Quote:
Originally Posted by G1911
The 1980 cutoff makes no sense to me outside of a calendar. I think there are 3 reasonable lines one could draw:
Pre-1974 - the end of Topps issues by series and the beginning of the 'modern' hobby starting to emerge where cards had some value outside of a few pre-war ones.
Pre-1981 - the end of the Topps monopoly.
Pre-1988/1989 - When mainstream generally-issued cards grew more advanced and objectively of higher quality (which doesn't mean overall better). 1989 Upper Deck is the famous peak of this shift, but 1988 Score was a big step up in quality over 87 Donruss/Fleer/Topps and does not get enough credit these days.
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The 1980 cutoff is as you say, the last set of the Topps monopoly. It makes sense both from a calendar and hobby perspective.