Quote:
Originally Posted by Casey2296
It's interesting that the 51 bowman set hit all the marks on a lot of cards in that set. The Mantle runs a close second behind Mays for perfect balance and beauty. But there's also Spahn, Williams, Snider, Campy, Rizzuto, and Doby to name a few. They missed the mark on Feller & Berra though, their 1950 cards are perfect, in 51 they went to head shots. The elephant in the room though is how much better that set would have been with a 51 Robinson and Paige but that's just fantasy talk.
Now let's talk Topps. 52 Mantle, great design. 52 Mays? Horrible. If you've ever seen the photo that card was based on it's a design nightmare. Dark subject on a dark background and no flow. 53 Mantle? Even better design than 52. Mays? He looks like my 13 year old son on little league picture day. Shameful.
Topps for the most part had no idea what they were doing when it came to the nuance of black skin from 1952 thru 1956. They got Aaron right for the most part but if you look at their Mays and Clemente cards they printed their skin color way too dark. Missed opportunity in my opinion.
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I've branched out from rookie cards (for obvious financial reasons) and started picking up visually appealing early cards of stars. Between the 1951 and 1953 set, Bowman has the best looking cards in the hobby (minus the bizarre 1951 Paul Richards). Topps doesn't make a nice Mays card until 1954. IMO Bowman doesn't get anywhere near the hobby love it should for what they produced.