Vote - best Topps set

[brewing]

I can't decide and I may change my mind in the future. But my top five in chronological order.
1953 every card is a work of art, literally. The Mays is my favorite of his and the set.

1956 great design, cool action photos. The Mantle is my favorite and is the 1st vintage Mick I acquired when I got back into the hobby 5 yrs ago.

1971 the borders drive me crazy, but I cannot deny the awesomeness of this set. First set to have in game photos throughout. The Munson is my favorite.

1973 The photography is one of best. Simple design, league leaders for AL/NL on one card, the all time leader cards. My favorite cards are the Bench and Freehan.

1980 The year I caught the disease that ails us. Interesting design with the flags and some great photos inspite of the crazy eyes on some cards. My favorite card is the Henderson. The best HoF rookie card ever IMHO.

Honorable Mentions:
1952, 1970, 1983

[TonyC]

1) 1956 Topps

2) 1965 Topps

3) 1972 Topps

[SMPEP]

1950s: eye appeal - 1956; collector appeal - 1952

1960s: - None. They all sucked. (Only decent non-1950s Topps set in my book - 1973)

Cheers,
Patrick

[Laxcat]

57's hands down. Hardest cards are the Bakep and Lists. You can put it together without selling your house. Plus first standard size set. And the Mantle is awesome looking.

[JTysver]

I like 1954 from the 50s. The 1957 is nice except the pics are dreary.

From the 1960s, I have to say the 1960 set is pretty nice, followed by 1963 and then 1967.

Shooting forward to the 1970s, I'd lean towards 1975.

[1963Topps Set]

Originally Posted by Laxcat

57's hands down. Hardest cards are the Bakep and Lists. You can put it together without selling your house. Plus first standard size set. And the Mantle is awesome looking.

Also the Lucky Penny card (and Lucky Penny), the contest cards (especially July 19th)

[Mountaineer1999]

Good topic! We need a radio button to vote with per decade

[Laxcat]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

Also the Lucky Penny card (and Lucky Penny), the contest cards (especially July 19th)

I love the 57's. I have just recently convinced myself that the contest cards are part of the set. I still differ on the lucky penny or the lucky penny card. Everyone else thinks they are, but I at this time am quite happy without either.

[parkerj33]

no love for 73? the oddly bad yet interesting photos....

but my fave is 67 closely followed by 71, 56 for the 50s and 83 for the 80s.

[almostdone]

Favorites overall:
1956 10% HOFers but sucks no huge Rookies or Musial
1971 great action photos, 1st with photos on back, tough boarders good variety
1980 love to design and good mix of action and posed shots

Favorites for sentimental reasons:
1955 1st vintage set I built
1971 year of my birth
1978 1st cards I ever owned. Learned about baseball as a game from studying those cards
1981 1st pack I bought. Yes ugly set with no great RCs but I bought it with my money. No one gave it to me.


I have never attempted a 60s set and only have handfuls of examples from them so it's not that I don't like them but don't have a lot of experience with them. Like the 67 set though.

Drew

[1963Topps Set]

If you are going to try for a 1960s set, I recommend the 1969 Topps set. Once you get past Mantle / Ryan / Jackson, you are pretty much home free. You can also pick up those "big three" at very reasonable prices if you are patient and shop around.