The other day on my way to work, I was listening to the Board Game Barrage podcast and they did a bit around the Mount Rushmore of a specific board game designer. The basic idea was that they took a particular designer and came up with a Mount Rushmore of their designs, not necessarily the four best games they made but rather four games that somehow related to the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. I thought it'd be a fun exercise to do something similar here but for baseball cards!
Specifically, I present my version of the Mount Rushmore of Topps Sets.
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| The real Mount Rushmore |
George Washington: George Washington was chosen to be on Mount Rushmore because he was the founding President of the United States. He was the one who laid the foundation for democracy.
My Topps set that gets the honor of being the George Washington representative on the mountain is the 1957 Topps set.
The '57 Topps set is not the first Topps baseball card set produced, but it is the first set produced using the now standard card dimensions of 2.5" 3.5" that we are all used to today. The '57 Topps set was also the first set to use color photography making it the spiritual beginning of baseball cards as we know them today!
Thomas Jefferson: Thomas Jefferson was chosen to be on Mount Rushmore because he was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He was chosen to represent the growth of the United States.
My Topps set that gets to represent growth is the 1992 Topps set.
The 1992 Topps set was the first Topps set to be printed on the now standard white cardstock. This was also the first year that Topps didn't include gum in their packs of cards and the first year that Topps stopped using wax paper to package their cards. The 1992 Topps set also featured the first true full-set parallel made by Topps using foil (called Topps Gold).
Theodore Roosevelt: Teddy Roosevelt was chosen to be on Mount Rushmore because he led America through a period of rapid economic growth. Gutzon Borglum, the artist who created Mount Rushmore, chose Roosevelt to represent the development of the United States.
My Topps set that represents the development of baseball cards is the 1981 Topps set.
This is the first Topps set to be released with proper market competitors. Topps had recently lost a lawsuit and by 1981, Topps was joined by fellow card manufacturers Fleer and Donruss in attempting to appeal to the masses. The 1981 set is also generally considered to mark the beginning of the "Modern Era" of baseball cards.
Abraham Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln was chosen to be on Mount Rushmore because he preserved the Union during the Civil War. Lincoln represents the preservation of the United States.
My Topps set that represents the preservation of baseball cards is the 2010 Topps set.
2010 was a transformative year in the baseball card marketplace as it was the first year since 1981 that Topps didn't face (fully licensed) product competition from at least one of Fleer, Donruss, or Upper Deck.
And there you have it, my Mount Rushmore of Topps set. Not necessarily the four best sets by Topps or even my four favorites, but I do think they are four of the most important sets/years of Topps' history. Of course, I fully expect plenty of disagreement over some of my choices so I'd love to hear your picks for your own version of the Mount Rushmore of Topps sets in the comments below.
Note: Mount Rushmore images and descriptions can be found here: from https://www.nps.gov/moru/learn/historyculture/why-these-four-presidents.htm.
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