Overrated / Underrated / Favorite / Least Favorite (OUFLF)

[Big Red Machine]

Originally Posted by Vintagevault13

Overrated: 1953 Topps. I know the artwork on this set is beautiful, but it has never appealed to me. In some ways, the artwork is what turns me off. I wasn't born in 1953, but when I view this set through a kid's eyes, I just don't get the appeal. If I was a kid in 1953, I would have chosen Bowmans all day over Topps.

Underrated: 1974 Topps. Admittedly, this is the first year I collected so I am a little biased. However, I truly think this set is underrated because of the great action shots. Again, looking at this set again as an 8-year-old, I absolutely loved the action shots. I would argue that the Ryan, Reggie, and Seaver cards are some of the best action shots ever.

Favorite: 1975: Pure 70's

Least Favorite: Take your pick of any of the 60's sets that included the "no cap" poses. Totally boring to me.

I completely agree with you on 1974. There are so many great action shots in this set, Pete Rose, Jim Palmer, Carlton Fisk, Nolan Ryan come to mind. 1974 was the first year I collected too.

[nolemmings]

Overrated: 1954 Topps. I’ve posted this many times. I look at sets as to how I would have received them as a kid enjoying his hobby and his sport at the time. This set has hideous player selection, is stuffed full of old men coaches, and lacks most all players of the AL Champ Indians team that won 111 games. As ten year-olds or whatever, we would not have yet appreciated or foreseen the greatness of Henry Aaron, Al Kaline and Ernie Banks– the only saving graces from the set. I get the contract dispute with Bowman as a cause, but c’mon man.

Dishonorable mention: 1975 Topps. Loud colors for their own sake, not coordinated by team, were a turnoff for me. Many of us sorted by team and it was great to have the color coordination as was found in ‘66, ‘68, ‘69, ‘71, ‘72 and ‘74, which were during the primary years of my collecting.

Underrated: 1974 Topps, 1966 Topps. I really like the designs of these two. As others mentioned, the ‘74s have some really great shots.

Favorite: 1966 Topps. My first year of collecting probably has much to do with it. Too bad Topps had not come to grips with the fact that the Yankees cannot be in the World Series every year so they omitted, that one year only, what would have been a great W.S. subset. Also unfortunate that Angels and Braves were mostly hatless due to team/city name changes. Still, the set is so clean and crisp, IMHO, that it ranks numero uno for me.

Least favorite. 1978 Topps. Hate most everything about it. Too many cards, and the design looks like it came from a kid who realized his homework assignment was due in 30 minutes and he had to come up with something. Script team names and a little baseball with abbreviated position. There’s simple, and then there’s lazy.

[packs]

Overrated: 1954 Topps. A trio of iconic players' rookie cards but I absolutely hate the missing top border.

Underrated: 1963 Fleer. Yes, no major rookie in the set aside from Wills, but the player representation couldn't be better. Missing Mantle but does contain most of the greatest players of the era. In my opinion it has a great image selection too.

Favorite: 1959 Topps. Gorgeous cards, common and star alike.

Least Favorite: Hate the 1962 Topps set.

[Ten Million]

Overrated: 1952 Topps. It's amazing how cachet clouds vision.

Underrated: 1963 Fleer. Clean, attractive alternative with some big stars. I also like 1984 Fleer for its streamlined "Scandinavian" design.

Favorite: 1954 Topps? 1952 Bowman?

Least Favorite: 1961 Topps. zzzzzzzzzzz

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by packs

Least Favorite: Hate the 1962 Topps set.

[JollyElm]

Overrated: 1971 Topps.
The folks in Duryea, PA had no business handing out a black bordered set to kids. So short-sighted. You look at them wrong, and the cards start turning white. Just a ridiculously poor move. Find a random stack of cards from any other year, and there's a good chance some (a lot) of them will look nice. Find a stack of 71's in your closet, and it doesn't matter how nice the action shots are, each and every card will have white rounded corners and edges and look like deteriorated garbage.
However, in the graded card world we live in today, the set skyrockets to one of my most favorites ever, but that's simply because with the cards sitting in their protective prisons, there's no chance now of them deteriorating right before my eyes.

Underrated: 1960 Topps.
This set grew on me so much, so quickly that I started a thread about it a couple of years ago. It's definitely one that needs to be re-examined by the haters.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=270971

Favorite: 1972 Topps (hands down).
Also love 1965 and think 1974 was a beautiful stroke of genius, with the mix of colors and all the terrific action shots. Near perfection.

Least Favorite: 1959 Topps.
For the love of god, who at Topps said, "You know what, let's squeeze each picture into a tiny circle and eliminate a huge portion of the image area by blocking it out with wall of color!!"??????