The Ten Best Baseball Card Sets of the 1970s
The 1970s was a fantastic time to be a baseball fan. Whether your thing was polyester uniforms, disco sideburns, pillbox caps, artificial turf, or concrete donuts, the decade had it all. As the superstars of one generation—Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and (most painfully) Roberto Clemente—disappeared from the diamond, a new generation of superstars rose to prominence, among them Dave Parker, Mike Schmidt, and George Brett among them. Aaron chased and ultimately passed Ruth while Rose chased both DiMaggio and Cobb. And let's not forget the greatest Fall Classic this side of Mr. October, featuring a home run that nearly reversed the game's most legendary curse.
Mirroring the excitement of the game on the field, the 1970s were also an A+ time to be a card collector. Though the Topps monopoly was in full effect, a broad and funky mix of oddball sets peppered the decade with varying levels of success and impact on the Hobby. The result, at least in this article's rankings, is that your Top Ten sets of the decade will very much not simply be the 1970-79 Topps sets in some particular order. Rather, like the decade itself, these rankings will include a cool counterculture of rebels and renegades taking aim at the establishment. Ultimately, this was a decade—really, the decade—where iconic and iconoclastic may well have been one and the same.
Without further ado, then, let this all-important countdown of the decade's best begin!
10th Place: 1976 SSPC
Good chance you're reading this and wondering what the heck this set even is. Visually, it was more or less the return of 1953 Bowman, minus the gorgeous photography, but metaphorically the SSPC set was a middle finger. "Topps says nobody else can make baseball cards? We'll see about that!" Ultimately, Topps did get the last laugh, shutting the whole operation down, but not before complete sets made it into the hands of collectors everywhere. Looking for a fun fact about this set? Legendary collector and newsman Keith Olbermann wrote the backs of the cards while a freshman at Cornell University!
9th Place: 1972 Topps
From a design standpoint, the 1972 Topps set was the company's "most '70s" offering, borrowing its now iconic aesthetic from the 1971 Broadway music, "Follies." It also delivered innovation, offering collectors "In Action" bonus cards of popular players as well as the Hobby's first significant "Traded" set. Oh, and if huge sets if your thing, this baby had 787 cards, the most in Topps history to that point.
Why is it then that I put 1972 Topps so far down the list? Two reasons.
- The player images, dominated by up-nostril camera angles, are among the decade's very worst. (Notable exception: The Roberto Clemente card belongs in the Louvre.)
- A lack of key rookie cards. (The lone Hall of Famer is Carlton Fisk.)
8th Place: 1978 Kellogg's 3-D Super Stars
In truth, just about any of the decade's Kellogg's sets could hold this position. My choice of the 1978 set in particular came down to a personal preference for the design, but I won't pretend it's markedly better or different from that of other years. Are these cards really that good? They are. In fact, some would even say, "They're grrrreat!" These cards were more than just a crude 3-D image of your favorite player on some sort of cardboard-plastic amalgam.
There was an entire experience that went with it: begging your mom to splurge for Kellogg's over the cheaper brands, promising you'd brush your teeth if she bought the Frosted Flakes, the thrill of ripping open the box as soon as you got in the car, and the adventure of ramming your entire arm through all 20 ounces of flakes, pops, crispies, or what not until that magical prize pouch was in hand. Trust me if you weren't there to experience it. This was collecting at its best.
7th Place: 1976 Laughlin Diamond Jubilee
The decade's greatest (really, the century's greatest) indie card artist, Bob Laughlin, produced more than a dozen sets in the 1970s, some in partnership with Fleer, but most on his own and sold through Hobby newsletters. Among his very best was his 1976 Diamond Jubilee set, which at once celebrated the 100th anniversary of the National League and the 75th anniversary of the American League. The set as a whole provides an excellent lesson in baseball history while many of its singles lend a touch of the offbeat to player and team collections.
6th Place: 1976 Hostess
As with Kellogg's, it could be argued that the various Hostess sets of the 1970s were more alike than different. Still, 1976 earns honors here, if for no other reason than its timely bicentennial color scheme. It also goes without saying that Twinkies and Ding Dongs tasted a whole lot better than anything in a Topps pack.
5th Place: 1971 Topps
For collectors of high-grade cardboard, the black borders of 1971 Topps present one of the toughest challenges of the 1970s, though 1971 wasn't the first time Topps strayed from white borders on a flagship set. (We can find non-white edges in 1970, 1968, 1963, 1962, 1954, and 1953.) Though the only Hall of Fame rookie cards are Bert Blyleven and Ted Simmons, the set boasts what may be the greatest All-Star Rookie trophy card of all time, that of Yankees catcher Thurman Munson.
4th Place: 1971 O-Pee-Chee
Just about any praise offered to 1971 Topps applies equally to its Canadian counterpart, but there is one thing the O-Pee-Chee set has that the U.S. set does not: way cooler backs! I know, that may well seem like an extremely minor point, but try telling that to anyone who has these Canadian yellow-backs. They know what they have. Plus, where else are you gonna find two different Rusty Staub base cards on the same checklist!
3rd Place: 1974 Laughlin Old-Time Black Stars
Here is a set that was awesome since the day it came out but has only grown in interest and value since the incorporation of Negro League stats into the Major League record. For the majority of the players on its 36-card checklist, 22 of whom are now in the Hall of Fame, this set provides their very first piece of U.S.-issued cardboard. Oh, and as with all things Bob Laughlin touched, the artistry is superb!
2nd Place: 1977 O-Pee-Chee
O-Pee-Chee collectors have long been fascinated by the instances where the Canadian and U.S. cards differ the most. While it's par for the course that the backs include some French and the positions on the front may say things like lanceur and premier-but rather than pitcher and first base, what collectors really want are different teams, different images, and players and managers exclusive to the O-Pee-Chee set. Well, this is absolutely the set that delivers in spades.
1st Place: 1975 Topps
Top honors for the decade go to the set that had it all: Skittles-like color combos, great rookie cards, occasionally transcendent photography, a checklist packed with superstars, and a healthy does of innovation. Perhaps fueled by the Hammer passing Ruth the year before, 1975 Topps was the set that introduced the Highlights subset (later renamed "Record Breakers") as a flagship fixture for many years to come. The set also offered a nice nod to the history of the game and the Hobby with its MVP subset going all the way back to 1951, Finally, let's end with some fun trivia. For years, collectors believed A's batboy Stanley Burrell (better known as MC Hammer) made an early cameo on the "A's Do It Again" World Series card. In fact, the young man on the card is Hammer's older brother Chris.
So there you have it, the ten top sets of the 1970s. Obviously, these rankings are subjective enough to spark some disagreement and debate, but isn't that a good thing? Besides, this is the 1970s we're talking about, if you catch my drift. If you think my list is groovy, right on! If not, no need to take to the streets. Just go ahead and roll your own! Power to the people, peace and love. You dig?
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.