Well Here is a look back and discussion about some cards in general.

[krunchtyme]

As we all are trying to do our best to stay healthy, maintain relationships, work, etc...We should all remember the little things that could be important to someone else.

Now, on to my thought for the day. So last night, I was looking through some Drew Brees cards. He is the only person I have in a binder and actually spend time looking at every now and then. Weird for a Cowboy's collector, but anyways...I noticed something. Some cards look like crap and some are really nice to look at. So I figured, I would delve into this a little bit more to make the time go by and see what else you guys and gals were thinking.

So. Personally, I really don't care for the look of the 2006 Ultra set. Don't know what it is but I just didn't care for it. Same with 2005 Upper Deck Rookie materials. Horrible design.

Flip it: I loved a few other sets. Not sure why by the 2005 Topps set really sticks out to me as a good looking set. Another one I really liked was the 2008 Prestige base. Good looking cards.

I also noticed, I was more attracted to blue cards and I'm not the only one. It seems as if cards on comc that are blue sell higher than their counterparts and that is taking into consideration serial numbers, etc... Blue cards are more expensive...hmmmmm

Well. If you read all this. Name some other sets that just look cool. Not expensive or flashy, but everyday stuff that a company did a good job on.

Thanks Rich

[krunchtyme]

[krunchtyme]

Some other good looking sets.....2004 Topps. Very classic look. Not flashy or expensive, but a nice looking card. people. We have time on our hands, let's talk cards!!!!

[jplcom]

Topps Finest is the pinnacle of design, set size, parallels, fun inserts, and hits.

[FireRob]

Seeing how I have completely been out of the hobby for about 14 years I’m not that familiar with much between 2005 and 2018 other than Mike Singletary’s cards that I have been frantically buying up for the past five months. But thinking back and I always liked the Topps 1984 football set. The Bears head logo instead of the “C” looks good. Two other sets I never cared for that I now have a new respect for now that I am trying to build a Singletary PSA set registry are the 1985 and 1986 sets with those difficult to find pristine dark boarders.

[krunchtyme]

@jplcom @FireRob

I agree. 1985 and 1986 were tough. The 85 boarders were an issue and the 86's seemed to me to be off center pretty often. I actually got an 1987 Topps card of Singletary autographed at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. I'll post a pic tonight when I get home.

Finest puts out a good product. So, jplcom what makes it good and why don't others try to follow?

[FireRob]

Krunchtyme, awesome about the I person auto. I have yet to meet him in person.

Another thing about the 1986 is those white lines are not consistent on any of the cards. It’s almost as if they had green and white striped card stock then printed the photos on afterwards. Not sure how else to describe it but I’ll try. The white lines and not in the same exact spot on any two cards.

[bakemeister52]

Always have liked the Finest sets for their design and size of set. Action Packed were another small set with good design.

Bake

[krunchtyme]

FireRob I agree totally on the 86 Topps. I couldn't put my finger on it but you nailed it! Hey FireRob, you wouldn't happen to be looking for Greg Olson RC's PSA 10 are you?

Hey Bake!!!!! I was never an Action Packed fan. I have a ton and even some unopened boxes i think, but not a real fan. I have some Gallup for you. Found Jeter Minor League card too.

[jplcom]

Finest puts out a good product. So, jplcom what makes it good and why don't others try to follow?

Manufacturing/Production/Printing - Topps developed the Chromium technology in 1991 which serves as the basis of the Finest line. The world got preview sets in 1992. While football came back in 1994, 1993 Finest baseball was unleashed with the best parallel ever created - the Refractor (which Panini shamelessly co-oped as "prizm" since ZZZZzzz are so much cooler and edgier than an S when spelling prism). Through the years Finest would experiment with die cutting, eventually leading to the popular Atomic Rookie Refractors insert set from 2010 and on.

Set design - Finest has been the flagship for far out designs. Rarely do you see background in the sets. Rather the player is typically cut out against interesting design backgrounds. While other sets have since done the same thing, Finest was the first to pioneer what felt like buying a pack of inserts, quite a big deal back in the 1990s when inserts were considered the hits. There for sure have been some misses mixed in with the hits on design, but overall Finest pushes boundaries and has stayed true. When you pick up a Finest card from any decade, you know you are holding a Finest card.

Set construction - Early sets pushed the boundaries on reasonable with girthy 200 and 300 card sets released in two series. This was a product of the times and for most of the run kept to a 150ish checklist. Typically offered a good selection of rookies but not an all-inclusive checklist that some other sets offered but you got most of the star players their rookie year. Finest is ideally built for case breakers, box breakers, or save some bank by going the mini-box route to get a good fix.

Inserts/chase cards - From 2000-2013 Finest had the venerable "Finest Moments" insert set celebrating the best moments in football. From 2010 - 2015 the aforementioned Atomic Rookie Refractor Die Cuts were a fun way to keep collecting rookie year cards. Refractors, refractors, refractors! Multiple colors, many serial numbers, Superfractors, all look amazing when gracing the set designs.

Hits - Finest started including jersey cards and autograph cards back in 2000 and evolved through the years to include letterman cards, ball cards, booklets, and everything else under the sun. The mainstays have been the jumbo jersey cards and autograph patch cards, with various refractor versions that when serial numbered low enough feature some truly eye popping swatches.

Legacy - while Topps no longer has a license to print NFL cards, baseball has kept right on with their offerings. You can see the DNA of what Topps pioneered with Panini Prizm's multiple "prizms" colors. However Topps was the pioneer in this field and thus have forever captured my imagination and collecting desire. Folks who frequent the buy/sell boards here probably see me pop up asking about Finest cards whenever they get posted :). If you ever want to lose some time and see how far down the rabbit hole I go with Topps Finest, feel free to check out my site here - http://jplarson.com/cards.html