The Ultimate Blog Reader Rankings: Best Baseball Card Set of the 1980s!

A few days ago, I put out a call for blog reader feedback in the form of a short survey.  My intention is to use that data to help settle some of the greatest debates this side of ketchup versus mustard for a hot dog (answer, ketchup unless it's dijon mustard but you all knew that already).  

For today, I'm going to determine the best baseball card set of the 1980s as voted on by my readers.  Well, sort of.  What I'm actually going to do is determine the best set of the 1980s based on your nominates (and only your nominations) but it's actually going to be me that determines the best - with some help courtesy of the Pub Meeple ranking engine.

If you haven't heard of Pub Meeple ranking engine before, basically it works by giving you two choices from a given list of options.  You pick the choice you like better.  Then, it gives you another pairing.  This continues until the ranking engine has enough data and then it spits out an ordered list of your original options.  I first heard about this from a board game podcast that I listen to (shout out to Board Game Barrage) and I figured it'd make for a fun blog series every now and then.

To make this work in blog format, I'll be sharing the pairing that Pub Meeple spit out to me as well as my selection.  We'll keep at it until we finish and then we'll have our definitive rankings!

Let's get it going!

1988/89 Pacific Legends vs. 1983 Fleer
I loved the 1988/89 Pacific Legends set as a kid.  In fact, this was the first complete set I was ever given - though it didn't stay complete for long because it was actually a shared gift between myself and my younger brother.  Once we had the set, we immediately did a "draft" of the set where we took turns picking cards for our personal collections.  Nostalgia hits hard and in any sort of "best of" list, nostalgia is a powerful ally to have!  Pacific wins.

1982 Topps vs. 1986 Topps

The 1982 set came out in the year I was born so there's no nostalgia there (and since I was only 3.5 years old when the '86 set came out there's not much nostalgia there either).  If I had been asked to pick between these two sets ten years ago, I'd have chosen the 1982 Topps set every single time but now I have to say the '86 design has grown on me quite a bit.  Plus, the '82 set is full of mostly boring photos with only the "In Action" subset featuring...well...action.  Neither set will remind you of Stadium Club-esque photography but '86 Topps wins out here for me.

1982 Donruss vs. 1989 Topps

The 1989 Topps set is rather underrated in my opinion.  I love the Future Stars cards in it as well as the Team Leaders cards.  The team script name is different than most sets (and color coordinated by team as well) which I applaud.  The 1982 Donruss set design is also surprisingly good for the era - so much so that this is a tougher choice than I thought it would be at first glance.  I'm giving the nod to 1989 Topps but only by a whisker.

1980 Topps vs. 1981 Topps

The battle of the early 80s Topps sets!  The 1981 team hats in the design is enough for me to put that set above the crooked banners of the previous year.  1981 Topps wins.

1988/89 Pacific Legends vs. 1987 O-Pee-Chee

I don't have any particular affinity for O-Pee-Chee sets in general so Pacific wins easily.  

1983 Fleer vs. 1987 O-Pee-Chee

O-Pee-Chee gets a second crack at a win and since it has the classic look of the 1987 Topps, it has a chance against an early Fleer set...especially one with border colors as ugly as the 1983 Fleer set has!  If this were base sets only, I'd give the nod to O-Pee-Chee but I can't but consider that 1983 Fleer packs also included awesome stickers...and I like baseball stickers a lot.  Fleer wins.

1986 Topps vs. 1983 Topps

The picture-in-picture design for the 1983 Topps set is definitely a positive.  I also think the set has better overall photography than the 1986 set (though I could be wrong about that).  I'll give the nod to '83 here.

1989 Topps vs. 1988 Topps

I never liked the 1988 Topps design (front or back) as much as most other card sets from that era.  1989 wins easily.

1982 Donruss vs. 1988 Topps

A closer matchup for '88 Topps but it loses back-to-back pairings as I'm going with 1982 Donruss.

1981 Topps vs. 1987 Topps

I (maybe) should have lumped the 1987 O-Pee-Chee votes in with the 1987 Topps totals but I didn't for the sake of complete accuracy for our ranking list.  This is another one where ten years ago 1987 Topps would have won in a heartbeat but modern Topps has so killed the wood grain design that I'm leaning towards 1981 Topps simply for that reason.  Congrats 1981.

1980 Topps vs. 1987 Topps

The 1987 Topps set is still better than the 1980 design, even with the oversaturation in today's market of the faux wood grain.  1987 has to win here.

1983 Topps vs. 1988/89 Pacific Legends

The Pacific Legends set was my first introduction to the star players of baseball history - that alone puts the set way above 1983 Topps in my eyes.  Pacific wins in a surprise to the many who voted for 1983 Topps!

1983 Topps vs. 1983 Fleer

Picture-in-picture versus cool stickers (plus nice team logos which I always appreciate in a card design).  As much as I do love 1983 Topps, it's not even the best set for its year...Fleer wins!

1983 Topps vs. 1987 O-Pee-Chee

The 1983 Topps takes this one over "fake Topps."  

1986 Topps vs. 1987 O-Pee-Chee

O-Pee-Chee goes down again, '86 for the win.

1982 Topps vs. 1987 O-Pee-Chee

I don't know how Pub Meeple does their ranking (though maybe if I get bored some day I'll analyze the results of this post in a mathematical sense to figure it out).  That being said, could O-Pee-Chee really lose three matchups in a row?  Well, no...it can eek out a victory over 1982 Topps, but only by the Frenchiest of margins (don't worry, I have no idea what that means either).

1981 Topps vs. 1989 Topps

Ooh, a good pairing here.  1989 wins on photo selection alone.

1981 Topps vs. 1982 Donruss

The baseball card "purist" in me has to go with Topps over the Donruss brand in what is otherwise a "pick-em" matchup if you ask me.

1987 Topps vs. 1982 Donruss

Topps has certainly killed the '87 design and Panini doesn't put out enough stuff that I care about for it to have killed the '82 Donruss design for me.  Donruss wins in an upset here.

1987 Topps vs. 1988 Topps

The '87 design is too good to lose to the vastly inferior '88 design (who thought slanted text was a good idea ever)?!  

1980 Topps vs. 1988 Topps

Hey, whaddya know...slanted text for everyone!  I do like how the images in the 1988 set "leak out" over the text occasionally, it makes the cards pop a bit which is good.  Congrats to 1988 here.

1989 Topps vs. 1988/89 Pacific Legends

Nostalgia versus nostalgia for me personally - 1989 was the first year where I really got into card collecting as a kid.  I love both of these sets for different reasons but I think the relative brevity of the Pacific set coupled with the absolute star power and historical lessons makes it the winner.  

1989 Topps vs. 1983 Fleer

1989 Topps here, again, nostalgia wins out though the 1983 Fleer set is worth a second look to anyone who has ignored it over the years!

1981 Topps vs. 1983 Fleer

Ooh, another toughie for me.  I'm giving Fleer the nod though I don't feel great about this choice.  Luckily, I'm thinking both of these sets won't be in the running for the top spot in the "best of the 1980s" list at the end.

1981 Topps vs. 1983 Topps

Alright, this one might be the toughest choice yet for me.  I love both sets but since I have to pick one over the other, I'm leaning 1981 Topps here.  Barely.

1982 Donruss vs. 1983 Topps

Much easier, congrats '83 Topps.

1982 Donruss vs. 1986 Topps

Two decent-but-not-great sets in my eyes.  I'll go 1982 Donruss here in a pick that honestly surprises even me.  If there's one thing that I've learned about myself thus far through these picks its that I like the 1982 Donruss set much more than I thought I did!  

1987 Topps vs. 1986 Topps

Overhyped/overplayed 1987 versus the steady Eddie of 1986.  Do I vote based purely on design or does Topps killing the golden goose play into things here?  I'll try to keep this pick as pure as possible and say in a vacuum the 1987 Topps set is the better designed set (plus the Team Leaders subset cards are awesome).

1988 Topps vs. 1986 Topps

1986 wins easily in my eyes.

1988 Topps vs. 1987 O-Pee-Chee

The '88 Topps set couldn't beat the real deal from 1987 and I'm afraid it can't beat the French cousin of the '87 set either.  Go O-Pee-Chee!

1988 Topps vs. 1982 Topps

The '82 set wins out here for me quite easily.  I was born in 1982 so I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for the 1982 set even though I don't think it's one of the stronger Topps offerings of the decade.  In fact, I'd wager it's one of the worst - but at least it's better than 1988 Topps!

And that's it - Pub Meeple has all the information it needs to give us our final rankings - and they are:

Ranking Engine

Rank Item

1 1988/89 Pacific Legends

2 1989 Topps 

3 1983 Fleer 

4 1981 Topps 

5 1983 Topps 

6 1982 Donruss 

7 1987 Topps 

8 1986 Topps 

9 1987 O-Pee-Chee 

10 1982 Topps 

11 1988 Topps 

12 1980 Topps 

In a shocking turn of events, the 1988/89 Pacific Legends set steals the victory!  I didn't expect that...nor did I expect the 1989 Topps set to come in second but there you have it.  The math doesn't lie!

Congrats to the 1988/89 Pacific Legends set - the BEST SET OF THE 1980s.  

Proven definitely.