Survey: Rate each Topps flagship design from 1951-2023.

[lukewarm_pizza]

10 most popular sets: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1955, 1965, 1956, 1983, 1984, 1963

10 least popular sets: 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2021, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2003

10 most divisive sets: 1987, 2008, 1951, 2018, 2023, 2007, 2015, 1990, 2021, 2020

10 least divisive sets: 1953, 1958, 1963, 1952, 1985, 1977, 1954, 1966, 1980, 1976

Most popular decade: 1950s

Least popular decade: 1990s

Most divisive decade: 2020s

Least divisive decade: 1960s

578 participants from Net54, Blowout, and Reddit.

[bobbvc]

I'll bet this information would be a lot more valuable if the survey takers were grouped by age.

[bobbvc]

Great job though.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by bobbvc

I'll bet this information would be a lot more valuable if the survey takers were grouped by age.

Seems that late decade designs did significantly worse than early-decade, overall. Could be a generational bias?

Cool data!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

How on earth 1957 didn't at least rank second is beyond me. It's far and away the nicest set IMO and the photography and cards have aged so grandly. I just envisioned 1952 finishing in the top spot no matter what, and don't really have a problem with that.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

How on earth 1957 didn't at least rank second is beyond me. It's far and away the nicest set IMO and the photography and cards have aged so grandly. I just envisioned 1952 finishing in the top spot no matter what, and don't really have a problem with that.

57’s are just ok to me. 1953-56 is where it’s at, in my opinion.

[seanofjapan]

What is more shocking to me about the 1957s is that the 1958 set ranked above it. I've always found the 58 to be quite boring.

[Buythatcard]

Nice job putting this survey together. I bet that members here would have more to say about designs prior to 1951.

Try comparing some of those black and white designs against one another.

[campyfan39]

Different strokes i guess. 57 to me is the worst design of the 50's by far. Very plain and often the letters are hard to see.
For me:

53
56
59
75
52
64

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

How on earth 1957 didn't at least rank second is beyond me. It's far and away the nicest set IMO and the photography and cards have aged so grandly. I just envisioned 1952 finishing in the top spot no matter what, and don't really have a problem with that.

[FrankWakefield]

+1 for posts 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Golly, 1952's are way over rated. Folks must have rated based on 1952 Mantle card and not the design (really, not much of a design, there).

1967 Topps seem way under rated to me.

That survey covered a bunch of years.

And thanks for the survey and starting the thread.

[G1911]

I am most surprised by 1953 being the least divisive. 1951 is a small game card series I would separate from the main line, but 1953 is unique in that the set is painted portraits instead of colorized or color photos. It’s popular, but it has detractors for this unique approach. I would have expected it to finish well but in the more divisive group, not the #1 least divisive.

[seanofjapan]

Its funny that none of the top 10 sets are less than 38 years old (most recent is 1984), while none of the bottom 10 sets are more than 28 years old (oldest is 1994).

I also tend to agree that the 52 set's design is over-rated. Its not much of a design, especially compared with those of the 1953 to 1957 sets that immediately followed it.