Decisions...Decisions......I need some input

[whitehse]

I have been a collector for nearly 50 years although I do not feel that old. Back in the day (now I sound old) my dad and I started buying cards by placing ads in the paper in the late 70's and we bought an awful lot of cards. This was pre-price guide days where we would offer someone a hundred bucks for a shopping bag of 50's cards and they would giggle and take our money and felt they were ripping US off. So needless to say we built many sets and had complete runs of Topps from mostly the 60's and several 1950's sets as well but when the boom hit we cashed in and sold everything. I say this because my goal is no longer to assemble every set that I can but rather assemble sets that represent a wide time frame in which to "tell the tale" of post war baseball through baseball cards. Hopefully I can explain my ask better this way.....


1956 Topps baseball spans the 1930's, 40's and 50's with players who started their careers during this time frame like Feller, Rizzuto and so many more. I am at 80% complete on this set and anticipate having it completed by the end of the year or early next year. I am only missing the Mantle and Mays with the rest being commons.

Gap- this is what I need to fill.

1973 Topps baseball set features players who were near rookies in the 1956 set such as Clemente and Mays but are now represented at the end of their careers. This set also has rookies of players like Schmidt and Evans who would go on to be some of the greatest of the 70's and 1980's. This was the first set I assembled as a kid and this set has great sentimental value which is while I am putting it together.

1982 Topps set features those who were rookies and up and coming stars from the 1973 set who are coming to the end of their careers with stars as well as the next generation of stars and hall of famers like Ripken, Smith and others who would play into the 2000's. I have this set fully complete.

So as you can see I am wanting to put together a set from the 60's that will depict the young guys from the '56 set in their prime and help complete the span of all the decades of the post war years. I plan to do this with mostly raw, mid grade cards with nice eye appeal but am not adverse to buying graded for the stars. The one caveat I have is that I cannot blow tons of money on the building of this set. I need one of the less expensive sets but one that looks attractive. This is where your opinion and ideas matter. I would love to hear your thoughts on which 1960's set I should build and why. I am leaning towards 1960 or 1964 as I like the look but would love to build the 61 set but there is no way I can afford all those high numbers.

I hope this request has not been too confusing and hopefully it will spark some conversations about the sets you assembled and what you feel my next move should be.

[rats60]

I did kind of what you are doing, but I picked 1955, 1965, 1975. So, I would recommend the 1965 set. It is easy to put together and not expensive. Plus you get some great Hof RCs, Morgan, Carlton, Hunter and Perez. It also has the best photography. I love the cards of Koufax, Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Yaz, etc.

[jayshum]

I was thinking 1965 as well. I personally like the look of it more than 60 or 64. There are some SP high numbers that can get a little pricey though.

[Bigdaddy]

I finished the '65 set last year and enjoyed putting it together - it's a beautiful set. Like was mentioned above, it's got the stars of the 50's - Mantle, Mays, Koufax, Berra, Ford, Banks, Aaron and Clemente plus RCs of Carlton, Morgan, Hunter, Perez, Niekro (2nd RC) and a third year Rose.

As a second option, I always liked (but never put together) the '62 set as it depicts one of the greatest teams in history - the '61 Yankees. It's got great WS cards, Babe Ruth cards, the HR Leaders with Maris and Mantle and one of my favorite cards, the Managers Dream with Mick and Willie (and Hank in the background).

I'm working on the '64 set now and to tell you the truth, I've sort of run out of steam on it. Just can't seem to get excited about the '64s.

You can't go wrong with either the '62 or '65 sets IMO.

[jasonc]

I would say 1965 topps would be a really good idea as well.. The set looks great and the player selection is well covered.

What I think is you have a really good idea -- to pick sets like that, which would cover a lot of the key players at different points of their careers. I just wonder what superstars wouldn't be included... probably ones with shorter careers.

Good Luck on your project.

[mortimer brewster]

I believe the 1971 Topps set would be a good choice.

Many stars from the mid 1950's still going strong. Clemente Aaron,Mays, Killebrew Banks and others

Established stars who played into the 1980's Carlton Seaver,Yastrzemski Jackson,Ryan and others

And Thurman Munson

[Phil68]

Neat question/idea.
Personally, '57, '67, '77
would be my choices. Everybody is in their prime at one point or another. You DO miss Rizzuto, Feller and a few others, but I think that's true of most combos.

The cool thing about 77 is you get guys that entered the HOF 30 years later, so it brings you "up to date"

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by Phil68

Neat question/idea.
Personally, '57, '67, '77
would be my choices. Everybody is in their prime at one point or another. You DO miss Rizzuto, Feller and a few others, but I think that's true of most combos.

The cool thing about 77 is you get guys that entered the HOF 30 years later, so it brings you "up to date"

I love the 57 and 67 set but there is no way I could ever approach affording them especially with the high numbers of the '67's and the mid-highs of the '57. I do like your thinking though and if I had to do it all over again I might go this route.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by mortimer brewster

I believe the 1971 Topps set would be a good choice.

Many stars from the mid 1950's still going strong. Clemente Aaron,Mays, Killebrew Banks and others

Established stars who played into the 1980's Carlton Seaver,Yastrzemski Jackson,Ryan and others

And Thurman Munson

Great idea but honestly, the 71 set would drive me freaking crazy. I like decent corners and seeing the black corners and edges with white showing would just kill me. Over the years I put two of those sets together and they are certainly beautiful when the cards are spot on but for me to try and do that now....ugh.

[whitehse]

Thank you everyone for your input.

It sounds like the majority who answered have suggested the 1965 set and to be honest, I had considered this one at one time but decided against it. I never was a real huge fan of the look of the 65's and really thought the early 60's would be better as I love the look of the 61 and 62 set but could never afford attempting those. The 1960 set was a real thought but I felt it didn't capture the heart of 1960's baseball which made me take a look at the 64's. There was a time I loved the 64's but now, after looking a number of the cards over I now find them rather bland. After re-looking at 65's I think I am going to take all of your suggestion and go with that one. It has the guys in their prime from the '56 set and a great crop of rookies which makes it ideal for what I am trying to do and the overall design of the set is more appealing that the '64's. So 1965 Topps it is!!!

I am curious what everyone's own personal thoughts on this idea I have about picking specific sets that span the time frames I mentioned (Or other times frames). What sets would you personally assemble?

[cesarcap]

Like others I'd vote for 65, which I didn't assemble. Bought a near complete set. I had that #7 guy from Oklahoma and only had to find <4 commons.

But have you thought about the 1969 set? Sure it's not as pretty as some of the other years and there are a handful of recycled and obviously airbrushed portraits.

But it is relatively affordable, presents well in lower grades (unlike 71, 63 or 62), has the expansion teams, lots of HoF's including Mantle's last card and Reggie's RC. Also has RC's of other popular players: Fingers, Nettles and Bonds and a few others I'm forgetting at the moment. Bench's and Ryan's 2nd are for me more attractive than their 68 RC's. Lastly, Ted Williams shows up a few times.