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.
'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.