Saturday, July 5, 2014

What's Next? Round of 16: (3) 1960 Topps vs (14) 1979 Topps


What jumped out right away for me in this match is the RCs.  3 Hall of Famers, and Bob Welch who had 211 wins over a 17 year career.  I know that '79 is going to get some love this week, but I wonder if it will be enough to get past the last fully horizontal (I believe) release from Topps.


Tale of the tape:

  1.  Set Size:  1960 has 572 cards.  1979 has 726 cards
  2.  Key RCs:  1960  Carl Yastrzemski, Willie McCovey  1979  Ozzie Smith, Bob Welch
  3.  Cost of complete set in NM condition:  1960  $5000      1979  $200
  4.  Number of cards with high book at $100 or more: 1960: 14   1979: 0 
Blogs:  1960 Topps  vs   1979 Topps

I was unable to find a 1960 specific card blog, so all I've done is link to the 1960 set on My Baseball Card blog.  If anyone out there knows of a 1960 blog, please let me know.  The 1979 blog is by the same writer who hosts Emerald City Diamond Gems, but unfortunately both of his blogs haven't been updated since April. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

24 comments:

  1. 1979 Topps was the 6th set I collected, and the first one I did not fall truly, madly, deeply in love with. It's not a bad set, but 35 years later I still have not completed it, so that tells you something.

    ...BUT...

    I really, really do not like 1960 Topps... Maybe it's one of those sets that you either love or hate, and I'm firmly on the "hate" side. In my book, this set goes down as one of the bottom three vintage Topps designs.

    So I've got to go with 1979, but if there were color analysts discussing my opinions, they would say that it wasn't so much that 1979 won as much as 1960 lost.

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  2. The very first set I actively pursued was the 1960 Topps baseball set. I can remember bugging my folks to buy me cello packs at the E.J. Korvettes store. Love everything about this set.

    That's my vote....1960!

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    1. Bob,

      I never thought I would see an E.J. Korvette's reference worked into one of these blogs. Nice!

      I bought the "Introducing the Beatles" LP (on Vee-Jay records, before the Beatles were on Capitol Records) at a Korvettes store in suburban Philadelphia. (That was some time in the late-1970s.)

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    2. I got my copy of "Wings Over America" at Korvettes in 1977... Three LP's worth of live Paul McCartney for one low price, how could I resist?

      Maybe we should get together and write a Korvettes blog. :-)

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    3. It seems to me my father's first credit card was from Korvettes. At leas that's the first one I remember seeing. I vote for 1960 as well.

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  3. My vote goes for the 1960 Topps set. As I continue to dabble in all of the vintage sets, this has become one of my favorites. Between the mixed colors on the lettering and the horizontal pictures, I am just a fan.

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  4. My vote goes to the '60 set...

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  5. I guess I will vote for 1960, although I am still not certain that is the right choice. Neither set does much for me.

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  6. I'm voting for 1960.

    I don't really like horizontal cards, but when the entire set is horizontal, somehow it seems ok. The 1960 set is my 3rd or 4th favorite design of the 1960s' sets (after '67 and '65).

    As for 1979, I never collected any cards from 1975 through 1980 (except getting the Phillies' cards after-the-fact), so I don't really have an opinion on the 1979 set.

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    Replies
    1. Robert,

      Matthew R (who blogs about the '78, '77, and '76 cards) has a blog set up for the 1960 set, but it looks like he hasn't started posting yet.

      http://baseball1960.blogspot.com

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    2. I hadn't seen Matt's blog. I need to ask him what his plans are for it.

      I have had the 1960 set in the back of my mind as a set to put together and blog. But I don't have the energy or time to do it right now. I just think I need more time after wrapping up the '59. Jim, I just don't know how you can do all you do blog-wise.

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  7. I'll take 1960 as well. I've never been a huge fan of '79 Topps.

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  8. Gotta go with 1960 if it's not my bank account on the line. 1979 is a fine set, but not in the same league as any 60s set.

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  9. As much as I like 1979, I'm going for 1960. No good reason, either.

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  10. I'm trying to complete 1979 myself, so I'll vote for that.

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  11. 1960. It's colorful and you gotta respect the all horizontal take, even though it was hardly unique at the time.

    The '79 set has never been impressive (except the Pirates cards) straight from the first packs I opened in '79.

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  12. The 1980 set was the first set I ever collected, I still remember the thrill of finding packs of 'last years cards' at a corner store so I am going with the 1979 set.

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  13. 1979 was right in the middle of my first go at collecting, and it never really caught me like the sets earlier in the 70's did. I don't think I have many cards from the 1969 set, but I like just about everything on them. Winner 1960.

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  14. 1960. '79 is a solid, workman-like set. But '60 is friggin' awesome. Colorful, horizontal, with great logos, and a great checklist. Just a super-fun set.

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  15. I know that this will be a win for 1960 in a walk , but the first sports set I ever bought packs from was 1979 OPC, so that's where the heart lies.

    I think it's also worthwhile that 1979 can be done on a budget and - perhaps important to a Blue Jays fan - the Blue Jays are actually in it. Willie Upshaw, Jim Clancy, Ernie Whittle - signs of better days to come.

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    Replies
    1. Whitt, of course. Lousy autocorrect.

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  16. 1960. I just love the horizontal layout. A big mark against the 79 set is the lack of world series highlights.

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