Thanks for all the advise. I've spent the weekend reviewing the two sets in terms of pricing, appearance, players, your comments, and input from my wife. Everything calculated leads me to.....
1956 Topps
Sticking with VG to EX grade range puts the investment of time and money where I would like to be. Since I'm looking for lower grade cards, centering will keep the pace of the set just right (based on some of my research centering varies with the 50s sets. I could be completely wrong with the centering aspect).
Now to find that starter set/group
!!