Worst Topps Design 1952-1976

[darwinbulldog]

'68 is bad, but '55 Bowman is worse.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Of the sets listed, '68 has to be the worst. Why did Topps change the design in the later series?

[seanofjapan]

I think design needs to be set apart from photography. The sets from the 1960s are universally bad from a photography standpoint regardless of the design. Personally I like the design of the 1962 and 1965 sets, but just get so bored looking at the posed spring training pictures that I can't get too excited about the sets.

While the sets of the early 70s you at least had the benefit of a few cards with decent in-game action photos (though most cards still had that posed spring training photo problem). So I don't mind the 1974 set that much, some cards in it have some quite striking pictures that you don't see on sets from the 60s.

[Mark17]

! like the run from 1961-1967, plus 1956 and 1957 best. Worst is 1959 - way too much border. I always thought it was like looking through a periscope.

[mintonlyplz]

Originally Posted by Mark17

! like the run from 1961-1967, plus 1956 and 1957 best. Worst is 1959 - way too much border. I always thought it was like looking through a periscope.

Or 1959 is like looking through a peep hole!

[jerrys]

1959 worse - 1971 best

[jchcollins]

I'll be unpopular and own up to liking '61 Topps. Yeah the design is anything but cutting-edge, and the capless photos are boring, but for trying to collect a set from that era I think it's one of the more reasonable ones, and it's loaded with Hall of Famers. If the base cards are standard at best, Topps outdid themselves with the All Star cards in the high series, which IMO is one of the coolest designs ever.

[BillP]

Interesting reading on peoples preferences.

For me:

Best in no particular order: 67 63 66 54 58

warming up to: 64 62 57 65 59

Not in the mix: 61, 60, 73,74, 72

I have 57-68 sets except 61. Just can't get excited about it and I've tried.

bill

[kailes2872]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

'68 is bad, but '55 Bowman is worse.

I know that the 55 Bowman has its flaws, but I think that having color TV sets for cards in the 50's is pretty cool. Color TV was a new phenomenon and it was very cutting edge. It would be like a manufacturer doing an Iphone card in 2009.

I have told the kids that when I go, they can do with them what they would like. My 13 year old daughter usually just seems my collection as something that gets in the way of her building her wardrobe or shoe collection. However, I asked her which ones were her favorites and what she would want. She did not hesitate when she said '55 Bowman (or as she calls it, the TV cards), and 62 Topps.

I don't much care for '70, '73, '74, '64, '66, '68, and '69.

I am meh on '67, '61, '60, 58, 59, '52, and '53

I like '62, '71, '72 (birth year, holds a special place), and '57 (because the
pictures all look so dark).

I love '54 (I like the background colors), '55, 63, and '65

My favorite of all time will always be '56. It had the best player selection, the action shots (Mantle, Clemente) were awesome. 34 HOFers out of 340 cards. It was as if Topps was at their creative apex after battling Bowman for the past 5 years. The rookies are light, but that helps keep the cost down. If it had Musial, it might be perfect.

I need to start on 52 Topps soon as it is the last one left for me and I am having trouble getting excited. I don't like them all that much and they are expensive which is a bad combination.

[steve B]

Pretty surprised at the results, to me 64-66 is just a vast wasteland of boring.

[bb66]

To me the worst and the best are back-to-back years! How crazy is that? The worst is 1964 and the best is 1965.

[deweyinthehall]

My absolute favorite Topps set is outside this era - 1978; it was the first set I ever collected and to my mind will always be cardboard perfection.

IMO the best from this era, in no particular order, are:
1) 65 - love the pennants and bold colors on the front - just feels like what a baseball card should look like;
2) 67 - big photo surface area, sharp looking hi numbers
3) 72 - just finished upgrading my set; it would be better if the lower series had the crisp clarity that the 2 hi series have in both design and photo; I've always been curious as to why the stark difference in appearance exists between the lower and higher series in this set
4) 74 - can't understand the hating on this set - colorful design elements, great action shots
5) 57 - nice big photos unencumbered by intrusive border or other designs

Worst:
1) 68 - nuff said
2) 70 - nothing says fun like the color gray
3) 73 - after 72, what were they thinking??
4) 71 - I will never understand why this set seems to be so revered by so many; when people praise it they often talk about how the black borders make it such a challenge to collect in higher grades as if it's a perk; for pure collectors like myself the black borders are a curse - driving the cost up on drab looking cards
5) 75 - another set that seems to get a lot of love for reasons that elude me. As a kid it was brutal sorting by team when all the bloody borders within each team varied so wildly

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

My absolute favorite Topps set is outside this era - 1978; it was the first set I ever collected and to my mind will always be cardboard perfection.

I'm with you on the 78 set, probably the best set in the 70's. The 76 set is close too though.