3 best. 3 worst Topps issues

[ALR-bishop]

What amazes me is that a guy as astute as Anthony could be so wrong about 57 and 59

Todd-- I get what you say about 54, but it is even more true of the iconic 52 set which is also full of coaches, managers and guys who hardly played at the ML level, if at all.

[stlcardsfan]

You guys are only considering the fronts. 1970 has the best backs of any year! Clear, bright and ultra easy to read (especially when you get older). But I digress:

Best:

1967
1972
1965

Worst:

1958
1962
1968

[Tennken]

My best:

1. 1967
2. 1953
3. 1971

My worst:

1. 1970
2. 1968
3. 1969

[KCRfan1]

My favorites in no certain order:

1973
1952
1955

My least favorites in no certain order:

1979
1982
1978

More of my least favorites would be the junk wax from 1986 to present.

Fun thread, as we all have our own personal likes and dislikes.

[NateMack]

My 3 favorites are:
1. 54 Topps, surprising to hear that so many people dislike the set. I feel like each card is a work of art and the bright colors are amazing! A very great day when I got the Banks and Aaron RCs!
2. 56 Topps, these were the cards of legend when I was growing up and today. A truley amazing set and jam packed with all the stars again...
3. 58 Topps, the first set I completed when I got back into collecting after a lengthy stoppage, I really love the colors and with each of these 3 sets I love reading the backs of the cards as well!
- runners up: 55T, 53T, 52T, 59T, 72T, 64T, 65T

My 3 worst:
1970, gray borders make these cards very drab. Not much to look at
1968 Topps, differing front patterns and ugly design
1971 those black borders are a nightmare, every ding is magnified
- runners up: 73T, 74T, 76-79T, 62T

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

...
Todd-- I get what you say about 54, but it is even more true of the iconic 52 set which is also full of coaches, managers and guys who hardly played at the ML level, if at all.

True to some extent Al, but not nearly as bad. By my count there were only about 15 managers/coaches out of 407 in the '52 set, about one out of 27 cards (asssuming I didn't miss some). In '54 there were 26 out of 250 cards, better than 1 in 10. I get what you're saying about the undistinguished players, but at least Topps rolled the dice and gave kids a chance to look at someone relatively within their age group and not those old coots who had long since hung 'em up.

Originally Posted by spec

Todd is right on the money. I ended 16 years of collecting out of packs when Topps did not issue the 1973 set in series -- at least in the Boston/Brookline, Mass. area. Since 1959 I had purchased a box each time a series came out, discovering even at the age of 12 that that was the most efficient way to get all the cards in a series, at least when you lived in a rural area as I did until 1967. That strategy did not work when all 660 cards were distributed at once, so I just bought the entire set from a dealer.
Bo.b Richa.rdson

Thanks Bob- nice to see someone else remembers.