The Best "Other" Cards in the Pack from 1952-1999
Riffle through a pack of cards just about any year from the mid-1950s through today and your results likely follow a pattern: same, same, same, same, different! After pulling card after card of the various players in the set, the next card breaks the flow. Maybe it's a team card. Maybe it's a record breaker. Maybe it's a Donruss Diamond King. And then, chances are, you're back to where you were before: another short run of standard player cards...until BAM! Another one.
RELATED: The Five Essential Baseball Cards of 1978 Topps
Add us as a preferred source on Google
When these pattern-breakers are done well, they tend to be among the highlights of your rip. You can think of them as the mini-hits of the pack, adding fun and personality to the set. While this is typically the case, there are certainly the occasional duds as well. That's just the nature of the Hobby. Put out enough sets over the decades and nobody's batting 1.000. But back to the good ones, and here let's count anything that's a break from the standard card, which of these were the best of the best? Subsets, inserts, oddballs, you name it! Here's a methodical though certainly not objective look at the cream of the crop.
1950s
Though some earlier exceptions can always be found in the vast history of the Hobby, subsets really came into their own in the mid-1950s with the advent of Topps team cards. True, even 1952 Topps had its managers and coaches but at the end of the day their card design was the same as anyone else's. Team cards on the other hand, you knew you were getting something different right off the bat. The subset concept would slowly but surely expand during the decade to include All-Stars, highlights cards known as "Baseball Thrills," Rookie Stars, and various one-offs. While all were fantastic—that's just how baseball card collecting was in the 1950s—the Decade's Best prize goes to the 1958 Topps All-Star cards, amazing cards individually but even better when placed side-by-side.
1960s
The 1960s was an incredible time to collect baseball cards, especially if you liked the occasional subset, oddball, or insert card mixed in with your pack. Absolute staples of the Hobby such as World Series cards and League Leaders entered the mix as did one-offs like the Babe Ruth Special series of 1962 and an early ancestor of Topps Chrome in 1965. Though any number of subsets or inserts might lay claim to the decade's best, the player selection of the eleven 1963 Topps "combination player cards" puts the subsets just a smidge above the competition.
1970s
All-Stars, World Series cards, team checklists, and many other subsets were old hat by the time the 1970s rolled onto the scene, even as nearly all employed great designs and added color to their respective sets. Meanwhile the decade's most lasting newcomers were the Highlights (sometimes rebranded Record Breaker) cards that debuted in 1975. Finally, the baseball record book and game's rich history came into focus with various subsets that showcased all-time record holders (1973, 1979), award winners (1972, 1975), and all-time greats (1976). Of all these high-caliber offerings, it's the last one, the 1976 Topps Sporting News All-Time All-Stars that takes home the prize. For most colelctors of the era, it was almost too good to be true to see (typically) fantastics photos and complete stats for the most legendary players in the history of the game. Plus, the card design was top notch.
1980s
The 1980s began innocently enough, with Topps largely the only game in town, but quickly snowballed into a decade in which baseball cards were seemingly everywhere. Even limiting the options here to true subsets, there were gorgeous Upper Deck team checklists courtesy of artist Vernon Wells, the Donruss Rated Rookies, a fun Reggie Jackson subset from Score, and the return of "In Action" cards from Topps. On top of that, Topps began inserting glossy All-Star cards into rack packs, Fleer introduced inserts of its own in 1986, and fans of lenticular trivia received heavy dosages of baseball history courtesy of the Fleer sets. Still, above it all, one subset stood alone as the Decade's Best, the Donruss Diamond Kings.
1990s
The Diamond Kings created for Donruss by artist Dick Perez ushered in a wave of art cards from other card makers as well. Upper Deck had artist Vernon Wells, Score had Chris Greco, and Fleer had Terry Smith, to name just a few. While the ballplayer-as-superhero motif is one that goes back decades, the 1991 Fleer Pro-Visions inserts were the first to bring it into a mainstream card set. As awful as the rest of the cards in 1991 Fleer were, boxes are still a fun rip today just for a shot at these Terry Smith masterpieces.
RELATED: The Five Essential Baseball Cards of 1991 Fleer
And the Winner Is...?
Choosing a grand champion from among the five decade winners is about as easy as deciding which of your kids is your favorite (or at least admitting it publicly). If there really is a winner here, it's you, the collector. Even today with as different as the Hobby can appear, admit it. When you're thumbing through that pack of 2026 Topps or maybe some Stadium Club and notice one of the cards coming up is different from the rest, your first thought is quite likely, "Here comes something cool." (Okay, maybe not with Stadium Club LOL.) And more often than not it's true.
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.