A little Topps Baseball appreciation thread… share your favorite card!
 

Hi all,

With the news of MLBs new deal with Fanatics potentially signaling the end of Topps’s 70 year run in the baseball card industry unless the brand is purchased, I wanted to start a thread where all can share their favorite Topps card. Regardless of print run, grade, set, team or player. The only rule is that you have to pick one. Think about why you like the card, doesn’t have to be value, maybe it’s a memory or it’s related to a special time or a favorite season of being a fan of the game. Whatever it is, feel free to share!

I’ll deliver the first pitch…

Around 2011-2012 I began to seriously get into baseball. I had my first and only season of youth baseball under my belt and even though it didn’t go very well (from an athletic standpoint, terrible actually) I was hooked. I began to pay more attention to the big leagues and actually watch the game. I also asked my parents who their favorite players of all time were and their favorite teams. I knew my Mom was an Astros fan and because of her, I had chosen them as my team back in ‘05 even though I was from Colorado and should probably be a Rockies fan. As for a favorite player, she didn’t have one and still doesn’t. She enjoys watching talent regardless of team. My Dad was from Seattle and although he wasn’t as nearly as big into baseball as he was football, he would root for the M’s. Unlike Mom, Dad did have a favorite baseball player and the man was actually his favorite athlete of all time. I’m talking about Junior. As a kid in the late 80s and early 90s, Dad was at the height of the Seattle sports experience and got to witness the prime years of the young phenom, Ken Griffey Jr. as he lead the once hapless Mariners to success. I was given the full rundown on the ‘95 season and the team that saved baseball in Seattle as well. To me, those guys were legendary and Junior was no different. I soaked up all his highlights and everything I could read up on the man they called “The Kid.” I was awestruck, never had I seen such swagger and athleticism as a 12 year old kid. My mind was blown and the fact that my Dad got to witness it in person was the coolest in my eyes.

In the summer of 2012, I went on the first of many summer vacations visiting my grandparents in Minnesota and North Dakota. With Minnesota being the first stop, my Grandma made sure that we spent a day or so in Minneapolis on our way to her home so that we could see the big city. We took in a Twinkies game at Target Field and went to the Mall of America among other exciting things. It was at the Mall that I stopped into a sports memorabilia store called “Field of Dreams.” While I browsed the cards I began to look at the higher dollar cards sitting behind glass and lock and key. I asked if they had any Griffey cards to which I was pointed in the right direction. I was immediately drawn to Junior’s 1989 Topps Traded #41. Graded at a PSA 8, it was beautiful. Being the novice I was, with no understanding of the junk wax era, card grades or prices, I immediately asked how much it was? I can’t remember the exact price but I believe it was close to $70 after taxes. I also had about $200 in spending money for my trip. Naturally I said “I’ll take it!” So here I was, 12 years old having just bought one of the most expensive purchases of my life and loving the card. Once I got home after my trip I was so geeked to show my Dad. I think he must’ve jokingly commented something to the affect of “that’s rad! Did you get that for me!?” Knowing that Junior was his favorite player, I honestly felt a bit guilty and thought that he would actually enjoy having it more than I would, so not long after, I did in fact give the card to my Dad.

As the years passed, I knew he still had it but I wasn’t seriously into cards so I didn’t pay it much mind. After my Dad passed away in the summer of 2016, I received his Nike shoe box of cards which contained the ‘89 Topps Traded #41. Even after, I still had baseball cards and Griffey cards which I favored more so than the rookie I had first bought before all others. I had a little more info now and realized just how many of that issue were printed and I also became aware of card grading and the value of grades assigned, so the card had sort of lost its luster for me. However, hearing the recent news about Topps got me thinking, “what’s my favorite Topps baseball card?” and I can honestly say it’s the Griffey rookie. More so for the meaning behind it and the excitement that I still remember from when I originally purchased it and sharing it with my Dad but also the cleanness of the design and the image of Griffey. To date it is till my favorite of all his rookie cards even if it was produced up the wazoo.

So I’m curious, what’s your favorite Topps baseball card and why?

Jake

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Since every story I have read about the goings on reference the first Topps cards being in 1951, here is one from 1948

That’s awesome! I love the ‘48 Doak Walker card they put out for football. The Ruth has always been one that’s stood out to me in the baseball set as well! Great share!

Quick bump as I'd like to see others share their favorite Topps!

My first attempt at attaching a picture. Hopefully it works!

1974 Topps Hank Aaron HR King #1
 

This was the card we were all hoping to get when I was a kid. Topps went out on a limb and produced it before he broke the record!

I was 5 when my mom bought me my first cards in 1991. I didn't know anything about baseball. Maybe in 1993 I started getting some knowledge and learned about Ken Griffey Jr..... and I had his cards! Im pretty sure I taped them up on a cabinet in my room. Now that I'm older, I'm trying to get these in Topps Tiffany, got the AS already. Still my most iconic Topps of my lifetime.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1c956570e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1553edd7b1.jpg

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As far as I am concerned, Hank STILL is the home run king. And will be for a long time to come.

I had to give this some thought. I could have easily picked either of the 57 Robinson rookies or maybe the 58 Mantle All Star which I love. But Murray’s 78 card is just a unique piece of baseball art to me. And it’s the first card of one of my favorite players.

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And very hard to find centered too! Nice pick.

58 Mantle AS is my favorite card of MM. I think it's gorgeous.

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I sold my entire 1948 thru 1992 Topps run a few years back, but I kept a few...

Came Thru Great

Love That Card and That Player

Action

Agreed... There's a lot of nostalgia tied to it for me and as you said, it's just a gorgeous card. I wanted one for the longest time, well before I even considered building the sets I had as a kid. I had a limited hobby budget and waited until I found one that looked good and was affordable. I later bought two more from someone on this board several years ago.

The first card I chased as a child was that 1974 Topps #1 Hank Aaron. Since it was posted already I’ll go with these two. I always dreamed of owning them as a kid. It took a while to actually add them to my personal collection. Whenever I look at them I’m 12 again.

Favorite card, favorite player.

1970's version...

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That's actually a really tough question to answer!

I gotta cheat and offer one from each of the different sports or subjects:

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All except the Hocus Focus were childhood favorites. The Hocus Focus cards are just rare as hell.

1959 Topps Destruction Crew - Minoso - Colavito - Doby
 

One of my favorites, 1959 Topps #166 Destruction Crew - Minnie Minoso, Rocky Colavito, Larry Doby

No longer own one, but always loved this card with the bat rack and old tv camera in the picture.

I hadn't seen this in the memorabilia section but it probably belongs here...

This is from my previous collection...

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Favorite Topps Card
 

For me, from my all-time favorite (and first collected) set, it's the 1978 Jim Rice - pure joy at being a big league ball player....

And who can forget this one from "The Simpsons" 1973 Mutton Chops Yaz

al, you've got the coolest collection of anyone. so awesome.

It is tough to pick one for the top spot. This one is very cool and memorable, and it has stood the test of time. Many others might displace it at the very top, depending on the day and mood. But the 1987 Bo Jackson Future Stars card has so much going for it - the wood grain, the sunny action shot, the iconic athlete rookie card, the rainbow future stars script - it’s great.

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1980 Prototype coins on a Topps Presentation Board

My favorite is a 2001 Topps Traded Albert Pujols. Being a Cardinals fan, I have kept up with his career from the first week of his rookie season. I have seen almost every one of his 679 home runs. The only player in major league history to hit over .300, 30 HR, and 100 RBIs in his first 2 seasons. And by the way.... He went ahead and did it in his first 10 seasons for good measure. He was one hit and one RBI from doing it 11 seasons in 2011. He made up for it by winning a second World Series, while hitting 3 HR in one game.

It's my favorite card.... I just can't decide if I like it better autographed or in a PSA 10 slab?

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It really is insane just how good Pujols has been. For comparisons sake...Miguel Cabrera is a generational talent at 1st base. He's 12th all time in WAR for a 1B with 69.1 WAR and is a sure-fire 1st ballot HOFer.

Pujols career WAR? 99.8. That's 30.1 more than Cabrera, and 2nd highest for a 1B after only Lou Gehrig. Just...insane.

I remember going to the candy wholesaler and buying a box of the new Topps cards. It was unexpected to pull that card, but that night Hank hit #715.

One of my favorites is the 1969 Topps Chris Cannizzaro. I like it for a number of reasons:

• The photo was taken at the Polo Grounds, which makes it six or seven years old at the time.
• It's a good example of how Topps used to have players pose in such a manner as to cover up team names, so if the player gets traded they can still use the photo. Of course, they couldn't do much with the cap, so they just covered up the Mets blue with a solid black.
• The photo was taken at the Polo Grounds. Yeah, I know I already said that, but it may have baffled young kids who may not have known about the Polo Grounds and wondered where the photo was taken.

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I've always loved this card of The Mick:

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For me, this is the greatest Topps card ever made.