Best set of the year: 1997

 

It's been more than a year since I did one of these. There are reasons for that:

These posts are brutally time-consuming and I should do posts like this in shifts, but I haven't learned to do that. Also, I'm covering a time period in which I didn't collect and also a time period in which set-collecting was going out of style.

 

But I'm plowing through, at least for another year.

 

It's 1997 and that sound you hear is me opening a single pack of Topps and thinking "well, that's enough of that."  That's all I did in collecting in 1997. But it was more than I did in 1996, which was absolutely nothing! For me, 1997 is about taking a job that I still have and preparing for the arrival of our first kid. All to the theme of "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down." (Yeah, I know, you hate that song).

Like in 1996, far too many sets were issued in 1997 and a whole bunch of them couldn't even muster 400 cards. A good example of how out of sync a set-collector felt in '97 is Pinnacle, which issued seven major sets in 1997, none of which managed more than 200 cards.

I weed out small sets to keep this under control ("this" is my sanity), so it's 440 cards to get into this review like the last time I did this. There will be one exception though. More on that when I get to it.

OK, everyone have their lunch packed? Let's go.

1997 Bowman -- the front

Plusses: My favorite Bowman look of the 1990s, possibly my favorite Bowman look that doesn't include the 1950s sets. ... The inner colored border framed by the black border is great. ... I love when the player image breaks through the design to give a 3-D vibe.

Minuses: Yeah, I know, susceptible to chipping. But not if you're careful. ... I generally want to see my team in words on the front of the card instead of just a logo but it doesn't bother me too much.

1997 Bowman -- the front

Plusses: This is a nice set-up of the stats next to the photo. ... I like the continuation from the front with the name bar. ... Bowman is sticking with the individual player's performance against other teams and God bless them for it. ... Everything is big and readable.

Minuses: Sideways writing.

1997 Bowman -- overall

Plusses: Bowman couldn't even manage 400 cards in 1996 and didn't get a mention in the Best Set of the Year post for that year. In 1997, it just sneaks in with 441 cards. ... The big rookie card is Adrian Beltre, which I just picked up in the last six months, so yay me. Other big rookies at the time include guys like Jose Cruz Jr. and Hideki Irabu. Oops.

Minuses: I'm not 100 percent sure if this was the first Bowman set that featured a different color look for rookies and veterans. I've never been a fan of this, particularly with this set where I like the red veteran cards a lot more then the rookie/prospect blue cards. ... Since there are many rookie/prospect cards, you get a lot of guys you don't know just staring at you. ... For the few Bowman set-collectors, there are duplicate Nos. 156 and 159 due to no 155 or 158 being issued.

1997 Collector's Choice -- the front

Plusses: After the odd triangle-like name background in '96, Collector's Choice goes with a more-pleasing team-colored bar with a baseball seam background. ... Lots of good Collector's Choice images like Ryne Sandberg signing for fans, Larry Walker behind the camera and the classic Omar Vizquel and his loud sports car (night card!). ... Lots of open space for the photo. ... Special All-Star logo designation.

Minuses: Probably because I wasn't collecting at the time, but I mix up all the Collector's Choice sets that aren't 1994 or 1995.

 

 

1997 Collector's Choice -- the back

Plusses: Loads of information and a photo. I love "Did You Know" factoids and dressing it up with  Stumpy makes it even better.

Minuses: Maybe a little scrunched? Nothing that is bad though.

1997 Collector's Choice -- overall

Plusses: Collector's Choice is still doing the traditional subsets, so you get league leader cards and postseason cards, which is wonderful ... The final tribute logos return. ... Per usual, a cheaper alternative to the more gaudy Upper Deck set. ... A bunch of insert sets, which is good and bad. Among the fun ones are "The Big Show" with Keith and Dan and the "Stick-ums".

Minuses: Collector's Choice cut 200 cards out of its set in 1997 after issuing a monster 700-plus card set in 1996. I'm generally in favor of larger sets, but if you can cut back on extra subsets then I don't mind ... The "rookie class" subsets in this year's set just aren't interesting to me, a lot more understated than the '96 versions and kinda boring.

 

 

1997 Donruss -- the front

Plusses: Lots of space for the photo. About all I've got for this set.

Minuses: Really do not like the Donruss sets from this time period. The muted blue-gray theme is so bland that the set puts me to sleep and, yes, I mix it up with other Donruss issues from the same time period ... The logo is too tiny and I never could figure out what that little design thing is around the logo. In my brain it looks like an arrow pointing at the player but I think it's just a position box?

 

1997 Donruss - the back

Plusses: Everything is quite readable with a nice, large photo, a similar format to the Bowman back. ... The positioning of the vitals is certainly interesting.

Minuses: Gray, blue-gray, hey, Donruss, do you want anyone to remember this set?

1997 Donruss - overall

Plusses: It's a little better than 1996 Donruss, but I consider that one of the worst Donruss sets of all-time so it's not saying much. ... There are a ton of inserts with these late '90s sets and many are very much coveted. In some cases, the inserts are attractively loud and it makes me wonder if they brought in an entire new group of designers to create the inserts after firing everyone who made the base set. ... This is the first Donruss set under the Pinnacle brand, which explains all the inserts.

Minuses: At 450 cards, this is the smallest Donruss set made to date. ... Speaking as a set-collector, I'm pretty sure if I was aware of Donruss at the time, I would not be buying any. No colorful insert is worth all that boredom.

1997 Fleer -- the front

Plusses: Collectors looking for cards that don't smudge autographs have their set again. ... With the big last names, this set is a little more identifiable than the '96 Fleer set. ... The player images are mostly close-up action but there are also some fun candids in this set like the Brian Giles with the bubble gum bubble on his hat. And there are fun poses. I really like Tom Goodwin's card.

Minuses: It's matte finish for the second straight Fleer set, and I didn't like it the first time. Shuffling through cards almost gives me goose bumps. ... I don't need cards to be glossy all the time but there at least needs to be some slickness.

1997 Fleer -- the back

Plusses: Nice set-up, no real complaints. It's readable with a large photo, plus a team logo and a well-position card number. It seems like most of the card companies got the memo about card backs in 1997.

Minuses: Nothing really.

1997 Fleer -- overall

Plusses: This set is easily the largest of all the major sets released in '97 at 761 cards! ... Set includes the famed rookie card of David Ortiz as "David Arias". ... Even though it's another year of matte finishes, the cards aren't quite as rough as the '96s, which makes handling them a little bit better. ... Like Donruss, lots of fun inserts that are more impressive than the base set.

Minuses: This is the final year of Fleer before it's rebranded as Fleer Tradition. This makes me sad. ... I struggle to get my hands on some of the Dodgers inserts.

1997 Pacific Crown Collection -- the front

Plusses: Well, you know it's Pacific ... Large photo image.

Minuses: This is one of my least-favorite Pacific designs. I don't like the gold embossed player name treatment and making the words sideways is even worse. (The horizontal cards feature the name at the top, which is a little better).

 

 

1997 Pacific Crown Collection -- the back

Plusses: In contrast to the front, this is one of my favorite Pacific backs! ... The Spanish backs with the translation underneath is pretty cool. ... Really like the black background and the head-shot at the bottom in a home plate frame.

Minuses: Stats are just 1996 and overalls. ... Card number is at the bottom, which isn't awful but it's not at the top either.

1997 Pacific Crown Collection -- overall

Plusses: Pacific is still there for Latino fans, makes you wonder why a company isn't making a Latino-themed set now. ... As I mentioned in the previous Best Set post, Pacific is mostly about featuring individual players in its set, which I can appreciate, there's only so much rookie subset love I can take (which is hardly any). ... There aren't a lot of inserts but there are a couple of fun ones, most notable the "Card-Supials," which is a card with a pocket on the back where a smaller card dwells. I've never seen any of these in person.

Minuses: Again, it's the look for me, just not into it. ... It's a 450-card set for the second straight year, which is bit small but is probably more like the average set size in 1997.

1997 Score -- the front

Plusses: It's a well-framed picture, the cards look like those old Polaroid Instamatic photos that were the height of technology back in the '70s/early '80s ... Lower-case lettering is daring, which I can appreciate, though I'm not sure it completely works here.

Minuses: Not the most exciting look, Score's final years were pretty plain. ... The horizontal card photos look a little scrunched at times because of the large, white borders.

1997 Score -- the back

Plusses: YOU WANT STATS????? YOU GOT STATS!!!!!! ... I admire Score going in the opposite direction of the cool kids with these backs, though I'm not sure it was the right move. ... The breakdowns on the right are terrific.

Minuses: If I look at too many of these card backs, I know I'll have a headache. It's a lot to process and issued at a time when people wanted pretty pictures and not much else. ... Don't put your whole bio in italics, man.

1997 Score -- overall

Plusses: The set is 551 cards which is on the higher end of sets issued that year. ... You feel like you get a good representation of who is in the majors with this set, which was kind of one of Score's calling cards. ... A few decent insert sets.

Minuses: The card stock seems pretty flimsy. ... Score issued "Premium Stock" and "Hobby Reserve" sets to hobby stores with stamps as indicators. Twenty-five years later, these are confusing as hell to a collector who wasn't around then and '97 Score isn't interesting enough for me to investigate.

1997 Stadium Club -- the front

Plusses: It's Stadium Club, it's gonna look good. ... I like the embossed player name, even though it often gets in the way of the image.

Minuses: Again, there's no graphic indication of the player's team affiliation, which Stadium Club does a lot much to my dislike. ... Mentioned above, the name treatment often blocks out portions of the photo, and you don't want to be blocking Stadium Club photos.

1997 Stadium Club -- the back

Plusses: After several years of being the ultimate example of what the mid-1990s were like, Stadium Club goes traditional in 1997. No mention of matrixes or white type across a photo. ... Nice pictures on the back.

Minuses: There are still somewhat-unreadable elements here. ... Seems like an awful lot of space devoted to the player name at the bottom.

1997 Stadium Club -- overall

Plusses: Another great-looking set. This is about the last SC set before we get to the Stadium Club cards that blend together to me and just don't seem as nice. .... It just feels like a fancy card still and maybe worth spending your cash on.

Minuses: OK, here we go, this set is only 390 cards, which means it shouldn't be included in this review. But I couldn't NOT include Stadium Club. I started thinking about what's going to happen when I get to 2006, am I going to leave out sets like Allen & Ginter, which I know is my favorite set of the year from some years? So I'm going to have to make some exceptions. Fortunately, once we get out of the '90s and early '00s, there won't be quite as many sets to review.

 

 

1997 Topps -- the front

 

Plusses: This is my favorite look of the Topps "dead era" of flagship sets, which I consider 1996-2002. ... Having different color frames for the American League and National League players may make the set seem disjointed but I love it. As I've said many times, I've always thought of the AL as the "warm color league" and the NL as "cool color league" and Topps got it right with red/orange and green. ... Some decent-looking shots for photos. ... I like the floating team logo.

Minuses: It almost doesn't seems like a flagship set with this design. The faded edges, which I may or may not like, make it almost look like some sort of subset or insert set. ... Still going with the foil names, but at least the letters are large.

1997 Topps -- back

Plusses: Another set with side-by-side stats and photo with enough space for both. ... Everything large and readable. ... I like the league-leader indicators.

Minus: Not crazy about the colors on the back of '97 Topps. I think it's that yellow.

1997 Topps -- overall

Plusses: This was the pack I opened in '97 but the reason I didn't go back to it wasn't because I didn't like it. I just wasn't into cards enough to buy more. ... It takes a lot for a Topps set from this era to stand out enough for me to identify it, so good for '97 Topps on that front. ... Topps isn't the only one who did this in 1997, but there's a Jackie Robinson tribute card at No. 42 on the 50th anniversary of him breaking the color barrier.

Minuses: At 495 cards, this still seems slight for a base set. ... Lots of numbering issues with this set, which makes you wonder how they handled a 792-card set back in the day. This is also the first flagship set that skipped No. 7 in honor of Mickey Mantle, throwing off binder-and-page collectors for years to come.

 

1997 Ultra -- the front

Plusses: This is the first of the "script-design" Ultra sets, which I've always liked more than the others. That script player name also seems to go hand-in-hand in my brain with Ultra's famed interesting photos in the late '90s. Good combination. ... Excellent photo display, as usual.

Minuses: Since Ultra kept the script theme from 1997-99, I do confuse the various Ultra sets from this time. (But 1997 is my favorite look).

1997 Ultra -- the back

Plusses: After the previous year with three different pictures of the player on the back, Ultra thankfully reined it in a little for 1997 and gave you more stats than the previous year. ... Big photos images on the back are cool.

Minuses: I could get by with just one color image of the player. ... The stats are a bit difficult to read.

1997 Ultra -- overall

Plusses: I know if I was aware of Ultra at the time, I'd be pleased with this new look, none of the previous sets do much for me. ... Cool photos make it seem like you're getting a little more bang for your buck, although I think the Ultra sets from the next two years have more interesting photos. ... Some cool inserts, like "Hitting Machines". ... The set is 551 cards, which is OK for the time period, though less for Ultra than the previous year. ... The gold medallion cards have DIFFERENT pictures than the base cards. That blew my mind when I first discovered that. ... Still grouping players by team.

Minuses: Lots and lots of action, which was the preferred photo for Ultra but like earlier Ultra sets it gets a little samey.

1997 Upper Deck -- the front

Plusses: Let's start with the moment-dated caption on EACH CARD. That is still phenomenal and I'd be willing to collect it just because of that. ... Lots of space for the photo.

Minuses: Although there's a gold bar on the bottom (though I think they're going for wood), it's not as fancy as the 1996 set and I don't like the look as much. The player name is as plain as possible and not crazy about the foil (or whatever it is) team logo.

 

1997 Upper Deck -- the back

Plusses: I think '97 might have the best collective card backs ever, I can't find much to pick at. I like the color backgrounds and the photo at the top, which is bigger when the player doesn't have a stream of stats like Andre Dawson. ... I like the bronze-and-black look.

Minuses: Maybe a little difficult to read.

1997 Upper Deck -- overall

Plusses: 550 cards -- solid. ... Another quality Upper Deck set. ... This is the set that introduced collectors to game-used relic cards, I believe. ... Lots of cool diecut inserts.

Minuses: The precious-metals theme, which UD was using in some form or another for the fourth straight year, is getting a little tired. ... This set has a couple of characteristics that rankles set collectors: 1) A few of the cards were available only through mail-in wrapper offers; 2) A couple of the base cards are intentionally short-printed, one of the first examples of this. Whoa, I'm glad I wasn't collecting then.

All right, that's it. Apologies to fans of Circa, Leaf, SPx, Zenith, all the Pinnacles, etc., etc., etc. But we can't be here all day.

Now it's time to pick a winner, and I don't see a consensus champion. Gonna have to just pick something out of a hat.

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ULTRA!

But I'm not married to it. Upper Deck seems maybe more interesting and I've been a sucker for Topps since that first single pack.

 

(P.S.: If I got anything wrong here, remember I wasn't collecting).

 

Total "Best Set of the Year" ranking: Topps - 6, Upper Deck - 4, Stadium Club -3, Collector's Choice - 1, Donruss - 1, Fleer - 1, Score - 1, Ultra - 1