Favorite/best and least fav/worst '53 to '79 vintage complete sets?

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

I'll grant you the design from Topps 1954 set is beautiful. But when more than one out of ten cards in a set is a coach or a manager, I have to believe the youngsters were unhappy. Can you imagine 60-80 managers and coaches in the Topps sets from the 1960's and 1970's? Even then, you'd still have 500+ other cards to enjoy, rather than the 224 that Topps issued in 1954.

As for the Tribe, maybe no one could predict 111 wins and a pennant, but how do you not include any of their four future HOF pitchers--Feller, Wynn, Lemon and Newhouser? Kids are opening Topps packs during that baseball season in anticipation (no checklists) and the sole Cleveland pitcher they see is Dave Hoskins? Yes, that Dave Hoskins. Not Dave Hollins or Clem Haskins, but Dave Hoskins. No offense to Mr. Hoskins, but yuck. Great design or not, as a kid I want to see and read the cardbacks of the guys making the newspapers and radio every day, not a bunch of grandpas and sometimes players.

This "what would kids have felt at the time" is such an interesting view. 1954 and 1955 Topps would have felt fairly empty to many of them. As mentioned earlier, no one would've cared about Aaron, Banks, Kaline, Koufax, and Clemente at the time. It would've been mostly about no Mick and plenty of other guys.

Then came 1956, which solved most of that while adding great background shots again, as well as the team cards and checklists. Gotta think that collecting would've been so much more enjoyable for the average kid that year than the prior two.

Just think if it turned out that something combined a 1956 type with the rookie cards of '54 and '55? Even better that it didn't work out that way, though. Would rather have a mix over the years than just one perfect superset

[rats60]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

This "what would kids have felt at the time" is such an interesting view. 1954 and 1955 Topps would have felt fairly empty to many of them. As mentioned earlier, no one would've cared about Aaron, Banks, Kaline, Koufax, and Clemente at the time. It would've been mostly about no Mick and plenty of other guys.

Then came 1956, which solved most of that while adding great background shots again, as well as the team cards and checklists. Gotta think that collecting would've been so much more enjoyable for the average kid that year than the prior two.

Just think if it turned out that something combined a 1956 type with the rookie cards of '54 and '55? Even better that it didn't work out that way, though. Would rather have a mix over the years than just one perfect superset

I really don’t think that Mantle would have been that big until 1956. Berra won his 2nd & 3rd mvps in 1954 & 1955. Mays was MVP in 1954. Williams and Jackie were recent MVPs. Only Campy was exclusive with Bowman from the big name award winners. Bowman losing Teddy Ballgame to Topps would have been bigger than Mantle missing from Topps in my opinion.