[jchcollins]

It's hard to go wrong with '56 Topps for the postwar era. Many HOF'ers have some of their best looking cards in that set, my favorites would be Mantle, Williams, and Roberto Clemente - the latter of which someone has already mentioned - that is virtual "card porn."

For the ensuing decades, I'll just mention some personal favorites. The cards don't have to be stars or HOF'ers - but:

'61 Topps Chuck Cottier - Night time shot with what are just interesting colors to me - Chuck's uni has been heavily airbrushed by the Topps artists, and I can't even tell what the hell is supposed to be on his sleeve - a "6"?

'63 Topps Sandy Koufax - Almost a poignant looking pitching pose, Sandy is looking ostensibly at a batter and not the camera. Love the full script "Los Angeles" road uni, and then the blue of his uniform and cap pop well with the red and orange of the '63 design.

'67 Topps #580 Rocky Colavito - Beautiful uniform follow-through pose with an interesting background. What a '60s baseball card should look like, IMO.

'67 Topps #600 Brooks Robinson - Similar reasons. Great batting pose, smiling player, and the colors are just pleasing.

'72 Topps Carl Yastrzemski - Artist's palette for color: The greens and blues mix delightfully on this card with Carl's batting pose.

'82 Topps Traded Cal Ripken - Spring training shot with a great batting pose, and good color contrast again with the green of the field and the blue sky.