Define the design: 22T, 53T, 75T, 85D, 96Pin and 99U

 

 

Not too long after the first cards of the season are out, I make an attempt to come up with a name for the new set.

Sometimes it's easy -- when you see a sea turtle, you see a sea turtle -- and sometimes it's difficult.

This year's Topps set is fairly easy. I think a few people came up with a name back when Topps unveiled the design in the summer.

 

2022 Topps is "the wrench set." 

 

If you don't see it, tilt your head to the side and note that the logo is where the open-end of the wrench is and the position "tear drop" is where the "ring" is on your average wrench.

 

Now, I never stop at the current set when doing these Define the Design posts. My goal is to name as many as I can. And there are so many sets!

 

So let's throw a few more set names out there.

 

Staying with the tool theme, I've got a name for the very weird 1999 Upper Deck set. It's still mystifying that this is what passed for a flagship design in '99.

All I can see are those monstrous metallic jaws on either side of the card.

They look like gigantic tweezers to me. And, so, the 1999 Upper Deck set is now "the gigantic tweezers set."

I'm not committed to that name because I have a feeling there is a more appropriate tool or comparison out there. Just shout it out if you know it.

For the other sets that I'm naming, I'm going with some that are overdue. They are very memorable sets, yet somehow they have not been named.

1996 Pinnacle is easy.

 

It is "the gold pyramid set."

I still don't know what possessed Pinnacle to put a giant triangle at the bottom of every card, infringing on the photo (it really looks weird with head shots). But you've to admit -- it was memorable.

 

1985 Donruss was the first black-bordered set to come along after 1971 Topps. But 1971 Topps has already hogged "the black border set" as a name. So what are we gonna call 1985 Donruss?

Easy.

It is "the red racing stripe set."

Now if that doesn't make '85 Donruss even cooler than it is.

I don't recall hearing anyone decline to buy a black car because it might chip. (But I'm sure it happens).

Staying with the car theme, I present to you my all-time favorite set:

A name for the 1975 Topps set has stumped me for a long time. But I think it's because I've been too invested in this set for so many years. I just couldn't get outside of my experience to see it objectively. The name for it is pretty obvious and has been suggested on these very Define The Design posts.

It is "the two-tone set," obviously.

This makes me want to see the same make-and-model car in every one of the color combinations of 1975 Topps. Heck, I would buy 18 of the same kind of car and paint each one of them a different 1975 Topps color combination if it was economically feasible.

 

Finally let's get this well-known set out of the way.

 

For me, it will always be "the painted portrait set."

There have been plenty of painted sets in card collecting history. For the first half of the 20th century, that's almost all it was. But 1953 evokes the feeling of an artist sitting at an easel with brushes nearby, illustrating the ballplayer, more than any other set.

And that closes another edition of this series that you'll probably not see again until the 2023 Topps cards are out.

Or I run out of other topics and get desperate.