1982 Topps Baseball: A Redesign

A couple of months ago, I completed the 1982 Topps baseball set. And I've got to say, looking through all those cards as I wrote the set completion post gave me plenty of time to think about the design.

 

Right from the outset, it's important for me to mention that I really like the original. The racing stripes and colors are fun, vibrant, and very "period correct" for the early 1980s. 

 

However, I'm befuddled with the overall color choices that Topps decided to go with. I think you'll see why if we separate them into three categories.

 

 

The Teams That Aced It (3)

 

  

On three occasions, Topps did very well with their color matching. The Royals are just about perfect, while the Rangers and Brewers are close enough to feel like a concerted effort was made. If you're lenient, you can add the Red Sox to this group. Topps gave them red and blue, but they're rather far from official Red Sox team red and blue.

 

 

 

The "Halfway" Teams (10)

 

  

More often, Topps selected one team color and paired it with a complementary one. That brown in the Astros card is a handsome addition to the dark orange, while the magenta on Rickey's card is just plain fun when paired with the green. As for the Blue Jays cards, they received a purple color that's pleasant and easy on the eye.

 

 

 

The Teams That Went Off the Rails (12)

 

  

The other 12 teams in the set contain color combinations that don't seem to make sense at all. And again, this is totally fine. I actually like the orange and brown on Pete Mackanin's card, for example. But let's say you were a young Twins fan in 1982, opening your first packs of Topps cards. If you saw some orange and brown Twins and then discovered that Royals cards had such good team colors, you might have wondered why Topps did your team so dirty.

  

In any case, all of this research and philosophizing was enough for me to want to redesign each team—even the few that already matched well. 

 

And now the job is done.

  

I created one example for each team, and they're shown below in alphabetical order by city. (There's a special bonus card at the end, too.) As with other redesigns, I selected the specific card for each team based on content: It had to feature good action, a classic pose, sweet '80s uniforms and hairstyles, or something else that seemed to match the era well. 

 

Here we go. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were 26 MLB teams back in 1982, so I needed one more card to fill that 27th slot. The all-star subset was an easy choice. I really like how the redesign came out, showcasing patriotic colors for the stars and stripes. 

 

With all the other cards in the original set having white borders, it's pretty unlikely that Topps would have gone with blue borders for a subset card back then. But hey, maybe Bucky Dent's example up there could have been an early box bottom test proof, or something.

 

So, what do you think? If you follow a particular baseball team, did I do it justice here? Which designs do you like the best? My current favorites are Atlanta, Montreal, and Pittsburgh.

 

Let me know in the comment section, and thanks for reading!