What Topps could do for one last hurrah

 This is based on the assumption that Topps will not be able to print cards of Individual Players after 2022.

What Topps should do is dump all of its product lines and produce one set. Select 600 individual players. (no all stars, league leaders etc).

But here is the kicker. For the 600 players put them each on a different Topps design from the last 70 years.

Yes, that's right a 42,000 card set (600 player x 70 years).

Say for Card Number 1. Mike Trout you would get him on a 1952, 1953, 1954.....2021 design.

(I know  it would suck getting the 2021 design two years in a row).

Put the cards out in 10 or 20 series throughout the year.

Make the cards cheap and affordable as possible.

This would be the ultimate chase set. You could try to collect. many ways

You could try to collect all 42,000 cards.

You could try to collect one years card (i e 1965, 1979 etc...)

You could collect one player all 70 years.

or since each player would have the same number throughout each set you could complete a 600 card set with each number being  any one of the 70 different designs. For example:

1. Mike Trout 1956

2 Vla Guerrero 1983

3. Fernando Tatis 1995 etc....

Its a pipe dream but of course I could be dreaming that there will not be anymore Topps baseball cards

Will 2022 be the Swan Song Topps Baseball Cards

 How can Topps print cards of individual players if Fanatics own the exclusive right to them starting in 2023.

Will we be seeing Topps Baseball in Action cards (Similar to Fleer Football in Action (circa 1975-1987), game action without the individual players identified

OH NO. THE END OF TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS (THE END IN 2026)

 Looks like we are not going to see that 1977 Topps Heritage set design 

IS TOM BRADY THE GREATEST SPORTSMAN EVER.

 

With the above title in mind here are my list of the top 3 greatest from every sport.

Football

Tom Brady

Jim Brown 

Jerry Rice

Baseball

Babe Ruth

Willie Mays

Hank Aaron

Basketball

Michael Jordan

Bill Russell

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Hockey

Wayne Gretzky

Gordie Howe

Bobby Orr

Tennis

Roger Federer

Pete Samparas

Jimmy Conners

Golf

Tiger Woods

Jack Nicklaus

Arnold Palmer

Boxing

Muhammed Ali

Jack Johnson

Rocky Marciano

From That list I would present the final 8.

Tom Brady, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods, Muhammed Ali, Jim Brown. Willie Mays:

The Playoff

Tom Brady defeats Willie Mays.  Brady is the statistical leader in his sport and winning leader.

Babe Ruth defeats Jim Brown. Both are the greatest/dominant but Brown only won one championship.

Michael Jordan defeats Wayne Gretzky. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup after they traded Gretzky

Muhammed Ali defeats Tiger Woods. Ali is just a bigger iconic figure.

Semifinals

Tom Brady defeats Michael Jordan. Brady's been to the conference championship 14 times, Jordan had to wait for Bird, Magic and Isiah to fall before he soared.

Muhammed Ali defeats Babe Ruth. Ruth has the stats but Ali has even bigger Aura. 

The Finals

Ali is iconic but Brady's dominance started with 9/11 and now 20 years later in the Covid Pandemic. If Brady loses the Super Bowl, I think an ever slight edge goes to Ali but if he wins, I think He is The Greatest. 

 

Ranking the Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 2020. Part 2. The rankings:

 

Ranking the Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 2020. Part 2.  The rankings:

1.  1972

2.  1959

3.  1983

4.  1971

5.  1953

6.  1965

7.  1967

8.  1975

9.  1952

10. 1991

Maybe the most surprising pick is 1983, but it was an improvement over the 1963 set that is was based on. The 1983 set is sort like ‘The Empire Strikes Back” in the first Star Wars Trilogy.  The 1971s were not called Black Beauties for nothing.  The 1991 was most colorful and had the best anniversary logo ever. The 1972 set is Topps at its pinnacle. Its Large in size and Beautiful Looking.  The 1959 set has the kaleidoscope look of paintings.

11.  1956

12.  1963

13.  1987

14.  1969

15.  1962

16.  1968

17.  1957

18.  1976

19. 1954

20. 1955

The golden age really dominates the next ten. The 1987 set was an improvement over the brownish borders of 1962 and 1968.  The 1956 set is great looking but it reminds me just a tad of the late 1980s Topps Big set. The 1969 set was the 1967 just reworked a little.

21. 2008

22. 1966

23. 1958

24. 2003

25. 1964

26. 1977

27. 2005

28. 1961

29. 1988

30. 1985

The 21^st century breaks through, 2008 was one of the most unique designs ever though the photos may have been too small.  If you look closely 1964, 1977, 1986, 2004 sets are an evolving evolution of the same design.  2003 was a good rendition of 1963 and 1983 and the same goes with 1985 copying 1965.  This is truly the top half of the sets, we now move to the lower rung.  

31. 1970

32. 1978

33. 2010

34. 1981

35. 1984

36. 2006

37. 1986

38.  1973

39. 1974

40. 2007

The 2006 had a well thought out design. The 2010 set was based on a 2001 Topps cereal issue. The 2007 was no 1971 set but black borders returned. Surprisingly the 1973 and 1974 are kind of dull and boring though nostalgic.

41. 1990

42. 1979

43. 1980

44. 2013

45. 2012

46. 2014

47. 1992

48. 1960

49. 2011

50. 2018

2018 was the best of the borderless era, its design looked like the Rolling Stones logo.  2012-2014, were decent sets which varied little in design. The 1990 is the craziest looking set and could be called the Purple Passion set

51. 1989

52. 1982

53. 1993

54. 2009

55. 2004

56. 1995

57. 2020

58. 2017

59. 2001

60. 2019

61. 2015

62. 2016

63. 1994

64. 2002

65. 1998

66. 1996

67. 1997

68. 1999

69. 2000

The last 30 years have not been the golden age but it is better than the late 20^th century.  1982 set is the worst set  in brown card board back era.  Sorry Night Owl but 2015 is nutty and drab looking. 

Tonight on the Masked President it is revealed that Claudia Conway is Donald Trump.

 I believe that the biggest surprise of the season of the Masked President will be that Claudia Conway will be revealed as Donald Trump.

This makes those most sense as who else but a 15 year old teen age girl who is on social media all day long, contacted Covid at exactly the same time as President Trump and rides around in cars just to be seen is President Trump. 

Just like Bruce Wayne is Batman, Claudia Conway is Donald Trump.  

Ranking the Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 2020. Part 1

 

Ranking the Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 2020. Part 1. 

The basis for this ranking will be primarily the front design with some consideration to the card backs, texture and feel of the cards, the player selection, size and subsets.

O.K., first off I am classify the Topps sets into era’s:

1952-1956 – The Non 2 ½ by 3 ½ era

1957-1972 – The Golden Age of Topps Cards era.

1973-1980 – The Seventies era

1981-1991 - The new Competition era.

1992-1996 – The Card stock / Glossy stock upgrade era.

1997-2002 – The Death March Metallic era.   

2003-2008 – The 21^st Century era.

2009-2014 – The Topps getting cutesy and manipulative era.

2015-2020 – The no border era. 

1952-1956 – The non 2 ½ by 3 ½ era

I know some people consider this the golden age era but these are not the cards that you know of today because of their size. Since that is so it is unlikely the top card set will come from these tears. Also, with Bowman around Topps did not have all MLB players under contract for the sets.

1957-1972 – The Golden Age of Topps Cards era.

Cards that we know of, the right size, all the players and a lot of classic designs.

1973-1980 – The Seventies era.

The end of issuing cards by series, more of a plainness looking to the sets (with some exceptions),

1981-1991 - The new Competition era.

Some consider this the junk wax ear also but surprisingly Topps started to give some thought into the sets and the designs sometimes changed drastically from year to year.

1992-1996 – The card stock / glossy stock upgrade era.

With the 1992 set, the end of the thin gray stock card board was put to rest (a sad time to me) and the glossy supposedly better (and now more expensive cards) began.

1997-2002 – The Death March Metallic era.   

Come on can you visualize any set in your mind from these years. Foil. Foil. Foil These were some of the ugliest cards Topps produced and years later with all the gloss these cards will actually stick together.

2003-2008 – The 21^st Century era.

Topps started to put some thought  into the cards instead of foil and the return of white boarders.

2009-2014 – The Topps getting cutesy and manipulative and exclusive era.

Topps began to emphasize bigger photos and photos with more personality.  The designs only varied slightly from year to year, were simple and somewhat fun and colorful. The manipulative - the variation photos began to appear more and more.  This means master set collectors had to pay more money if they wanted ALL the cards in their set.

2015-2020 – The no border era.

O.k, so 2015 had borders but it was really the beginning to the transition to the lack of borders era. These sets continued a process where Topps varied there designs ever so slightly from year to year.  It seems with 2021 Topps designs, Topps is transitioning back to white borders with some colored striped thrown in.   

 Next post some real rankings