always loved those black borders
1956: My first vintage set
1977: My first set when I first started collecting seriously

[SteveH1030]

My first cards from pack as a kid were 1967 which turned out to be a lucky break - Beautiful set.

Might vote for 1953 Bowman Color as my second choice


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[Chuck9788]

My first cards from pack as a kid were 1967 which turned out to be a lucky break - Beautiful set.

Might vote for 1953 Bowman Color as my second choice

Haha, the thread is favorite "Topps" cards.

And I agree with you 1967 is my favorite. The Carew rookie and Frank Robinson cards stand out for me.

[ALR-bishop]

Frankbmd has exempted people from following rules or directions in threads. :)

[Volod]

Mine from my childhood 1972...1975 a close second.
Scott

Ok, so I'm in the minuscule grouping that actually likes Topps first year offerings. Mainly because, in keeping with the general theme, it was the first set I collected as a kid, so, I guess my seven-year-old aesthetic insensibility can be excused. There was something strangely fascinating about the ugly floating head portraits that Topps used on its '51 Red Backs game cards. As a Braves fan, I found the Spahn card particularly repulsive and treasured it all the more for that reason. The few elegant '51 All-Star cards that I managed to glom seemed more like rare artwork to my undeveloped card tastes. Much more sophisticated the next year, '52, I didn't find any Topps products in local stores, so became a Bowman fan.

[jchcollins]

From my own childhood, 1986 and '87 Topps evoke strong memories. '86 was the first set I bought from packs, and I love them just for that - although in the scheme of things it's a pretty boring / bad design.

All time - my favorites from the 50's are '55 and '56 Topps, and from the 60's - 1967. I'm going after '56 and '67 sets right now but will likely be a very long time before I complete them.

[poytor]

The 1960 Topps Baseball set.

Growing up as a kid in Northwest Indiana in the 1970's one of the first baseball card shops opened up in the Region. It became a frequent hang out of my friends and I who collected cards and it was so cool to have one place to go to and get whatever I wanted or could afford on my kid allowance! For whatever reason the one set that I really took to was the 1960 Topps baseball set with it's horizontal design and vibrant colors they just looked so cool and loaded with stars, Mantle, Maris, Mays, Musial, Clemente, Aaron,...they were all there! I ended up helping the owner and he would pay me in baseball cards or told me to pick out what I liked. Being a Cub fan I picked out a bunch of Cubs now I wonder what if I had been a Yankee fan? He had boxes of 60 Topps card all in numerical order and I remember how new they looked, glossy, that nice little card bend, just great looking cards. I was a card grader before their was such a thing as I picked out the best conditioned cards. Fast forward to today and I am on my quest to finish the 60 set but in doing so it brings back a lot of memories and takes me back to my youth!

[Topcat79]

For me it's about bold colors, which is why I like the 59s. Something about them just pops. I'm not a huge football guy, but I like the 69s for the same reason.

[drmondobueno]

and I pretty much destroyed every one of those cards by storing them in oatmeal containers!

Today?

1962 Topps!
1955 Topps
1965 Topps
1960 Topps - the twins’ favorite (my boys)
1956 Topps
1963 Fleer

Pretty much quit collecting by 1970, married young and needed rent money.

[Mark70Z]

This week, in order, as follows:

1971
1975
1972
AND 1965

[kailes2872]

The answer for me is always '56.

Great photos, large cards, 34 HOFers out of 340 cards, all of the Bowman stars together with the Topps stars. The peak of creativity with massive competition before they became complacent for the next 20+ years and the designs became less and less intriguing.

[deweyinthehall]

For me it's 1978 - it's the year I started collecting, and learning about the sport and MLB. Got my first cards as a mini uncut sheet in a Dynamite Magazine - Darrell Porter, Al Oliver, Tony Perez and Cecil Cooper (I know now there were duplicates of 2 but those were lost as soon as I got them).

I love the cursive team names, the manager cards, the all-star shields and the quality images. Even today, the cards of Doug Ault, Ted Simmons, Biff Pocoroba, Ed Halicki, Jerry Koosman, Jim Sundberg, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, George Brett, Rich Chiles, Chet Lemon, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry and others really stand out.

Still remember a few cards from my first pack, too - Rick Manning, Jose Baez, George Hendrick, Louis Tiant, and the Sparky Lyle RB.

The last and toughest card was Gary Ross - and he never even played after 1977. Had to order a complete set from Renata Galasso to get him.

Speaking of which, does anyone know whatever happened to her business?

[DBesse27]

1956

[the 'stache]

My favorite post WW II sets would go something like this:

'53 Bowman. Yes, I know it's not a Topps set, but it's still the gold standard, imo for vintage. My only complaint is that this set wasn't done in '55. How good would that have been with the additions of Aaron, Kaline, "Mr. Cub", Koufax, Killebrew and Clemente?)

'75 Topps. A bit of an outlier among Topps sets. So colorful, and what a selection of rookies. Robin Yount's my guy; I also am a big fan of Brett and Carter. So many incredible veteran players in that set, from Aaron to Yaz.

'80 Topps. I know the question is pre-'80 Topps sets, but it seems like a bit of a weird cutoff for me. '81 is, to me, the beginning of the modern card era. That's when Donruss and Fleer came in/back. '80 was the last time there was just the one set, and the 1980 Topps set is one of my favorites. It just looks really cool, to me. I would like to put together the entire set in a PSA 8-9.

http://net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=663&pictureid=15994

'71 Topps. I like the black borders. Some of my favorite cards are in this set. The Clemente has always resonated with me. Love the Munson, too.

Either '56 Topps, '52 Topps or '60 Topps (like the horizontal format) would be next.

[jasonc]

My favorite post WW II sets would go something like this:

'53 Bowman. Yes, I know it's not a Topps set, but it's still the gold standard, imo for vintage. My only complaint is that this set wasn't done in '55. How good would that have been with the additions of Aaron, Kaline, "Mr. Cub", Koufax, Killebrew and Clemente?)

'75 Topps. A bit of an outlier among Topps sets. So colorful, and what a selection of rookies. Robin Yount's my guy; I also am a big fan of Brett and Carter. So many incredible veteran players in that set, from Aaron to Yaz.

'80 Topps. I know the question is pre-'80 Topps sets, but it seems like a bit of a weird cutoff for me. '81 is, to me, the beginning of the modern card era. That's when Donruss and Fleer came in/back. '80 was the last time there was just the one set, and the 1980 Topps set is one of my favorites. It just looks really cool, to me. I would like to put together the entire set in a PSA 8-9.

http://net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=663&pictureid=15994

'71 Topps. I like the black borders. Some of my favorite cards are in this set. The Clemente has always resonated with me. Love the Munson, too.

Either '56 Topps, '52 Topps or '60 Topps (like the horizontal format) would be next.

Definitely agree with 1971 and 1975, probably my two favorite 1970's sets.