The last 10

Here’s part 2 of my ranking of the Topps flagship sets. In this post I am including the sets issued in the last 10 years’ time, 11 sets in all.

The more recent sets don’t fare very well as you could probably guess. But one gets close to the top 20, and if you know me, you could guess that one, too.

When I ranked the sets the last time there were 64 to rank. Now there are 75. I’m not going through all the rankings again this time. Instead I’ll show the recent sets and list where they placed.

Here we go:

75. 2021

There’s a new bottom. 1996 is no longer bringing up the rear. 2021 Topps is awful. I know this is the pandemic set and Topps was doing what it could to work with photos with no fans and weird camera angles, but it wasn’t the right call. The razor slashes infringe on the photo, like they’re poking the player. Worst of all, the names are impossible to read, maybe the smallest in history — I’d have to compare with 1999’s team names.

74. 2016

A year after I wrote the countdown series, a set arrived that I disliked more than every set issued prior. 2016 Topps’ reign at the bottom lasted five years but I still don’t like it any more. The photos look terrible — like an art project gone wrong. Up in smoke. The gold parallels are the worse ever made. I have only a handful of cards from this set remaining.

72. 2017

Don’t let anyone tell you 2016 and 2017 were the good ol’ days, especially when it comes to baseball cards. Three of the four sets in the bottom four were created in the last 10 years. I’ve long been annoyed by card designs that affect the photo or infringe on it. See: 1969 Topps, 2008 Topps, 1992 Fleer, etc. This one may be the worst of all. The steel girders design at the bottom basically cuts off the bottom fifth of the photo. There is a void of nothingness in the bottom right corner. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger deserved better.

64. 2020

I’ve never been a fan of sideways writing on cards or sideways designs. You’ve got to tilt your head, and it often restricts what photos are used, leading to a certain sameness from card-to-card (see 1992 Fleer again, 2007 Upper Deck, etc). Topps added horizontal cards in the set to alleviate that, but those look worse than the vertical cards. Nice product placement though.

53. 2025

More sideways writing and also the unwelcome return of foil. But the sleekness of the design coupled with the quirky position bug helps this set. We’re well into the “every photo is cropped the same” era so there’s only so high most of these sets can go.

51. 2019

I liked this set when it came out. I still do. But it’s fallen a bit. Many of the photo images don’t look quite right, like there’s a filter on them and a few are dark. Add the haziness on the sides and we’re far from Stadium Club territory.

50. 2022

This was a welcome arrival after the previous two sets. I like the open area devoted to the photo and some of the images are fun. I have the complete set and I have to say when I look at it in a binder there is kind of a sterile vibe, not enough going on with the design, just a lot of white. The droopy position logo doesn’t help.

44. 2018

Another recent set with a lot of open space for the photo, which I like. The bottom design didn’t make a lot of sense when it first arrived, but I think it’s held up pretty well. I like the shimmery lighting on it, and the photos are fairly fun. It was certainly welcome after 2016 and 2017.

39. 2026

I don’t know the inspiration for this design. But the more I think of it as a comic book panel, the more I like it. I can see this set moving up and up as the years go by — which means I probably should buy more of it. Unfortunately there are way too many city connect uniforms.

34. 2023

I tucked this in with some other sets with the same design theme (action shot/head shot) that weren’t the king of this look, which are 1983 and 1963. But 2023 is as good as 1954, 1955 and 2003. It’s awfully busy at the bottom of the card, but I don’t mind it. I do like the scoreboard/TV graphic look. Just as long as Vladdy Jr. doesn’t start blinking at me.

22. 2024

The highest-ranked Topps flagship set from the last 10 years. I’ve gone on and on about this design and why I like it. I said it’s my favorite flagship design since the 1980s. It ranks just ahead of one of my other favorites of the last 25 years — 2015 Topps. The “neon” treatment of the cards goes right to the heart of what I’ve liked since I was a little boy.

So no set in the top 20 but fairly close. Not too bad for a modern set.

And that’s all the sets in order by my view through 75 Topps flagship sets. Here they are visually how I ranked them — best to worst, with no additional commentary.