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

[G1911]

Cast my vote.

[Rad_Hazard]

Cast my vote as well. My favorites are by far 1987 and 1989.

[raulus]

That was a lot to get through!

Before I started, I was worried that I would have to rank them relative to one another. Do I put 82 ahead or behind of 86? Much easier with this format to just give each one its own score.

[isiahfan]

Done....The last 20 years of cards all look the same to me....I am sure the younger guys might say the same about the older cards...but I am under 50 and couldn't tell you with certainty what year is what after 1997 with the exception being a couple of RCs

[pitburgfan]

Done. Like the older cards.

[phillyfan24]

Done. A lot of 5's and 6's for me. The pre-90's and back were much better IMO.

[Mark]

interesting journey through the Topps designs. Still love the noble simplicity and eye catching photo compositions of 67 and 63. But I also have a strong attraction to the complex but well-designed fronts and backs of 56. Those are my favorites. Cards from the mid 70's and early 90's are nice when they are simple and clean.

[lukewarm_pizza]

Originally Posted by isiahfan

Done....The last 20 years of cards all look the same to me....I am sure the younger guys might say the same about the older cards...but I am under 50 and couldn't tell you with certainty what year is what after 1997 with the exception being a couple of RCs

Oh man, that's a good point. I should have had a spot to enter the age of the survey taker. That would give some good insight regarding the preferences of collectors based on age. Oh well, too late now. Maybe I'll do this survey again next year when the 2024 design comes out and will include that question next time. Thank you to all who have participated so far!

[Oscar_Stanage]

54, 57 an 73 were my favorites
Mostly middle of the road otherwise and a few 2 and 3s
The last 20 all look the same

[insidethewrapper]

Like the 1957,1959, 1983 and of course 1972 !

[Bobbycee]

After 2006, I had never seen any of the designs. The only 10 I gave was for '71 . '79 & '81 Topps were atrocious. The early to mid 50's were the best group.

[Oscar_Stanage]

Originally Posted by Bobbycee

After 2006, I had never seen any of the designs. The only 10 I gave was for '71 . '79 & '81 Topps were atrocious. The early to mid 50's were the best group.

lol, I kind of like 81 ! I think I gave it a 6

[ejharrington]

1983 was the best

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Fond memories of 1984.

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[Bcwcardz]

75 was my only 9 or 10. Everything else was in between. Lots of bland designs through the years. I’m sure we all have our biases for certain reasons. Fun survey!


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[Jerry G]

Completed while trying not to reflect my bias toward vintage. Most of the post 1994 were new to me but, ranked a few high.

[wolf441]

Wow, pretty crappy designs from 1990-2000. I actually like a couple of the more recent designs, including the 2022 set.

1956, 60, 72, and 73 are my favorites

[RCMcKenzie]

Nice display. I instantly recognize the designs from 1951-1990. From 1991 to now, I don't recognize any of them. They look like photos.

[Orioles1954]

All the 2000s look the same. However, 2023 looks fantastic!

[refz]

1956 is my favorite Topps set, with 1964 Topps in 2nd place. These are some of my favorites thru the decades. Don’t really care for anything after 1999 to be honest.

1950s: 53, 56
1960s: 61, 63, 64
1970s: 71, 72, 73, 75, 77
1980s: 83, 84, 85, 87
1990s: 93, 99

[bmattioli]

The 1952 set will always get a 10..

[bobbvc]

Late 80's to about 2015 did not fare well in my answers.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Originally Posted by bobbvc

Late 80's to about 2015 did not fare well in my answers.

Same here.

[Collectorsince62]

1956 and 1962 are first and second for me. Although the designs over the past 25 years do nothing for me, so many of the action shots in those sets are fantastic. Think of the hundreds of cards showing leaping catches, home plate collisions (remember those?), power hitters connecting, etc. Say what you want about the ho hum designs, but the photography has certainly made up for it in my opinion.

[BearBailey]

Completed

[isiahfan]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Like the 1957,1959, 1983 and of course 1972 !

About the same for me...also added in the 54

[glchen]

Completed. Wow, so many of the post 90s designs were terrible, IMHO. it's like they lost all creativity in the design department. My favorites were in the 1950s.

[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.

[bobbvc]

I'll bet this information would be a lot more valuable if the survey takers were grouped by age.

[bobbvc]

Great job though.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by bobbvc

I'll bet this information would be a lot more valuable if the survey takers were grouped by age.

Seems that late decade designs did significantly worse than early-decade, overall. Could be a generational bias?

Cool data!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

How on earth 1957 didn't at least rank second is beyond me. It's far and away the nicest set IMO and the photography and cards have aged so grandly. I just envisioned 1952 finishing in the top spot no matter what, and don't really have a problem with that.

[FrankWakefield]

+1 for posts 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Golly, 1952's are way over rated. Folks must have rated based on 1952 Mantle card and not the design (really, not much of a design, there).

1967 Topps seem way under rated to me.

That survey covered a bunch of years.

And thanks for the survey and starting the thread.

[G1911]

I am most surprised by 1953 being the least divisive. 1951 is a small game card series I would separate from the main line, but 1953 is unique in that the set is painted portraits instead of colorized or color photos. It’s popular, but it has detractors for this unique approach. I would have expected it to finish well but in the more divisive group, not the #1 least divisive.

[seanofjapan]

Its funny that none of the top 10 sets are less than 38 years old (most recent is 1984), while none of the bottom 10 sets are more than 28 years old (oldest is 1994).

I also tend to agree that the 52 set's design is over-rated. Its not much of a design, especially compared with those of the 1953 to 1957 sets that immediately followed it.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

How on earth 1957 didn't at least rank second is beyond me. It's far and away the nicest set IMO and the photography and cards have aged so grandly. I just envisioned 1952 finishing in the top spot no matter what, and don't really have a problem with that.

57’s are just ok to me. 1953-56 is where it’s at, in my opinion.

[seanofjapan]

What is more shocking to me about the 1957s is that the 1958 set ranked above it. I've always found the 58 to be quite boring.

[Buythatcard]

Nice job putting this survey together. I bet that members here would have more to say about designs prior to 1951.

Try comparing some of those black and white designs against one another.

[lukewarm_pizza]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

Nice job putting this survey together. I bet that members here would have more to say about designs prior to 1951.

Try comparing some of those black and white designs against one another.

Thank you. I plan to do this survey again next year when the 2024 design is unveiled, except I will also require that the survey takers enter their age and forum where they heard about the survey. That would definitely give some additional insight that we didn't get this time around.

I considered doing one for Bowman, but I stuck with only Topps flagship since that has been the most consistent product throughout the years.

[iwantitiwinit]

Originally Posted by isiahfan

Done....The last 20 years of cards all look the same to me....I am sure the younger guys might say the same about the older cards...but I am under 50 and couldn't tell you with certainty what year is what after 1997 with the exception being a couple of RCs

Totally agree.

[campyfan39]

Different strokes i guess. 57 to me is the worst design of the 50's by far. Very plain and often the letters are hard to see.
For me:

53
56
59
75
52
64

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

How on earth 1957 didn't at least rank second is beyond me. It's far and away the nicest set IMO and the photography and cards have aged so grandly. I just envisioned 1952 finishing in the top spot no matter what, and don't really have a problem with that.

[luciobar1980]

I think 52s are nice but overrated because they are so iconic. '53 and '55 Topps are my favorites of that era.. then '73 and '87...

[Leon]

I picked 1972 as my favorite as it was the last year I collected as a kid, and they are psychedelic. Who doesn't like that?
.

[Lucas00]

Went with my favorites, '61 and '57

[Johnny630]

I went with these as my favs per decade.

1953 Topps 50's
1965 Topps 60's
1971 Topps 70's

[Bobbycee]

Nice job on this. I was surprised '71 didn't score higher. I guess their popularity was worn off. Nice to see all the comments & differing opinions.

[BearBailey]

Thanks for the results. Very surprising to me.

[GrewUpWithJunkWax]

That was a lot to scroll through, but fun - thanks for sharing.

I agree with the comments that most of the 2000s look similar and aren't that appealing. I do like the 2023 though.

[puckpaul]

Once they became way more reliant on photography over design, the sets are bland and boring. What a terrible job Topps had done for 2-3 decades.