Best of 1980 Topps

[brewing]

This side of the forum always seems to be slow. To add a little action, how about we do a top 5 for each regular Topps release. List (highly encouraged to post pics) your top 5. The criteria of your selection is up to you (photo, great season, error, first card, favorite player, etc.).

We'll do each year starting from 1980 to 1952. I'll start a new year about once a week. I'll close voting a month after the first post of the thread and tally up the results.

With these basic rules...
1. You can only vote for a player's card twice during his entire run (Let's not make this a Mantle and Ryan love fest). Consider that when making your selections.

2. Provide a reason for each choice if you're the first person making that selection. You are encouraged, but it's not necessary to restate the point if someone already said it.

3. Pick only 5. We are going through 29 years, limiting to only Topps regular releases, tough decisions will be made. List honorable mentions if you desire, but they will not be counted in the final tally.

[brewing]

My choices for 1980. Which happens to be one of my favorite sets. I'm partial because the summer of 1980 I fell in love with baseball cards.


Great photo, of a great player. Also has my vote for best rookie card photo.



Awesome action shot of the Ryan Express. All Star label is an extra touch.



Simple photo taken during the game. Soft cap and All Star label are cool features. This one beat out the Gary Carter for me. Sometimes simple beats action.



30 years earlier and this card would have said "Lefty Carlton". There wasn't a better lefty on the planet in 1980. Cool action shot and you should tell by now, I'm a sucker for the All Star label.



One of the rare times you can see the knuckleball grip on a baseball card. Sure he pitched forever, but he won most of the games on crappy teams.

Honorable Mention:
Gary Carter
JR Richard
Reggie Jackson
George Foster

[MattyC]

Great thread!

For 1980 I gotta go Rickey as well-- not just because it is the highlight of the set, but the photo and overall card composition, color, etc., is great.

I like the Murphy portrait, that orange uni.

Love the Molitor.

Also check out MANY SARMIENTO, JR RICHARD, DENNIS LEONARD, the blue sky behind MITCHELL PAGE, and CRAIG REYNOLDS.

[Beatles Guy]

Love that Rickey. I've got one in route from SGC. May be the best looking RC of all time.

[PM770]

Great idea for a thread brewing. I look forward to everyone elses contributions. Here are mine.

1980 was a great year, I turned 10 in the summer - the year baseball is probably most important to a young kid. The 1980 design wasn't one of my favorites but it did provide a lot of cool cards. Here are my 5 favorites:

1) Roy Smalley. Like you brewing, I was fascinated by the "All-Star" designation on the Topps issues of the late-70s, early 80s. If you remember, in 1979 Topps missed Freddie Patek as the AL SS (more on this when you do 1979). But just something very cool about that Smalley card to me.

2) Nolan Ryan. My favorite Ryan card. An action shot and the All-Star designation. Whats not to like. Plus his last Angels card - he was already in Houston.

3) Fred Lynn. This card was in one of the first two 1980 packs my dad brought home for me on a snowy late winter night when he saw they were out and had to go pick up bread or milk. My first All-Star of the year. Thanks Dad.

4) Darrell Porter. Another cool card. I remember thinking Darrell Porter was massively huge when I was a kid. All-Star designation - check.

5) Gary Carter. I was a big Gary Carter fan as a kid. Great action shot with him holding up the ball. I remember being very disappointed when Carter did not win the voting at catcher that year. Cheated out of the All-Star designation.

I would have added George Brett, but I have two other years in mind for him. I also add an honorable mention for Len Barker and his first Indians card.

[JollyElm]

1980.jpg

I've been away from this site for quite awhile now due to a couple of serious personal issues, but I can't resist posting in this type of thread.

Unfortunately, I think the 1980 set was one of the most boring sets in history. Although the design itself was top notch and extremely colorful, a very large percentage of the photos were portraits and the action shots were quite basic with almost none pushing the envelope. Contrast it to the 1974 thread of mine that somebody recently got going again and you'll see how absolutely boring the action shots are on the 1980 cards. Okay, that's neither here nor there, so here are my five 'favorites':

1. The Gary Carter card is without a doubt in my mind the best of the set. Look at the intensity in his eyes as he holds up the ball to the unseen umpire. And from a design standpoint, the way his arm is extended high forces the viewer's eyes to move from lower left to upper right and then back down to his face again and off the page to the left. Magnificent!

2. The Reggie is a relatively a tame action shot, but it shows what we loved about him as a player - that big swing!

3. Nelson Norman is obviously not going to make anybody else's list, but this shot is one you don't ever see - a ground level view of an attempted steal (Mickey Rivers? Willie Randolph?) of second. Pretty cool.

4. Not a 'favorite,' but definitely a memorable one for me. As a Mets fan, me and all of my friends were huge Tom Seaver fans...and then he was dealt to the Reds. I call this one the 'Fat Elvis' Seaver card.

5. Another memorable one. Not sure how it happened, as people around here are always talking about how baseball card packs were created at the Topps plant. They seem to talk about hard facts and what can and can't happen during production. Well, in 1980 I walked to the drugstore and bought a few wax packs. I forget if they contained 10 or 15 cards or whatever, but when I opened one pack, every single card in it was Dave Winfield. I kid you not. A full pack of Winfields. I'm sure I still have all or most of them around here somewhere. But all of that aside, I have one question. Why in heck did Topps give Dave a makeover on his card, adding mascara and eyeliner to his face???

[the 'stache]

My top 5:

1. Robin Yount (just love this card. It shows "the Kid" as a kid in the year that he became a star). Robin hit .293 with 121 runs scored, 49 doubles, 10 triples, and went 20-20 (23 home runs, 20 stolen bases).



2. Rickey Henderson

3. Nolan Ryan

4. Paul Molitor. Another of my childhood favorites. It was a real treat watching Yount and Molitor, two future Hall of Famers, play together.



5. Gary Carter. Just a great card. I miss the kid. He just loved the game.

[David W]

Well.... I pulled out my 1980 Topps set in the box, and it was still arranged by teams. Here are a few that caught my eye.

1 - Butch Wynegar's follow through

2 - Ozzie swinging for the fences when he couldn't hit a lick in 1980

3 - Bob Montgomery on deck with no batting helmet - the last player to bat without wearing one.

4 - Danny Goodwin - growing up in Central Illinois in the 70's Danny Goodwin was a legend. The number 1 pick in 2 amateur drafts from Peoria Central HS, you could follow him in the newspaper, and his cards were gold.

5 - Mike Phillips - He got the last hit for the Cardinals in a season in the late 70's and I gave out the Mike Phillips award, complete with taping his card to the wall for several years after that to the player who got the last hit of the Cardinal season. The only other player I remember though was Jim Lentine.
This is a pretty cool action shot of him turning two.

[campyfan39]

Great Thread:

My picks for 1980 topps

1. Rickey Henderson
2. Ozzie Smith
3. Gary Carter
4. Johnny Bench (Great action shot and his sig is neat looking)
5. Bob Horner (The colors and that old Braves uniform just pop and look cool IMO)

here is the two that have yet to be posted:

Presentation Board by Topps

[DaClyde]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

5. Another memorable one. Not sure how it happened, as people around here are always talking about how baseball card packs were created at the Topps plant. They seem to talk about hard facts and what can and can't happen during production. Well, in 1980 I walked to the drugstore and bought a few wax packs. I forget if they contained 10 or 15 cards or whatever, but when I opened one pack, every single card in it was Dave Winfield. I kid you not. A full pack of Winfields. I'm sure I still have all or most of them around here somewhere. But all of that aside, I have one question. Why in heck did Topps give Dave a makeover on his card, adding mascara and eyeliner to his face???

I've always wondered why Dave's eyes look so bad/fake on this card. 1989 Topps Wade Boggs is the same way.

[Zach Wheat]

Wow, not one of my favorite sets, but I have to go with

1. Rickey Henderson
2. Tom Seaver
3. Kirk Gibson
4. Rod Carew

and one probably no one will anticipate...one of Garry Maddox. Gotta love a pic of a guy that is smiling wearing this hairdo in the '80's.

5 Garry Maddox

[brewing]

The 1980 set has several cards that have players with mascara eyes. Lou Whitaker, Gaylord Perry, Ron LeFlore are some I can think of without looking.

Also, Zack Wheat...... Kirk Gibson did not have a card in the 1980 set.

[Zach Wheat]

Yup you are right. I was thinking of the pose in the '88 set. I think he was a Dodger by then.

[ALR-bishop]

[DaClyde]

Wow, someone needs to learn to color in the lines!

[brewing]

Any more input on the best of the 1980 Topps set?

[PM770]

WOW! Where have I been? I never knew about that Yankees team variation.

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by PM770

WOW! Where have I been? I never knew about that Yankees team variation.

It's an unissued blank backed proof card that was hand cut off of a full sheet, probably only a few in existence.

[ALR-bishop]

Cliff is right. It is one of only a few Topps proofs with it's own listing in SCD. The 67 Maris as a Yankee and the 77 R Jackson as an Oriole and a few other 77s from that sheet with players on different teams than the regular issue are the ones that come to mind. I would have put the 60 Cimoli/Hadley and Throneberry in that group, but I think Bob Lemke indicated that they are not blank backed, which may make them variations

[PM770]

Thanks for the info guys. Is there a '77 Rollie Fingers that fits that description? I remember seeing an ultra rare variation at the National once.

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by PM770

Thanks for the info guys. Is there a '77 Rollie Fingers that fits that description? I remember seeing an ultra rare variation at the National once.

Bottom right hand corner.

[con40]

Brock has card #1 with Yaz, but he deserved his own final card too.

[ALR-bishop]

Great card, Keith

[brewing]

To date 9 votes have been submitted.

Henderson 6
Carter 4
Ryan 3
Molitor, Seaver and Ozzie Smith have 2 votes.

I'll close this up before the next edition (1972). Any last votes to break the tie?

[brightair]

seems like some people are voting for their favorite players, others for their favorites cards, which is it supposed to be?

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by brightair

seems like some people are voting for their favorite players, others for their favorites cards, which is it supposed to be?

I believe it is supposed to be favorite cards from each set, not players. One of my favorite playeres I have voted twice for his card in 1975 and 1973 (not because he was my favorite but loved those two cards) but other than that, it is truly my favorite cards or cards that catch my eye the most from each set.

[brewing]

Originally Posted by brightair

seems like some people are voting for their favorite players, others for their favorites cards, which is it supposed to be?

There is no criteria other than you can't vote for a player more than twice.

[brewing]

The Final Count

Henderson 6
Carter 4
Ryan 3
Molitor, Seaver and Ozzie Smith have 2 votes.

[brewing]

How about we bring this thread back to life?

Anyone new or who missed it, want to chime in?

The criteria of your selection is up to you (photo, great season, error, first card, favorite player, etc.).

With these basic rules...
1. You can only vote for a player's card twice during his entire run (Let's not make this a Mantle and Ryan love fest). Consider that when making your selections.

2. Provide a reason for each choice if you're the first person making that selection. You are encouraged, but it's not necessary to restate the point if someone already said it.

3. Pick only 5. We are going through 29 years, limiting to only Topps regular releases, tough decisions will be made. List honorable mentions if you desire, but they will not be counted in the final tally.

[Cliff Bowman]

Whoops, wrong thread, I thought I was at the worst of 1980 Topps .

[ALR-bishop]

Rules ? We don't need no stinking rules....

Brent---are we going to do the sets one by one every seven years or so ?

[brewing]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Rules ? We don't need no stinking rules....

Brent---are we going to do the sets one by one every five years or so ?

Without rules it'll be a Mantle thread. Aren't there enough of those?

Only during pandemics when the baseball season is delayed or cancelled.

[ALR-bishop]

[mrmopar]

I like the idea. I was always a very visual collector. I only have issue with the same player twice rule though. Unlikely in most cases that a players card would break the top 5 more than a few times in their career, but there is almost always going to be a preference towards stars. Off the top of my head, I could see Carew, Rose and a few others scoring very high on multiple years. For years like 58, 60, 67 and others, it is hard to pick any standouts from a pure aesthetics aspect, but once you get into the crazy action era of the 70s/80s, so many great images.

I will refer to my great Topps book to remind me of the forgotten gems. When i got this new for Christmas (85 I think, or 86), it was the greatest gift I could ever imagine getting.

[mrmopar]

This is harder that I thought. I always loved the AS banners and all rookie trophies on cards. They added a special extra to the basic Topps card. Then if there was an action shot as well, then the coolness factor was exponential.

Factor in not being able to reuse players later in the votes, you have to possibly toss some cool cards so that you can include them later.

Some honorable mentions include Darrell Porter, Frank White, Cesar Cedeno, Steve Garvey, JR Richard (too bad he didn't have an AS banner), any of the highlight cards, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Dave Parker...

Rickey Henderson is a choice made for this game, because he will not appear again, it is THE rookie of that year and he would eventually be a HOFer. It is also a nice action shot. I see how it will almost certainly be top 5, but it is a card I don't love personally. Had Rickey not gone on to the career he had, it would be another common batting action card from a set loaded with them.

#1. Ryan is the hands down best looking 1980 Topps card in my mind, the best Ryan card period (Topps really missed the boat with Ryan in the 70s) and possibly one of the greatest card images of all time.

#2. Next, I am going with Yastrzemski. Like Ryan, he didn't get enough of the cool card images a player of his caliber deserved. The 76 is a great action shot and would definitely be a strong contender that year, especially with an AS badge too (but he didn't have one). His 78 badge went with a boring profile shot, so this 79 Topps is the best of both worlds for me. Of course, he goes back to 1960, leaving just 1 other possibly year to vote for him in other rounds. That may bite me later.

Next, I will reluctantly move away from the AS banner cards, which are almost always my favorites. This is probably Ted Simmons' best card. Aside from Foster, they are all pretty decent card images. Instead I will go with players who will have no shot at showing up on the list again. All three are action shots I liked when I first saw the cards.

#3. Odell Jones. Jones gets the Mariner nod for the event. They were not a good team then and I am not sure the Ruppert Jones trophy card in 78 is strong enough to crack top 5 that year, so this is probably my only Mariner vote. I can't recall a single 70s-80s Mariner card with an AS banner (gorman Thomas had one of those Fleer inserts in the mid 80s that I liked a lot) and the only rookie cup was Rupe until the 1987 Tartabull. The Mariners never got any card respect in the early years. O. Jones was not a star either, but the pose is cool. Several other great action shots for the M's that year including Stinson, Mendoza, Roberts, Meyer, Bochte, but this one gets my vote.

#4. Next up is a cool fielding image. There just are not enough good fielding cards back in the 70s/80s. Again, this guy was no superstar, but he went on to have a decent career. He was the AL rookie of the year in 1979, so we won't see him again in this game. Nice first stand alone card, Alfredo Griffin.

#5. My last pick is probably a stretch. There are better images, but this guy will not get another shot either. He was also no superstar, but had a decent career. This is his rookie card and like the previous pick, he won ROY the prior year, NL. The action shot looks like it might have been practice, but it is still a nice rookie card. A rookie cup or AS banner would have cinched this as a top pick, but I still like it. Toss out the rules and it probably doesn't make top 5 though, even in my book.

[rats60]

Tim Foli
Nelson Norman
Gary Carter
Nolan Ryan
Ricky Henderson