What to do??

[brian1961]

I concur, the 1952 Topps set is dazzling---beginning to end. There's so many great images. Besides Mantle and Jackie Robinson, I love the Johnny Mize. I could look at that one most any day, and it puts a smile on my face. The Allie Reyolds portrait is perfect. I like horizontals, so the Gil Hodges is a honey to me, with that great expression on his face.

People comment about the odd Gus Zernial. I think it had to do with him breaking a record for the most home runs in one week, though I might be wrong. Wasn't there a similar card of ace Giants' hurler, Larry Jansen? Larry is holding out a bunch of fingers. Perhaps he may have won 6-7 games in one month.

The Monte Irvin is sweet. The Minnie Minoso is very disappointing. I would have had him sliding into home with the catcher obviously "disengaged" and his face close enough to see--- a crazed and contorted expression connoting "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" In the background, the on-deck batter's face has to be visible too--with a look of "get 'em, Minnie!"

I guess you could say us baseball card collectors have a wild colorful imagination, at times.

I bought the 1952 Topps reprint set in 1983 when it was released. I own some originals, and they are indeed far superior to the reprints, but the latter are nice, too. Topps did a fine job on them, providing the opportunity for those less fortunate to experience their landmark set.

Salute. ----Brian Powell

[ALR-bishop]

Good post Brian. There are Topps table books that picture all their cards through at least 1990 , though they exclude some of the 1951 sets. You can find them on Amazon and likely ebay ---Topps 1951 1990 search...books on Amazon

[mintacular]

While the '52 is a classic, I think too many of the cards are headshots/portraits and not worth the investment for the whole set, better to buy a card or two as symbolic

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Like Brian and Patrick suggested, I think I will eventually buy selected cards from the set. Dealing with the entire 52 set is more than I want to deal with. Brian, after finishing the few sets I am working on...41, 57, and 59, I am going to shift to collecting players and cards I like. I may even shift back to player collecting before I am all the way done with the sets. I have only been a "set guy" for about 3 or 4 years. Prior to that I was a 50s and 60s star card collector. Honestly, I seriously love collecting sets and singles...I am addicted anyway you slice it. I am a history buff and a huge baseball fan. Put the two together and you have baseball history, which I love. Take any period of American history from the 1840s on and you can find baseball as an integral part of it. The cards from the 40s and 50s are beautiful works of art that bring history and baseball alive. I absolutely cannot get enough. People who don't collect just don't understand.