By far, the ugliest card design ever

MajorDanby

Bar none, 1991 Fleer has to be THE ugliest card design ever created. I dare you to find one that is so shockingly disgusting, repulsive and grotesque. The ugly yellow, the basic and trite line designs int he front, the horrendous back....even the pictures..in an age where pictures are supposed to be clear and explosive, are boring and dull. Show me a design more uglier than this.

nateluck

I actually like those cards.

envoy98

<< <i>I actually like those cards. >>



LOL. Me too.

Was not a big fan of 1990 Donruss, or 1990 Topps or 1986 Topps however.

MajorDanby

<< <i>1990 Donruss >>



I think you found an equal. Actually, the little black marks on the side give it a little pizzaz.

downgoesfrazier

1990 was a banner freakin' year! All the cards were gross. 1990 Topps were tolerable. I loved the Leaf premium issue...that set saved the year!


dgf

Futureman

Wow, rip on the cards of my youth, why don't ya? I'm not a huge fan either, but thanks for bringing up those bad memories. It's amazing I still collect, having grown up with such ugly designs. Just wait, in another 10 years the designs will be retro and cool again. Right now we're in that stage where you can look back and ask, "What were we thinking?" Just like short shorts, gumby haircuts, and mullets. Another one that I think is ugly, and I can thankfully say I didn't collect is the 1987 Topps. I'm not a big fan of the wood grain. 1990 Donruss and the '91 Fleer are pretty bad, but I think '90 Topps will eventually have a kitsch appeal to go along with the set.

envoy98

hey, that's when I collected too. You have to admit, 91 Donruss was pretty ugly... and Fleer Ultra hasn't varied from it's design in 8 years...which is why I quite buying any of it. 1987 Topps doesn't bother me that much, I liked 62 topps and it was "close enough" for me that I appreciated it. My stepdad had a bunch of 62 Topps cards and when 87T came out I kind of felt a kinship of sorts...<insert warm fuzzy feeling>

but 1990 Topps has to take the cake.

downgoesfrazier

I absolutely LOVE 1987 topps. I only keep them when they're extraordinary and perfect, so my view may be jaded a touch. I think they are fantastic. I like 1986-1988 quite a bit. They all have a "vintage" feel & look for me.


dgf

MajorDanby

<< <i>I like 1986-1988 quite a bit. They all have a "vintage" feel & look for me. >>



I'll have to partially agree with you on this statement. I do like the 88 and 89 topps design (they are very similar). The 87 isnt that bad, but it's up there in my book. The 86 actually appeals to because of its black and white border design. I forgot about the 90 design, but at least its not ugly yellow like 91 fleer.

CADILLACN97

91 Fleer probably takes the cake.
Tied for second has got to be 88 Score, 91 Donruss, and 90 Topps. 90 Donruss is bad, but Fleer was tolerable. I did however like 90 Score.
87 Topps was/is a good looking set, but maybe the extreme amount of cards out there throws it off for some people (looking at the same thing over again can get tiring after a while).


E

curmudgeon

1988 Donruss, followed closely by 1988 Donruss and then, oh I don't know, say 1988 Donruss. The word hideous understates how ugly those things are.

Buccaneer

I think most of the later card designs I grew up with - 1973-1978 - were horrible. Some of the 1980s were not bad though. But starting in the early 1990s, we get these snazzy, high-gloss, uber-designed photos (or like a miniature website) that do not look like baseball cards. If you want to compare, just take a look at the backs of the mid-late 1950s Topps.

But I suppose some can't separate objective design analysis from childhood feelings. It's like no one can ever convince a fanboy that there favorite team's helmet sucks.

CollectorChris

Every Topps design from 1970 on is ugly. It's just a matter of which is least ugly.

downgoesfrazier

This stuff is fascinating. 1988 Donruss is one of my absolute favorites of all time. The images are fantastic. The color is explosive on those. When they're perfect, they're gorgeous. I liken them to 71's in only this one way...when they're really nice, they're beautiful. When they're a little touched up, they're grotesque. I actually like every pre-1990 donruss issue with exception to 1982 & 1983. My favorites would be '81, 85, '88.

dgf

SHOOTER56

The 1991 fleer,how could you not like the rich blinding yellows & the large bold black name design.I just wish I knew the man behind this ingenius creation so I could find where he lives and shake his immortal hand!!! or at least get his phone # and tell him THANK YOU!! for changing my life through this masterful piece of cardboard

goudeygold

I second the 88 fleer. those freaking telletubby rainbow colors with the yellow stars and the plastic feeling cards, YUK!! now they are all freaking dripping gloss embosed plastic with shiney crap all over them...

GG

CDsNuts

The thing Donruss had going for it in that era was they always got good pictures. I think 86 Fleer is the most bland/ugly design, 81 Donruss is the most tacky/ugly, and 91 Donruss is the most flamboyant/ugly. I always liked that back of the Fleer cards because it felt like you were reading a stat sheet, and that was the purpose of having a card back.

Lee

Stone193

Cards have a certain charm that has some kind of attraction that's hard to put in words and many of the issues may be so ugly that they're good looking!

Stone

goudeygold

I meant 88 score not fleer in my above post.

GG

MajorDanby

the thing about 91 fleer is that even the players it has are not worth collecting. unlike in 87 with bonds, palmeiro and maddux...89 with griffey, sheffield and johnson...and 90 with thomas and sosa....91 really do not have any great rookies to collect (besides bagwell, thome and rodriguez...all of whom were not featured across all sets like griffey, thomas, sosa, etc). There's nothing in that set that is redeeming.

Stone193

Hi guys
I was looking for a butt ugly card to scan and found pics that I was sorting and cataloging - well this is OT all the way but here's a PC of a great Yankee fan from a band well known to only a few...it's me - the Stone man - music never paid any bills - so I had to keep my day job!



auto copies are available on request.

your friend
mike

PS: this does qualify as a fugly card!

MajorDanby

all you need are yellow borders and your last name in black bold and youve got your own 91 Fleer card!!

Gemmy10

55 Bowman

goudeygold

"stone free!!!!!!!!!!" (insert guitar riff here)

GG

1977topps

Pretty much anything post 1980 is just hideous, with a few exceptions.