The Top 20 Players of the Topps Era

[rats60]

When I sold off my Topps sets, I had always intended to go back and buy an example from every Topps set. However, the project would have always started with a 1952 Topps Mantle and that never happened. So, I am lookung to revisit this project on a budget.

The run would include the top 20 players and one card from each year from 1954-1974 (excluding 1971). I am excluding 1951-1953 due to cost and asthetics. I am also going to exclude rookie cards. I want to avoid head shots and pick cards that are an astheticly pleasing example of the set.

First is a list of the top 20 players. This is my initial list:

Willie Mays
Ted Williams
Stan Musial
Roberto Clemente
Sandy Koufax
Henry Aaron
Mickey Mantle
Mike Schmidt
Johnny Bench
Yogi Berra
Frank Robinson
Bob Gibson
Joe Morgan
Tom Seaver
Jackie Robinson
Carl Yastrzemski
Eddie Mathews
Ernie Banks
Warren Spahn
Al Kaline

Next would be cards to fill in the years. I want my set to start with a 1954 Topps Yogi Berra and end with a 1974 Topps Mike Schmidt. The only other cards that I am set on are a 1956 Topps Clemente and 1965 Topps Mantle as I already have those cards.

I realize that I am locking myself into Jackie Robinson for 1955 unless I don't include him, then I would go with Ted Williams. I already have both those cards. I also have Willie Mays cards from 1966-1970, so I will probably choose one of those years.

Finally, I am excluding 1971 Topps since I have a raw set and I will be buying graded cards PSA 6-7 to fill in this run. I am not interested in buying a duplicate.

Thoughts? Is there anyone you would choose and who would you replace? Are there any cards that you think are musts for this run?