Best card design - the 80s

Estil · February 11, 2008 9:35AM

TOPPS
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1. 1987: Very first complete set I bought (along with 1989), very clean colorful woodgrain bordered front, nice yellow/blue back.
2. 1989: Not the most popular design, I know, but it was one of the first cards I ever got, and I also love the back design too
3. 1983: Very colorful, very clever double picture design
4. 1981: I love colorful, bold designs, remember? Also final year of Topps' old "smiling" logo (though the current logo is on the pack wrappers)
5. 1982: Not sure why, but I like this design and the colors used for the teams.
6. 1985: I like both front (colorful, team logo) and back (Christmas colors, perhaps to mark the first year of "Christmas" factory sets?)
7. 1980: My birth year, nuff said
8. 1986: Okay as long as the black top borders aren't chipped too much
9. 1984: I love the red/white/blue back, but this double picture design is not nearly as strong as 1983's
10. 1988: *yawn*

FLEER
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1. 1987: Very solid blue bordered design and red/white/blue back, almost as "80s" as the 1984.
2. 1984: The most "80s" of all major sets' designs, period. And a few creative pics just for good measure
3. 1986: Navy blue borders with colorful team plates, what more could you ask for?
4. 1985: So what if the centering was bad that year? At least it had nice colorful inner borders
5. 1982: Say what you will about the horrible fuzzy pictures, I do like the design otherwise and this is my favorite back design (very advanced for 1982)
6. 1989: Has its charm, but nothing really exciting, at least it was more interesting than 1988
7. 1988: Not a bad design, but IMO, this year was the weakest year for card designs, except for 1988 Score
8. 1981: Okay front, dismal back (loaded with errors) and couldn't even cut the cards straight that year
9. 1983: Just like the 1977 Topps set, very yawner as far as front goes, but the brown colored back is unique and has its charm

DONRUSS
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1. 1989: My favorite of all 1980s designs, with the colorful borders and memories (this and 1989 Topps were my first cards bought for me)
2. 1987: Even nicer black borders than 1985, with colorful team plate and logo
3. 1985: Black bordered beauties just like 1971 Topps, but at least you can buy a factory set and avoid the chipped borders.
4. 1984: Yes, its the most famous 1980s sets, but it wasn't the BEST design IMO.
5. 1986: The blue/black borders and colorful team plate has its charm
6. 1982: At least it was better than the following year, at least it was kinda unique and debuted the Diamond Kings
7. 1983: Laziest design change of all time (change ball to glove and move to other side, change back from blue to orange, that's it)
8. 1981: Another yawner, but at least unlike Fleer that year, they did a decent job making the cards (except for the thin stock)
9. 1988: This is the most boring design of all the 1980s sets; no wonder its still only worth $5 a factory set, if that

And please be sure to defend your choices. Don't just make a blank list of years; explain why you like/don't like the designs. I didn't include Upper Deck and Score as there wouldn't be much to rank for those sets.

F1ferrari · February 11, 2008 9:45AM

From the 1980s, I'm partial to all 3 of the 1982 baseball sets, because that's the year I first bought cards and because Cal Ripken's rookies are in those sets. After these sets, I have always thought the 1984 and 1983 Topps were really nice with the smaller head shots and larger action shots. The 1984 Donruss is the 'star' of the 1980s, and the 1988 and 1989 Score sets raised the bar in terms of photography on sports card sets.

RipublicaninMass · February 11, 2008 9:47AM

none-overproduced, fuzzy photos, etc..

WinPitcher · February 11, 2008 9:53AM

1986 Topps

Steve

MDCards · February 11, 2008 10:02AM

I think that the 80s was a bit odd for cards as it had both some of the best designs and worst designs.

My list:

1989 Upper Deck - Sharp pictures, clean design. This set was just so above and beyond what had been the traditional set/card quality. Griffey as card #1 obviously worked out great too.

1984 Donruss - Again, great colors and also just seemed to elevate all the other companies to up their quality (and was amaxing considering 81-83 Donruss).

1983 Topps - Best colors and design for Topps in the 80s. Seem to have a 'pop' that's missing from many other '80s Topps

1987 Fleer
1987 Donruss
1985 Topps
1984 Fleer
1985 Donruss
1986 Fleer

So many awful sets, I agree that 88D is the worst.

Football:
'85
'86
'84

bluemarlin · February 11, 2008 10:03AM

1984 Donruss.

Jake

DrJ · February 11, 2008 10:12AM

Umm, I think there are two threads going on with the same topic!

bluemarlin · February 11, 2008 10:28AM

<< <i>Umm, I think there are two threads going on with the same topic! >>

Yea,Both by the same poster

DavidPuddy · February 11, 2008 10:41AM

85 Fleer: Color, Color, and more Color
87 Fleer: Love the sky blue borders
87 Topps: wood grain, very nice
82 Donruss: Too bad they used it two years in a row
85 Topps: Olympic Cards
84 Fleer: lots of great photos

HATE: Anything from 88. Those were the worst designs in Baseball card history.

ArnyVee · February 11, 2008 10:50AM

You can probably guess which might be my favorite of the '80s!

Nineteen Eighty Four Donruss

But, I really like '83 Topps as well as '89 Upper Deck rounding out my top three.

dalemurphycollector · February 11, 2008 11:01AM

I just want to spread a little love to the 1983 OPC's. You have to love the rough cuts and original design. Too bad Topps rip the off and went for the same design. They should sue