If you recall I skipped 1953 because I didn't have any (turns out I had a couple, but I wasn't organized), so I picked up a few courtesy of COMC and finally got them shipped to me along with some 1957 Topps cards I needed for my binder.
The 1953 Topps set contains 274 cards with the cards being numbered 1-280. 6 cards do not exist because the players designated for those spots signed exclusive contracts with Bowman. While the set size decreased drastically from 1952, the size of the actual cards remained the same, 2-5/8" x 3-3/4".
You'll notice the red and black background of the nameplate portion. Red is for the American League and black is for the National League. The cards were distributed in 4 different series, but there are reports that some cards that should have been distributed in the early series were not distributed until the later series for some reason.
Here are the 1953 Topps cards that I got from COMC.
The cards really are beautiful! The colors on the illustrated portraits pop and I love the backgrounds.
The back of the cards are almost as great as the front. Check out how much is crammed onto the back, but in my opinion, it all works. You've got demographic info at the top, with commentary about the player under that with a facsimile autograph on top, then you have statistics for the past year and their career which includes pitching, fielding and batting stats depending on the player, and finally a Dugout Quiz featuring a cartoon drawing.
I'm not going to go through and detail each card on the page, but there is some star power here for sure with 3 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame former Rookie of the Year and MVPs.
What do you think? Is 1953 Topps the most beautiful set of cards ever made, or is there another set that you feel is better?
That is a wonderful page of cardboard right there. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and 1953 might be at the top of the list. If it's not, it's probably one of the other 1950s sets. The hand drawn cards are simply the best. The backgrounds seemingly take me back to the 1950s. Simply wonderful!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous!! I like the 1953 set a lot more than the iconic 1952 set.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I never knew about the red/black nameplate/league thingy. Thanks for pointing that out. This is a solid page. All 8 guys are names I'm familiar with. Love seeing Yankee Stadium in the background of Noren's card.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I didn't know about the red and black nameplates until I was doing some research for this post.
DeleteI am one of the few people who will disagree about the 1953 set. I think it's boring. I don't like the backs. I do appreciate and acknowledge the enormous undertaking it must have been to paint all those portraits, but with only the rare exception (Willie Mays and Dick Brodowski come to mind) they all look more or less the same.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad doesn't like chocolate, so I get that there are some people who won't like 1953 Topps.
DeleteI really don't like the Topps Living Set cards for some reason, but gotta love the original '53s.
ReplyDeleteI like the Living Set cards, but I don't like how Topps is selling them.
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