Baseball Cards

Ranking the Top 5 Topps Baseball Card Set Designs of All Time

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Many months ago, a collector asked me, disregarding value completely and going strictly by design, what years were my top 5 standard Topps sets. The first two sets that came to mind were the colorful 1969 Topps football cards and the 1954 Topps Hockey backs, which I think are the best in hobby history. But this collector clarified that he just meant baseball card fronts. After browsing through all of Topps’ post-war sets (through 1991), here are my top 5 best looking Topps baseball card designs.

5. 1984 Topps

1984 Topps Baseball Cards

When you disconnect your mind from the sets being overproduced, there were many great Topps designs in the 1980s. My favorite is the 1984 Topps set with its great dual-photo design. Topps chose some really great action shots to pair with the smaller headshots, and I think the team name in large vertical letters along the side makes for a well-balanced card.

4. 1971 Topps

1971 Topps Baseball Cards

I love the way this set presents as a whole. The team names along the top really pop out from the black borders, and the white frame around the color photos helps focus your eyes on the player. I also think the facsimile signatures are a bit nicer since they match the black borders, and I like that compared to other sets that feature them.

3. 1956 Topps

1956 Topps Baseball Cards

While the 1956 Topps design is similar to their 1955 set, with player portraits and in-action photos on the front of the card, what I like better about the 56 designs are the more interesting (rather than single color) backgrounds. 

2. 1963 Topps

1963 Topps Baseball Cards

This might end up being my most “controversial” pick. I like the balance between the large likeness and the smaller black-and-white pictures in circles. I also found many of the set’s themed cards to be well executed.

1. 1953 Topps

1953 Topps Baseball Cards

The only set I’m confident will always be in my Top 5 is the 1953 Topps Baseball set. It’s stood the test of time from Topps’ early days as one of the greatest set designs ever; the player portraits are gorgeous. Plus, the black or red boxes along the bottom with the player name, position, team, and the diamond-shaped team logo are simple but well-executed bonuses. 

A few other sets I considered were 1975, 1960, 1959, 1969, and 1987. What’s funny, though, is if you ask me to put this list together in another few months, you’ll probably get a completely different answer (other than 1953). I’d love your thoughts on the best-looking Topps Baseball card designs. Feel free to share your opinion in the comments or on X/Twitter, and happy collecting!

The Top 25 Most Expensive Baseball Cards In 1993

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“For those with cash, here are the top 25 most expensive baseball cards,”…as reported in the October 1993 issue of Sports Cards Magazine.

What really stands out is that there wasn’t a single contemporary or modern card on the list (“Sorry, there are no Frank Thomas or Ken Griffey rookie cards on this list”). However, the author also pointed out there wasn’t even a Ted Williams or a Joe DiMaggio (despite their popularity in the hobby at the time). The “youngest” card was a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle (though only 41 years old at the time), which is like including a card from 1983 on a list today.

14 1950’s and 1960’s Topps Display Boxes

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You just don’t see lots with this many vintage Topps display boxes as you used to when Ron Oser Enterprises offered these 14 together in April 2001.

All were described as five-cent 24-count boxes (unless noted) in excellent or better condition. The lot included the following items:

  • 1951 Topps Red Back (one cent 120 count)
  • 1958 Topps
  • 1959 Topps dated
  • 1959 Topps undated
  • 1960 Topps with a “5th Series” label on top
  • 1961 Topps dated
  • 1962 Topps
  • 1962 Topps with “stamps” ad – along with 9 off-condition 1962 wrappers inside the box
  • 1964 Topps (2)
  • 1965 Topps with Mantle, Koufax, & Killebrew – one wrapper inside the box
  • 1966 Topps
  • 1969 Topps Baseball Stamps – filled with 75 stamp albums

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

SCD’s Minor League Baseball Card Price Guide

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I’ve been looking for a Minor League Baseball Card reference for a while. Finally, I ran across an ad for one in a June 1993 issue of Sports Cards Magazine! There’s also a Standard Catalog of Minor League Baseball Cards out there.

I’d like to know if there are different editions; as you can see, the copy I picked up has a slightly different cover (text) than the one in the ad (2,000 sets vs. 1,900, for example).

Also, this is one of the rare examples where a book from the junk-wax era costs more than it did when it came out!

My copy is 480 pages long and begins with Dave Platta’s incredible 22-page “short” history of minor league cards. It’s a great read.

The book is arranged in two sections: pre-1970 and 1970-1992. Sets produced before 1970 are listed alphabetically, starting with the 1960 Armour Meats Denver Bears and ending with the 1950 World Wide Gum set. Sets made after 1970 follow chronologically and are arranged alphabetically by team name within each year. Upper Deck’s initial Minor League set from 1992 is the last set included.

Also, the pre-1970 sets generally include a short set history or synopsis, while the modern releases are mostly just a checklist with basic prices.

Despite the lack of detail, it’s still a fantastic piece for a hobby library, especially if you collect Minor League Baseball Cards.

1952 Topps Baseball Type Photos and Crossovers

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The 1952 Topps Baseball set is the crown jewel of post-war cards. Driven by my passion for uncovering the original photos behind iconic cards, I’m building the ultimate resource for the photos used in this legendary set. And since many of these images appeared across other sets of the era, I’m including those crossovers too.

If you have any additions, please reach out to me via e-mail or on X.

A Curious Item – The “Original Artwork” For Darrell Johnson’s 1957 Topps Baseball Card

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I ran across an item in Ron Oser Enterprises’ December 2000 catalog that perplexes me. It was described as a 3 1/2” x 5 1/2” flexichrome artwork for Darrell Johnson’s 1957 Topps card, but I always thought flexi’s were used to color black and white images.

I reached out to The Topps Archives, and he pointed out that flexi’s can look different but also thought they were only used to color black-and-white images. He also wondered if Topps just cut out the image with an Xacto knife as it would have already been in color. He pointed out that it sort of looks like an alternate for Johnson’s 1958 Topps card, which has a slightly different pose.

Any ideas? Did Topps have other plans for the 1957 Topps set? Were they going to use the cutout for another set?

Update: 23 December 2024

After I shared the images on X, Keith Olbermann shared that the item was for sale on eBay at the time, with an asking price of $800. He wrote, “The scan is much clearer and suggests your conclusion is right. Look at the trimming around the image of Johnson. If I remember correctly this was a Wingfield photo taken in DC and appears in one of the Jay Publishing ‘unofficial’ Yankee yearbooks 1957-8-9…in b&w.”

The eBay auction description provided a bit more detail, particularly about its source: “Original artwork for the 1957 Topps Darrell Johnson baseball card. Artwork measures about 3 ½ inches × 5 ½ inches and depicts the pose used for the 1957 baseball card. Artwork is in excellent condition and the lot includes a 1957 Topps baseball card of Darrell Johnson. The artwork has a small note that reads: ‘Topps Artwork from the Gelman Collection.'”

Roselle Avenue then shared this cool custom card with all of us.

Happy collecting!

Three 1914 Boston Garter Cards – Baker, Konetchy, and Johnson

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Richard Wolffers Auctions, Inc. offered three 1914 Boston Garter cards in their June 1993 auction and included these color photos of the Frank “Home Run” Baker and Walter Johnson cards.

The third card they included was #10 Ed Konetchy. Here are the B&W photos and lot descriptions for all three cards.

If you want to know more about the set, here’s how The Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards describes it:

The second of what are presumed to have been three annual issues by the George Frost Co., Boston, contains 12 cards. The colorful lithograph fronts have a player picture in front of a ballpark diagram. A large Boston-brand garter appears at the bottom. Baseball with the Boston Garter name appear in each upper corner. Black-and-white backs have a checklist for the set, career statistics for the player pictured and details of the cards’ availability. Retailers received one card per box of dozen garters and could write to the company to complete the set. About 4’’ x 8-1/4’’, they were intended to be displayed in shop windows.

A complete set of 12 would be nearly impossible to piece together today and would probably cost more than $1M. SGC has graded only 43 examples, while PSA has graded only two.