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My all-time favorite sets

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I have promised/threatened to do this several times over the years and now I'm going through with it.

I want to write a post ranking my all-time favorite sets. I generally know what they are, but it's nice to have the list all in one place for reference in case I suddenly suffer from amnesia and think my favorite set is 1991 Fleer. Someone can kindly point me to this post.

I have written about my favorite sets in some form or another a lot over the last dozen-plus years, on the blog, in other blogs, in magazine articles. I have no secrets when it comes to this.

So I'll go through it quickly. And no reverse order. There is no element of surprise here. Or at least there shouldn't be. I think you all know me.

These are my absolute favorites (sorry 1980 Topps, you just missed out):


1. 1975 Topps minis

This is an easy, easy choice as my all-time favorite set.

I know if something like this were to be released today, I'd probably be super-cynical about Topps asking me to collect a 660-card parallel set. There probably were cynical collectors in 1975 wondering what Topps was trying to pull.

But all I saw as a kid were wonderful miniature versions of the regular-sized Topps cards. It was my first year collecting -- I didn't know it was a novelty -- I just knew they were so cool. I haven't stopped thinking that.



2. 1975 Topps

How about that 1975??? Producing my two all-time favorite sets in a single year!

It totally has to do with me first getting to know the hobby and also being blessed with one of the most colorful sets Topps ever made. I have said many times that the '75 binders are the first thing I'm saving if the house goes up in flames.



3. 1956 Topps

Before I even owned a single 1956 Topps card, before my dad brought home a grocery bag full of them from someone else's collection, I admired these cards. I thought they were easily the best cards issued during the '50s. A lot of the other '50s sets seemed to be missing something but the '56 set had it all.

Getting those first '56s from my dad's co-worker cemented my love for it and that only grew and grew as I collected it more seriously, finally finishing it last year. I am very grateful that I was able to complete it just before prices for vintage cards soared uncontrollably. I think I'd be out of luck if I needed to buy a Mantle and Mays right now.



4. 1971 Topps

This is another set I saw as a youngster, although I didn't start collecting until four years after it came out. I thought it was fantastic instantly. It stood out more than any other set I had seen. After 1975, Topps slipped into a series of white-bordered sets and the '71 set grew in stature more and more with each ensuing white border.

People dismiss this set instantly because of chipping. I don't even see the chips. Or if I do, I look at them like an older person with age spots and scars. Just a sign of living well. The '71 Topps set has seen some great times. No doubt those black borders took it to places no other set could go.



5. 1983 Topps

If you remember the all-time Topps sets ranking I did a few years ago, the sets I've been showing here were among the top picks in that ranking. I tried to be objective there but I don't know if I really was seeing as they're all my favorites!

I don't know if, when I first saw the 1983 Topps set, I even thought of the 1963 Topps set that '83 emulates. I probably didn't know the '63 set very much. I just knew I loved the '83 set. Everything about it is well-presented. It's also the first Topps set where the majority of the cards show players in action. That was a big deal at the time and I was still a teen then, so naturally I thought it was great.

It's difficult for me to consider this an "old" set, as it seemed very vibrant at the time and still does in my mind.



6. 1993 Upper Deck

It is TOUGH for a set from the '90s to stack up with the sets I saw as a kid. In fact, no '90s set has a chance against those '70s sets ... except for 1993 Upper Deck.

I like this set so much that I am going back on my vow to never do another set blog and starting a set blog on '93 Upper Deck next year. That's how much I enjoy it and how interesting I think it is.
 



7. 1972 Topps

I probably should put '72 Topps above '93 Upper Deck, but I'm still a little bit mad at '72 for the trouble it gave me at the end there in completing it. So much money on so many common players.

But that's the set-completers game. Suck it up, bud. Not just anyone can complete a 700-plus set.
 
To '72's credit, it made the cards attractive enough to make the chase interesting even when I was throwing $20s at it. I wrote an entire article on this set for Beckett and I think it's the most fun I had writing a story for them.
 
 

 8. 1974 Topps

This set gets overlooked by a lot of people, but I never will.

It's the first set I ever saw, the first cards I ever owned. I see some of the cards in this set -- like the Rollie Fingers here -- and I'm transported to my bedroom on Chadwick Road. I can see the 1890s-style metal cars hanging on the wall in my bedroom, the red-and-blue printed bed covers. The blue closet door. I can look out the window of my bedroom and see the white house across the street, shrouded by a large tree, with that black dog in the front yard. I can look down the hill where we used to ride our big wheels all the way to the busy street.

There is no other set, aside from '75 Topps, that can unearth those memories. Heck there is nothing non-card that can do that!
 


9. 1977 Topps football

Baseball has my heart -- my blog is evidence of that, very seldom do I travel away from baseball -- but one football set can compare with my baseball favorites.

This is the first football set that I collected seriously. I was 12. I liked it because of the colorful ribbons. I liked the 1,000-yarder footballs and the All-Star bars. I never noticed there were no logos, that's how in love I was.



10. 1976 Topps

This set carries memories with it too, collecting with friends on the playground.

The '76 set seemed so serious to me as a youngster, in comparison to the '75 set I had just collected the previous year. There was less color and more devotion to the photo. The backs are still not my favorite, pretty damn boring actually. But you can't argue those little position guys.



11. 2008 Allen & Ginter

The smallest set on this list in terms of the number of cards, there are just 350. But don't tell me it was any easier to complete than those 700-card sets in the '80s. It was tough.

To me, this is easily the best modern-day A&G set there ever was. It's a clean, classic design. The subject matter is on-point. It's been a slow and steady decline for A&G ever since. Thank goodness I have this one complete.



12. 2015 Topps

It may be strange to see a set this recent with the other sets I listed -- I know collectors who hate this set.

But 2015, even though it's only seven years old, has the power to do what only those sets from my childhood can do. I open the binder that houses this set, see all of the color everywhere, and I smile. Every time. Only sets like '74 and '75 can do that.

So, that's my top 12 ranking. I could easily reach 40 sets before I started shrugging my shoulders. I know I skipped some very important sets in my collecting life, stuff like 1977 Topps, 1978 Topps, a bunch of Kellogg's sets, good ol' 1980 and even 2009 Topps -- the first flagship set I completed upon returning to the hobby.

But I don't expect this list to change much -- maybe the final two will switch out eventually -- because all of these sets are solidly in my memory bank forever ... as some of greatest sets ever made.

Comments

Brett Alan said…
I would have to do a lot of thinking to make any kind of list, but 1975 and 1956 would certainly be very near the top of mine, too. 1972 as well. Oddly, even though 1971 was the first set I ever collected, I'm not as fond of it.
Chris said…
I would agree with most of these - especially 1956, 1983, and 2015 Topps and 1993 Upper Deck. 1985 Topps might crack my top 10, and I'm one of the few who loves the burlaps of '68.

As someone working on the '56 Topps set myself I've definitely witnessed the spike in prices for HOFers like Mantle and Mays. If I hadn't bought most of the big names before the pandemic I'd have given up by now. (as it is, I still need Mays, Ford, Aparicio RC, Pee Wee, Hodges, and a couple 'lesser' HOF names. probably not gonna add any of those for a while.)
You're right about 93' UD. It is the set that made me start looking at cards so closely just to find a reason to keep it. It is a great set for anyone that collects mini collections, no telling what you'll find going through those.
bryan was here said…
I would have to pick the '71 set as my favourite, then the '80 and '81 Topps. Besides being the set from my birth year, those black borders and the player's name in all lower case all scream period perfect. When I look at my '71 cards, I love to listen to some music from that year.

'93 Upper Deck is my favourite 90s set and it isn't really close. '91 and '92 Stadium Club are within shouting distance.
Old Cards said…
73 is conspicuously missing since you picked the 2 sets before 73 and the 3 sets after. Also, thought the 70 set might make the list since you are trying to complete it.
night owl said…
I like '73, but it's probably around my 20th favorite. Weirdly, I barely saw any '73 Topps when I was a kid, which really affected my preferences.

For '70 it's more a matter of me trying to finish the '70s Topps sets, it's the last one I need. It holds no attachment.
Anonymous said…
Going by your picks, I'd probably include 71, regular 75, and 83 on my list.
John Bateman said…
Random Thought:

It is scary how some of the sets are my favorite also.

Baseball for me 1972, 1971, 1975

1983 Topps best set of the 1980s

That 1977 football set stands outs for the years before and after the other Topps Set

The last few years I started to love the Ginter and Gypsy Queen set (maybe it is the painted look)

The odd balls

The 56s It has that painted look set - for me a baseball card has to be vertical.

My theory on your love for 1993 Upper Deck. It was a transition set. It was the last Upper Deck set to contain WHITE BORDERS. (Except for some star rookies which did not have some borders.) Even though the set has white borders the photography had the beginnings of borderless appeal. The photographs felt like they were borderless with just a white border around them. (in contrast to 1989-1992 UD which felt like Kodak picture cards).
1994 Collectors Choice basically continued the early years of UD.

My theory on your love 2015, is along the same theme. Topps went with the a very decent white border run from 2008 to 2014. It wanted to transition to borderless card but it could not go quickly that radical. So it gave you a transition set (2015) fading away white borders to something else (2016 was slightly a transition set also with smoke and borderless look).

Just a theory

carlsonjok said…
Sometimes I think you are my brother from another mother. While my list would be different, there is a decent amount of overlap. Other than both being products of Western New York, the main thing here is that I also have a visceral reaction to 1974 Topps and, believe it or not, also had those metal cars on my bedroom wall.
Fuji said…
Props to you for putting together this list. I was thinking about copying this idea, but there are just way too many sets out there that I enjoy to narrow it down. It was a challenge to rank just the Topps baseball flagship designs a few years ago. When you factor in oddballs, other brands, and even other sports... my brain started to spiral.

I will say that you and I do share a lot of similar interests. When I ranked my Top 16 favorite Topps flagship designs, the following sets made my lists:

1956 (#1)
1983 (#2)
1972 (#4)
1975 (#5)
1976 (#10)
1980 (#11)
2015 (#12)
Crocodile said…
I would guess that for most collectors who put a list of their all time sets together, it would center around when they started collecting as a kid. Glad to see a football set made the list.
Jon said…
I find pretty much all of the modern Topps sets to be pretty bland, and extremely boring. That being said, the 2015 design is one that I actually don't hate. If I had a connection to more of the players in it, I might've been tempted to seek out a few more cards from it.
For the same reason the 1975 is your favorite (1st set), the 1967 set is my favorite. 2nd would be the 1965 set, although I didn't start collecting them until just a few years ago.

For football, it would be the 1967 NFL Philly Gum set (again, my first set). Large posed pictures, colorful team names, and many of those guys were aging veterans who weren't around by the 70s. 2nd would be the 1971 set, with the little cartoon guys per position, and the different colored borders per NFC, AFC, and All-Stars.
GCA said…
Bat Around!

Yep, I'm definitely copying this concept. But I'm not limiting it to flagship sets. And I'll probably have more than one non-baseball set in it.

You will, however, find '71 in there, and maybe '74, '83 and '80. Plus at least one A&G, but probably a newer one than '08.

Thanks for the inspiration....
Nick Vossbrink said…
Love this post. Not at all sure I could copy it unless I limited it to sets I truly knew.
Doc Samson said…
If you are any kind of a true baseball card collector and you don’t appreciate ‘71, ‘72 and ‘75 Topps, then you need to find a new hobby. On another note, I really like ‘93 Upper Deck, but I’m not crazy about the font they used for the player’s name. A very small quibble. Everything else about the set is epic.

My favorite “modern” set is 2011 Topps. It’s practically flawless. Sometimes the photography is a touch dark, but that’s my only criticism. Thank you again, Mr. Owl. You are indeed a wise bird.
Benjamin said…
Very nice list. Love the thought that went into each pick and the obvious memories each one has. I think a lot of us true collectors and set builders have lists like this. I never really saw why 93 Upper Deck stood out so much - it's a great set, and 93 is a great year overall, but there were a lot of great sets to me in that time - so I'm looking forward to your blog about it someday.

For my own list, I would have to say Topps 1991 is high on the list, and I know you agree Greg. 1996 Score also, more for personal reasons but also because it's a nice clean design with good colors and great backs, the best Score ever produced. I'd also put 87 and 93 Donruss up there. As for recent sets, Topps 2008 is probably my favorite.
Matt said…
I'm glad to see the 2015 set on there - that was the set that brought me back into collecting. I should really make a point to complete it.
Stack22 said…
I'm guilty of not giving '74 Topps a fair shake. I've grown to really like it, but I remember thinking of it as "boring" when I built it.

I'm sure it was due to being sandwiched between the last of the
series'd sets which were very exciting/difficult to build, and the '75 set which is deservingly on everyone's short list as one of the best sets of all-time.
Nick said…
A lot of these would be in my Top 10-15 as well ('93 UD would probably the most recent set on there) - but I've always said that '65 Topps is my absolute favorite set ever made. It's what I think of when I heard the words "baseball cards."
Matt said…
1980 instead of 1976 and your list would be aces.