Historically Significant Post-War Sets
 

I have been following the various best/worst set polls about post war sets and they got me thinking about a variation on that theme - sets that are significant in terms of the hobby's evolution these past 70 years. Some of the ones that come to mind are not the most aesthetically pleasing but represent a turning point or development of some note. What follows are those that I think meet those criteria. Thoughts, comments and rants are welcome.

1948 Bowman: the first post-war set that showed that there was still a market for cards from a new generation of collectors (and kids). Aesthetically not much to speak of; kind of a scale model of the '39 Play Ball cards.

1952 Topps: Bigger cards, bigger set and the first post war set with a stat line. One can only imagine the reaction at Bowman. Obviously changed the dynamics of the card industry in a significant manner running down to today.

1957 Topps: smaller cards, but bigger set and first use of career stats on the back, which except for a few years has been the expected design ever since.

1981 Fleer/Donruss: first national sets to challenge Topps since 1956. Not the most well-manufactured or designed cards, but the fact that they were out there changed the collectors' game for good and for ill. In some ways, the beginning of the end, or at least the end of the beginning.

1988 Score/1989 Upper Deck: if the 1981 issues were the firsts real challenge to Topps, these sets served to push the design and use of full color on reverses. Fleer picked up on it in 1991, but Topps wasn't on board for a while. Upper Deck also serves as a warning for the business of card production for reasons that are obvious to anyone who was a collector in the 1990's.

Thoughts? Additions?

1963 Fleer
 

Earlier challenge to Topps than 1981.

For the Bowman reaction to the 1952 Topps set see The Bubble Gum War, the Great Bowman and Topps Sets, 1948 to 1955

1974 (maybe 1973 :-), no more series issues

And of course, Christmas Rack Packs :-}}}

Good choices as well as reasons for these sets to be considered significant sets.....I could add the 73 set as a significant set also because it was the first Topps set to not be issued by series (or the 74 set for those who believe the 73 set was issued by series). By having all of the cards issued at once, it completely changed the dynamic for set builders, even today. Much easier to build a post 73 set as there are NO tough/scarce high numbers to contend with.

Good point about the 63 Fleer, and I guess '60 Leaf might count as well. 1974 (or is it 1973) also is a good call for the lack of series.
Any love for Sportflics? Kind of an evolutionary dead-end...

1993 Topps Finest. Showed that premium priced packs had a place in the hobby and introduced the Chrome printing that rules the modern landscape.

You can throw 1971 into the mix, too, as it was the first time 'regular' cards had game action shots on them.

1991 Stadium Club
 

Took quality to a whole new level IMO. Chrome was a step backwards. These cards were truly beautiful.

1996 upperdeck - first jersey cards

1993 finest - first refractors

1990 upper deck - first autographs in pack (Reggie Jackson )

Like it or not it changed the card landscape .

loved sportsflics.

1990 leaf blew my mind.

most hideous set ever, imo:

1991 studio. that set was a joke. olan mills musta been the head photographer. beginning of the end.

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...832/studio.jpg

actually i stand corrected.

i think the head photographer mighta been that chick from napoleon dynamite...


http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...32/studio1.jpghttp://caimages.collectors.com/psaim.../studio111.jpg

Hahaha, that's a good one!

I'd add 1953 Bowman. It was the first set to use color photography, as opposed to hand colored black and white photos (1949 Bowman) or paintings (1950-52 Bowman, 1952-53 Topps).

53 Bowman
 

Good point Scott. It was a gallant attempt by Bowman to counter the Success of the Topps 52 set. Unfortunately they did not make much headway market wise against the 53 Topps set, and the additional costs of production in addition to less than spectacular sales caused them to scrap color and go back to B&W for the last portion of that year. But it was a break out set, and a great one in retrospect

While you are on the right track here it was actually SSPC in 1975 that initially challenged Topps. In 1981 Donruss and Fleer ended up piggybacking upon what SSPC started and Donruss incorporated several people who were involved in the SSPC attempt in their production of 1981 Donruss.

TCMA Ltd. was the exclusive distributor of both 1981 and 1982 Donruss. Not coincidentally, they were also the publishers of 1975/1976 SSPC :) .

Here's some good info for ya:

http://www.baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/SSPC

Mea culpa. And I should know that as I have and enjoy that set. Perhaps the correct way to phrase it is that Fleer and Donruss were the first sets to sustain a multi-year challenge to Topps.
Lots of good conversation here.

For maybe the millionth time
 

1973 was issued in series and also issued in all series at one time. So consider it as you wish. High numbers are clearly more difficult particularly the checklist card. I can assure you the reading pa area first series are real easy to locate not so much the high numbers.

Indeed :)

1988 score

To me this is the beginning of the end for modern cards and death spiral into junk wax. Yes, 1987 was overproduced as well but the end of the big 3 1981-1987 is important. It to me represents the first obvious signs of over saturation.

Ain't that the truth!!!! How many packs and boxes of '88 Score I opened as a 15 year old...

Wanna buy some more?

That is one walk down memory lane I can do without. :)

For as many cards as Score printed (enough to sink California into the Pacific, give or take a few million), try to find some of the first issue printing errors- Franconia, Anderson, etc. Not many come up for sale at all.

I'll second a few of these.

53 Bowman
57 Topps
71 Topps
73 Topps