1955, 1960, 1971 are the best to me...but I do have a secret love of the 1974 cards.

56 is an easy answer but I just love that set. I put it together card by card. 342 is the perfect number. Not too big like the 572-726 card behemoths but not too small. 10% HOFers. Last Feller card. Good mix of legends and upstarts. Great poses. Arguably the best Clemente and Mantle cards. It was the first year after the Bowman buyout so finally all the best from both set. The last of the oversized cards. Team cards for the first time.

I spent a year and a half on this set and I feel like I have every card memorized. I have sets that are more valuable but none that I love quite like ‘56

My favorite Topps is 1954. The only thing I don't like about it is no Mantle. 1956 is a close second for sure.

1956 for me. Also really like 1961 as well.

1955 and 1956

56 for sure.

It is the most beautiful set by far to me.

Another good thing about it for the budget collector is that there are no major rookies to break the bank over, just the Mantle. I love the 54 and 55 sets too, but the Aaron and Clemente rookies make them unobtainable in a condition I can live with.

Overall, 1956.

And from the '60's, 1967.

I like the 1960s since this period was my childhood and I started collecting. I will break the "rules" and list more than one set that I enjoy in the 50s and 60s.

1950s...55 and 57
1960s...63, 65, 67
1970s...none stand out

My top five.

1. 1956
2. 1955
3. 1953
4. 1960
5. 1965

1967 set is wonderful, bright vivid color. The green backs are nice, too.
1972 set as well, in action cards and a great color scheme. The Clemente card is probably the best card in the set.

Jim

1952, 1954, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967 & 1971. Is that too many :-)

If I had to pick just one, I’d select the 1953 Topps set. I love art-based cards, and the Paige and Mays cards are probably my two favorite Topps cards. Only drawback to me is the facsimile auto on back makes some of the text hard to read. 1957 is my favorite in the now-standard size, and 56 is fantastic

By decade:

60’s - 1966 Topps, with 67 a close runner up. 67 and 68 has my favorite back design of all Topps issues.

70’s - 1971, those black borders are great. The vibrant yellow backs on the O-Pee-Chees I like more than the Topps ones.

80’s - 1987, wood grain perfection.

90’s - pretty weak decade for me. Nothing terrible, but none stand out. Guess I have a soft spot for those ugly bright 1990 borders

00’s - 2000 Topps, love the silver borders. Actually liked 2001’s 50th anniversary set a lot too.

10’s - probably 2010. Very similar year to year for quite awhile now, but pretty solid every season

Yes Jerry, you have to whittle it down some :)

50s: 52 through 57 are all wonderful, but my favorite is 53. The beautiful paintings and the design are just perfection to me. One of my favorite sets of all time.

60s: 60, 63, 64 and 67 are all in the running, but if I have to pick an absolute favorite, I'll go with....hm. 60, I guess. It's fun and colorful, and I like the side by side shots, similar to the mid 50s sets, and the team logo on the bottom.

70s: 71. Cool design and I dig the black borders. I know everyone loves the 75, but I guess you had to be there. I was an 80s kid. Not crazy at all about the wild colors. I disliked 90 as well, and that was out when I was still in little league, so there you go.

80s: 83 is a great looking set. Another of my all time favorites, and one of the first I started collecting. I also like 84 through 87, but I can take or leave the rest of the decade. That run from 83 to 87 though, produced some memorable designs.

90s: I liked the 91 set quite a bit. Classic style design, and lots of great photos that year. They caught some of the players in cool poses. Ryan, Puckett, Boggs, Clemens and Henderson all come to mind as having stand out cards that year.

OK ... 1957, 1967 & 1971. This is a tough task for set collectors. And I don't mean the high #'s :-)

Excellent choices ;)

65
57
62

at the bottom of the heap
60
68

vote best tops set
 

This is tough but I would go:

1955 Combines everything you would want in a card (logos, great art, unique design, portrait and action, signatures) with just the right amount of each.

1953 Stunning portraits

1965 The pennants and bright colors

1975 Looks like the 70s felt

1980 Those position and team banner wraps. Classy.

My vote would be for the 1967 Topps set. The photography and card design are both outstanding. Second place might just go to the 1971 black border set but there are many candidates.

Steve

1953 Bowman - Commanding picture.
1955 Topps - First set completed.
1971 Topps - Have many but never completed the set.