Survey: Rate each Topps flagship design from 1951-2023.

[lukewarm_pizza]

This is a survey I made to get a general consensus on the hobby's view of Topps flagship designs from 1951-2023. I would really appreciate everyone's input! Results will be shared in this thread in a few days.

Survey Link

[brad31]

Great idea just voted.

[NiceDocter]

Where is my honorarium? LOL

[campyfan39]

Looking forward to the results

[frankhardy]

I voted. It's hard to separate value and mass production from the actual design. I tried to do that. For instance, I gave 1958 a score of 6, but I gave 1987 a score of 9.

10s for me include 1975, 1983, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

[Cmvorce]

This was a lot of fun!

[lukewarm_pizza]

Originally Posted by frankhardy

I voted. It's hard to separate value and mass production from the actual design. I tried to do that. For instance, I gave 1958 a score of 6, but I gave 1987 a score of 9.

10s for me include 1975, 1983, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

I feel the same way. I definitely had some intrinsic bias toward the older designs simply because they carry more value and were less produced. It was hard to judge solely on design.

[seanofjapan]

I tended to rate older ones a bit better too. This was mainly due to my dislike of the glossy finish on cards made since the mid 90s.

[Kutcher55]

There will be a strong bias toward older cards no doubt. Part of this is just the nature of vintage collectors and part is because every Topps design after 1985, with a very few exceptions, was hot garbage.

[lukewarm_pizza]

10 most popular sets: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1955, 1965, 1956, 1983, 1984, 1963

10 least popular sets: 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2021, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2003

10 most divisive sets: 1987, 2008, 1951, 2018, 2023, 2007, 2015, 1990, 2021, 2020

10 least divisive sets: 1953, 1958, 1963, 1952, 1985, 1977, 1954, 1966, 1980, 1976

Most popular decade: 1950s

Least popular decade: 1990s

Most divisive decade: 2020s

Least divisive decade: 1960s

578 participants from Net54, Blowout, and Reddit.

[campyfan39]

Great stuff!
Biggest surprise for me was how high 55 is and that 56 wasn't higher

[bb66]

Thanks. Many surprises!

[profholt82]

Very cool idea for a poll. I've got to say, the late 70s and most of the designs from the last 25 years (save for a few), just don't do much for me at all. Perhaps on their own, they'd be fine, but in comparison to those beautiful sets of the 50s, they really fail. But different strokes for different folks and all that. From 83 to 87 though, I really like those designs. It's like they finally got out of that plain jane rut, and decided to take some bolder design chances. And while 91 is probably the height of junk wax, when you take that out of the equation and just look at the design for what it is, I think it's a handsome set.