Poll: Which is the greatest Topps set of the 1970s?

[robw1959]

Which one gets your vote?

[Leon]

This should really go in the other forum but so many of us grew up in the 70s, let's see the results.

I voted best looking and that was '72 for me.

[Brent G.]

‘72

[refz]

I voted for 1971 as my favorite. 1972 is second best imo. The rest truly don’t do anything for me.

[Gorditadogg]

72 is nice and has some great stars, but my favorite is 76. The boxes remind me of 61, which I always thought was a well-designed set.

The 76s are tough to collect centered, but because of their rectangular composition they look really good when you can find nicely centered ones.

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[Peter_Spaeth]

1975 because of RCs and it isn't even close. Plus the mini version.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

1975 because of RCs and it isn't even close. Plus the mini version.

+1.

Plus, 1975s can be tough with the color borders.

[Smanzari]

I'm Partial to '73s as those were the first "Vintage" Cards I Ever got; that being said, IMO '71 is up there with Topps' best (in design, size and difficulty) so that's my pick!

[UKCardGuy]

For me it's 1975 but 1971 and 1972 are close runners up.

The look of the cards, the series within the set like the MVP cards, the quality of the photos and the number of RCs all lead me to vote 1975

[robw1959]

It was the 1973 Topps set that drove me away from collecting. As a kid, I dabbled in the 1969 set, but never could seem to get that Mantle. In 1970, I collected in earnest, and thought the set style looked so official. And in 1971, I just fell in love! Believe it or not, Vida Blue was driving a lot of excitement with his lean-in wave and smile to the camera look. In 1972, I was still buying wax packs, but my overall desire just wasn't there. What little desire I had left was kicked out of me by the ugly 1973 cards. Then I came back to collecting in 1976 at the prodding of a good friend who told me the cards were worth money. Buying cards made in the '50s was a revelation!

[BobbyStrawberry]

Gotta be 71 Imo.

[calvindog]

72 and 75

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by calvindog

72 and 75

👍🏻🏆

[nolemmings]

1971

[rats60]

1971 & 1975

[bmattioli]

1975 Set.. So many memories.. 1972 set a close second..

[commishbob]

1971 & 1975 for me as well. I voted for the '75, but it is close.

When I sold off my collection, I held on to my nearly complete '75 mini because I love the color and also because a couple of very thoughtful Net54 members kindly forwarded me dupes they had to help me along in the build.

[JollyElm]

I'm obsessed with the '72 set, so this one is easy.

What's funny is there's obviously been an evolution in love for the 1971 set based on age. Me and all of my friends couldn't stand those black cards when we'd get our hands on piles of old doubles (usually from someone's older brother who was ditching his cards to go chase broads), because you never found even one that wasn't turned into an Oreo with all of the white wear.

But as we got older and entered the graded/album pages/toploaders card world, it became so easy to collect them without all of that inherent damage making life miserable...and I love it!!

[Al C.risafulli]

1977 for me. It was the first set I bought in packs as a kid, the photography is mostly decent, it contained two expansion teams, loaded with HOFers, and most important (for me, at least), the design was simple and didn't overwhelm the cards. It's very plain and elegant.

My mom got me my first two packs, and I remember trying to understand what the hell they were. She said "You try and get the whole set. You can trade them with your friends. They're pictures of baseball players." I had no idea what any of this meant. But then I opened them up and got a Rod Carew in my first pack, and I've been hooked for almost 50 years.



-Al

[Eric72]

I have nostalgia for a different set; however, I believe the answer is 1975.

For me, it was a toss-up between '72 and '75. Both capture the essence of the 1970s quite well. In the end, though, I gave the nod to '75 due to the rookies:

• George Brett
• Robin Yount
• Jim Rice
• Gary Carter
• Keith Hernandez
• Fred Lynn

[BearBailey]

1975 for me as well. 1971 and 1970 were distant second and third for me.

[Brick442]

1975 for me too! Back when I first saw those colorful cards as a kid there was nothing like it!

Working on a signed set. 636 of 660 autographed so far. On and off since 1988.

[jbbama]

75 all day for me!

[MR RAREBACK]

1971

[BioCRN]

I would go 1971 all day, easy, if more of the photos were sharper. I love the images, but too many are fuzzy.

1977 is my favorite, but it's not exciting. I just find the set solid on whole. The OPC variations with some players having different front images is great, too.

[RayW]

1971 revived my interest in collecting. I looked forward to each series trying to find my favorite players and the black borders were tough to find in high grade. There is something about opening the wax packs and chewing the cardboard gum.

I bought the 1975 set from Renata Galasso for less than $10 after perusing her ads in weekly The Sporting News.

[doug.goodman]

75 mini

[egri]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

What's funny is there's obviously been an evolution in love for the 1971 set based on age. Me and all of my friends couldn't stand those black cards when we'd get our hands on piles of old doubles (usually from someone's older brother who was ditching his cards to go chase broads), because you never found even one that wasn't turned into an Oreo with all of the white wear.

But as we got older and entered the graded/album pages/toploaders card world, it became so easy to collect them without all of that inherent damage making life miserable...and I love it!!

For me, the damage is a selling point; I like cards that have dinged corners, creases, and show wear and tear.

[Bigdaddy]

For me, the greatest is the 1971 set. The introduction of the action photos, cards of Mays as a Giant and Hank as a Brave and Thurman in a spectacular shot at the plate doing what he does best.

My favorite though is the 1977 set, for purely sentimental reasons. The first cards that I bought in packs. And I had more 1977 Rod Carew's than Carter had liver pills - I cant believe there were any more to be pulled in other packs.

[tod41]

1975. First year I collected. The rookies. The record breakers. The MVPs. The All Star designations on the cards - the best ones ever. Somehow they forgot Reggie's All Star - even though highest vote getter. Brooks Robinson card from 75 might be my favorite card and I am a Mets fan.

[bk400]

Originally Posted by tod41

1975. First year I collected. The rookies. The record breakers. The MVPs. The All Star designations on the cards - the best ones ever. Somehow they forgot Reggie's All Star - even though highest vote getter. Brooks Robinson card from 75 might be my favorite card and I am a Mets fan.

+1. Keith Hernandez AND Gary Carter rookie cards

[Daveyc]

has to be 75 for me. the colors, the minis, the rookies, the full OPC version, and it contains my favorite card of the 70s, the Brett rookie

[StraightRaceCards]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

For me it's 1975 but 1971 and 1972 are close runners up.

The look of the cards, the series within the set like the MVP cards, the quality of the photos and the number of RCs all lead me to vote 1975

I agree, it’s 75, then 71 for me next. 73 is a distant 3rd place

Some awesome sets in the 70’s!

[peterb69]

71

[Fred]

Looks like the most condition sensitive sets (71 and 75) are in the lead. Putting together a 71 set without any black border issues is a huge challenge. Nice cards in that set.

[Beercan collector]

Close between 75 and 77 - The terribleness of the 75 Seaver gave the edge to 77, They seemed to finally come together with the poses and clear photography

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by Brick442

1975 for me too! Back when I first saw those colorful cards as a kid there was nothing like it!

Working on a signed set. 636 of 660 autographed so far. On and off since 1988.

That's incredible! I'm working on a set of signed HOFers from the mini set.

[icurnmedic]

75 for me. Just so dang pretty!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

While neither of these two won my top vote, I've long felt that '74 and '78 don't get enough love. Each has a simple, straightforward and aesthetically pleasing design. There are great portrait and action shots to be found in each. The RC selection may be weak, but that's not the be all and end all for me. Actually, the '78s have a pretty decent bunch of rookies! Sure, not Brett/Yount etc. caliber, but Tram, Molitor, Murray, Whitaker and Morris aren't to be easily dismissed!

I really love the idea of incorporating the facsimile autographs on the back with the '74 set. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they only ever did that with the '53s as well, right (at least up to that point)? I wasn't a fan of how they tried it in 1953; the signatures behind the text were too busy and distracting. With the '74s, a separate area was devoted to the autograph, allowing for a cleaner look. Also, as someone who is an autograph person and not a card person, having the facsimiles on the back makes for much nicer presentation when it comes to hand signed cards.

It's nice to see the '71s and '75s getting a lot more love than I realized. I liked them a lot more in the past and now favor different sets, but they're still appealing. Again, they may be less popular among autograph collectors and that's who I almost exclusively talk to about such matters. I can completely understand the love for the '75s due to sheer rookie power but I suppose the 71s are a little more of a mystery. There's not much going on for RCs and the black borders are definitely a pain if you are a high grade collector! I do think the choice of the black borders was a bold innovation and they really do make certain images stand out all the more.

My least favorites would likely be 1970 with those ho-hum grey borders (although some great photography at times) and especially 1976. Just nothing going on. It's as if the art department decided to take an early 5 martini lunch and not even try.

My "positive change of heart" award goes to the 1972s. This is a set design that I used to abhor as a kid. Too busy and silly to my childhood eyes. I have really come to appreciate its School House Rock aesthetic! This set has grown on me so much.

My "negative change of heart" award goes to the 1977s. Used to love them a lot more, but their thin stock makes their corners flake right off if you look at them with anything but coddling reverence.

My ultimate vote went to the polarizing 1973 set. It doesn't hurt that Dwight Evans was my favorite player growing up. You have mutton chop Yaz, mutton chop Charlie Spikes, mutton chop everything! A simple design. Yes, some really poor photography at times, but this is hardly exclusive to 1973. As we discussed in another thread earlier this year, some people find the awful images charming; count me among that camp. The triple player RCs are just gorgeous, too.

[Section103]

Im glad this stayed on the main board.

71-70-75-72-78-79-74 in that order for me.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Hard to chose between '72 and '75

[luciobar1980]

I like 73 and 75

[butchie_t]

Only one vote????? Jeeze, I freaking did most of my collecting in the 70s. So all of them….equally.

But I picked 75 and even that was a struggle…

[Chris-Counts]

1972 all the way.

[LEHR]

I picked 1971. I love the black borders, the facsimile autographs; and IMO the 71 set has the best photography of any 1970's baseball set.

[ullmandds]

i was torn between 71 and 75...I chose 71. I love the black borders...huge mix of great action shots anf hof'ers.

[BobbyStrawberry]

I'm surprised by the love for 75.... wouldn't even be in the top 1/2 of 70s sets for me.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I'm surprised by the love for 75.... wouldn't even be in the top 1/2 of 70s sets for me.

That’s interesting. When I look at the ten year period objectively I consider the latter 40% to be much weaker than 70-75 (other than 77 which is at least decent). The only inferior design from 70-75 is 74 to me. I’m amazed that 71 gets so much love as they were impossible to collect and keep in decent shape. 75 seems to be so emblematic of the era, as does 72, my two favorites.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I'm surprised by the love for 75.... wouldn't even be in the top 1/2 of 70s sets for me.

Some sets just hit right for collectors.

1987 Topps and it's wood borders are a huge favorite set of the decade for various reasons, though stylistically there were more appealing sets in the 80s.

75 Topps would slot in 3rd favorite for me at best, but it's been a fan favorite of the hobby for a long time.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by calvindog

That’s interesting. When I look at the ten year period objectively I consider the latter 40% to be much weaker than 70-75 (other than 77 which is at least decent). The only inferior design from 70-75 is 74 to me. I’m amazed that 71 gets so much love as they were impossible to collect and keep in decent shape. 75 seems to be so emblematic of the era, as does 72, my two favorites.

1971 has the best photos. For someone collecting in 1971, the action shots were revolutionary for Topps. Having collected for a while, condition wasn't as big of an issue as I was taking good care of my cards. Maybe not to get PSA 10s, but an average of PSA 7 wasn't hard. 1971 also has high numbers, for the years 1970-1973, that seperates them from other years other that 1975. 1974 and 1976-1979 would be way below the other years for me.