Poll: Favorite 1950's Topps design (baseball)

Given his starting point he can pick the least ugly of the bunch, unless they are all equally ugly in his view

Looks like 54 & 56 are the leaders, guess it comes down to whether you like 3 borders or 4

I picked 1955, as that was the first pre-1970 set I ever collected and completed, way back in the early 1980s; and i love the pastel colors and the smaller action shots.

I would've picked 1953, as I love the portraits and natural backgrounds, especially on the Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Gene Woodling, etc..... The only problem for me with the 1953s is that there are too many solid color backgrounds that frankly, just look terrible. Also, some of the portraits are too big compared to the card's size

I also kind-of like the 1956s, but they just look dull compared to the shiny 1955s.

Steve

That is a good book. I originally bought the first version which covered 1951 to 1985. It had red dust jacket. Then there were annual hard back updates for 1986, 1987 and 1988, which I have. No dust jackets. Then I got the 1951 to 1990 edition, with a blue dust jacket. They picture every Topps base set card for the included years ( no variations) , but only picture 2 of the 5 issued Topps sets from 1951 ( Red and Blue Backs... No Team cards or Current or Connie Mack All Stars).

Is anyone aware of any such book issue for 1989 or post 1990 ?

Also, another interesting poll would be rating Topps v Bowman for 1951 to 1955. On Net 54 there was a thread about whether if you were a kid with a nickel in 1955 with no prior knowledge of who was in the sets, would you have bought a Bowman or a Topps pack.

I'm glad that I am the lone collector who thinks that 1952 Topps is the best. That means more 1952 cards for me. Ah Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Seriously - All 1950's Topps baseball cards are beautiful, and it's not even Infinitesimally debatable.

My vote wasn't tainted by collecting any of them, purely design, 1960 is my earliest Topps set

@bishop said:
I like them all as well. I wonder if the poll here reflects the % of people who have or are actually collecting the set, or just views on design. Another interesting poll could involve checking off which of the sets people actually collect or have collected as opposed to which they liked best.

@LarkinCollector said:
My vote wasn't tainted by collecting any of them, purely design, 1960 is my earliest Topps set

I wouldn't call it "tainted". I would argue that people collect the sets/cards they like the best; so, if someone likes the 1955 Topps set best, they would probably choose to collect it before any others.

As for me, my two favorite Topps sets from the 1950s are 1955 and 1953. They are the two sets I collected and completed way back in the late 1970s/early 1980s, when I was in my teens/early twenties.

Steve

@stevek said:
I'm glad that I am the lone collector who thinks that 1952 Topps is the best. That means more 1952 cards for me. Ah Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Seriously - All 1950's Topps baseball cards are beautiful, and it's not even Infinitesimally debatable.

I was shocked to see that as well. Maybe the 52 has lost some luster.

1954 for me with 1955 being a close 2nd. I'm somewhat surprised to see 1956 blowing this poll up. It's not in the top half of the 8 for me. I do think it boasts Mantle's best looking card from the decade though.