General Forum

I love that Topps is adding older players into their base sets (Archives, Legend VARs, etc.) to keep the history of the game alive among collectors. However, many retired players are repeatedly in the sets, and so many other legends and Hall of Famers have yet to make the checklist. Especially guys who played pre-Topps, like Cap Anson, Nap Lajoie, Eddie Collins, Carl Hubbell, etc. With Topps being the standard for baseball, I'd love to see all the legends have their own base Topps base card of some kind. I wonder if there would be a market for Topps to make an Archives Hall of Fame set, maybe similar to the 70 Years of Topps subset a few years ago, to include all players in the Hall, or just more old-timer legends, in a Topps base design. I would love to see something like this, even if it was a one-time thing. With Fanatics in the picture now, does anyone foresee something like this in the future?

I've become aware of at least one of the players you mentioned (Nap Lajoie) from the 2004 Topps Cracker Jack set. There are also Upper Deck sets in the late 1990s and early 2000s that focus on the greats from bygone eras that include more than just HOFers. Sometimes sets have subsets like the Conlon and Ted Williams sets.

I love seeing the HOFers, but I would like to see some type of love for guys that were great, but maybe not long enough to become HOFers.  They deserve to be remembered as well.  Nearly forgotten guys from the 40s like Spud Chandler, Eddie Miller, Ken Keltner, and Jimmy Brown.  These guys are the ones that need some love.  The Hall of Famers always have the Hall of Fame to remember them.

Agreed, those are some great examples. Tommy Henrich, Pepper Martin, Bucky Walters, the list goes on and on. Again, I love the Archives sets, just would love to see some of these guys included. I love to see the old and current players in the base Topps 1951-2023 designs. Glad to see someone else agrees. I just wonder if the collector interest would be there if Topps did this or if I am in the minority.

It's funny to see this topic because I was just thinking the other day when I was playing MLB The Show on the PS5, that they too never include greats of the game that maybe didn't have the longest of careers or a lot of a persons biggest numbers came in a clump of 6 to 8 years.  Names like Hal Trosky (he's effectively the Sandy Koufax of hitters - BIG stats limited years), and then for some reason I never hear anything about Chuck Klein.  I'd also like to see things about guys with colorful nick names from the earlier days, like "Sliding Billy Hamilton", or "Laughing Larry Doyle", "Turkey Mike Donlin", etc.

The other day I just randomly noticed looking at the "J"s in my collection that I didn't have any cards of Walter Johnson.  I thought I would have had one from a release like Allen and Ginter or Archives but I guess I never got one.  I am not sure if he just isn't in the checklists or if I just haven't happened to ever pull one.  

Also, I think along these lines it would be cool to have an insert set maybe of players who aren't as well known as the legends, but made a significant impact on their specific teams.  Since I am a Dbacks fan, players like Craig Counsell and Tony Womack come to mind.  But I am sure there are a lot of guys that would fit that for other teams.

Agreed!  This is why I love the Conlon sets so much!  The Lawrence Ritter book, "The Glory Of Their Times" had a huge impact on me as a kid growing up in the late 70's/early 80's, that as soon as I saw the Conlon set, I was all in!  I was happy to finally have cards of all the players I read about in those stories...Rick Ferrell, Doc Cramer and so many others

I wish Topps would put them in separate sets dedicated to retired legends.  A set like 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game or 2005 SP Legendary Cuts, a couple of the most beautiful sets ever IMHO.  I love cards like this but it is tough to find pics of some of these legends that aren't already used on cards.  I love what Stadium Club has been doing in recent years digging up new pics of legends and what looks like using some image enhancements to bring old pics to life.