30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, July 29, 2012

If you can't say something nice...

Then, write it on your blog.

With that being said... today's post isn't going to be pretty.  Well at least in my eyes.

dayf asked...

What is the ugliest card set you've ever seen?

Before I get to my response, let's point out the obvious: one man's meat is another man's poison.  So if I offend anyone, remember it's only an opinion and I make no claims to being the almighty "cardboard connoisseur"

In fact, my buddies still give me a hard time for having a huge crush on Kristi Yamaguchi:


The fact is... what I find attractive, others may find hideous... and vice versa. With that out of the way, here are my top submissions for ugliest card sets (sorted by categories):

The Bold
   

1995 Pacific Gold Prisms, 1995 Pacific Prisms, & 2000 Black Diamond Gallery

I have nothing against the use of prisms on cardboard, but in this particular collector's eyes... too much of a good thing, isn't so good.

The Gold
   

 1995 Zenith, 1996 Pinnacle, & 1997 Pinnacle

What's with Pinnacle's obsession with gold pyramids?  I know that gold is considered to be a precious metal, but IMHO the cards you're staring at are made of Fool's Gold.

& The Boring
   

 1990 Donruss, 1991 Fleer, & 1991 Leaf

In terms of cardboard designs, I can appreciate a wide spectrum of styles... including a nice, plain & simple design like the 1975 Topps baseball card set. But what you've just witnessed isn't plain & simple, it's inexcusable. If I were to guess, I'd say that the above cards were designed by a middle school yearbook staff with a 60 minute deadline.

I considered putting the 1988 Donruss and 1991 Donruss sets in this category too... but at least these two designs featured team logos.

I know... I know.  dayf asked specifically for one card set... not sets.  Well honestly, they're all pretty bad in my eyes.  But if I had to pick one... I'll go with this:


1996 Ultra Sensations

Hmmm... where do I begin?  Look at the design... or should I say, lack of a design.  There's no team logo.  You can barely see the first name.  And if that wasn't enough, it has a thick, gold, wicker border that covers 40% of the card.  This card is so bad... I had to steal the image off of COMC, because it's not in my Brett Favre binder.

Okay... it's your turn to answer dayf's question:

What is the ugliest card set you've ever seen?

1 Point - Leave your response below.
2 Points - If you've already written about this on your blog, then leave a link below.
3 to 5 Points - Write your response in a new blog post, then leave a link below.

I'll accept responses until tomorrow (Monday) at 3pm (PST).  I look forward to reading your responses.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

54 comments:

  1. I might have to say 09 Upper Deck. It is dull and boring. I also hated the fact of trying to hide logos. Uglier than that may be the Donruss Elite base cards from the past few years.

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  2. 2012 SP Signature Baseball might be the worst ever.

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    Replies
    1. Wow... this stuff is terrible! Who's going to drop $70 to $80/pack for this stuff?

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  3. 1987 topps baseball. no. 1991 donruss baseball. no. 1990 bowman baseball. no.... ack! there's waaaay too many.

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    1. Dude, 1987 Topps is classic, not "ugly." I got no room for haters, man.

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    2. You're not the first to say 87 Topps... but I actually like that set myself. I'm sure there are people out there who didn't agree with my Zenith or Pinnacle votes ;-)

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  4. Agree with Doug: 2012 SP Signature Baseball. Even though my three main guys have autos in the product and I'd love to pick 'em up one day.

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  5. Stupid deadline! I'd love to make this a post, but I already have something else that must run cued up and ready to go.

    Guess I'll have to miss a deadline again.

    All I'll say now is no 2012 set is the ugliest ever. "Ugliest ever" must stand the test of time.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry night owl... I'm trying to wrap up this contest before I go back into the classroom. Look forward to reading your post to see what design has stood the test of time for you ;-)

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  6. Unfortunately I am going to jump on the bandwagon and say the 2012 SP Signature Baseball, no photos and just cards with autos is a lame attempt at a product.

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  7. I'll say any panini insert set that also becomes a relic/auto set. The way they design every insert around the relic/sticker is a joke.

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    Replies
    1. I'm not a fan of 90% of their base card designs... and agree their relics and autographs are worse. But I'm not sure if I'm willing to go to the level and say worst ever.

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  8. How's this for timing? The ugliest set I've seen is the Topps 68/69 and I touched on that in the post I wrote for the previous question. That post goes up tonite or in the a.m.

    And once you see the example card, this thread is closed. I win. LOL

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    Replies
    1. LOL... I love this set. The Gordie Howe is close to the top of my want list. I guess that's we were born with an opinion ;-)

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  9. I will chime in with 1957 Topps.

    http://babennysbaseballcardbuffet.blogspot.com/2012/07/beauty-is-in-eye-of-beholder-fuji-asks.html

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    Replies
    1. I love the backs of the '57 Topps, and while I agree the front is kind of bland, it deserves some credit for being the first set to ever get the size right.

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    2. These are definitely pretty bland... but I gave it a free pass, because it was so old ;-)

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  10. No question, I'd have to go with Jamie Sale.

    What? The question wasn't "Which figure skater do you have the biggest crush on?"

    Oh. Let me go back and re-read the post.

    There are a lot of ugly sets floating around, but I can't believe nobody has mentioned 1995 Fleer yet... So I will.

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    Replies
    1. looked up both jamie sale & 1995 fleer... jamie sale is a lot better looking!

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  11. 1989 Bowman is probably the ugliest set in my book. Just dull all around, and I hate the oversized dimensions.

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    Replies
    1. i'm the opposite... i love the fact that they're oversized... just a pain in the butt to store.

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  12. Your wish...

    http://dawgbonesaphilliesphan.blogspot.com/2012/07/more-fuji-esque-ness-la-dayf.html

    ...my command!
    Enjoy,
    Dawgbones

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    Replies
    1. Love the painting... and definitely hate the Spot The Error design!

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  13. I've got to be honest, I don't have an "ugliest set."
    Mostly because I haven't been in the hobby for that long, but also because I seem to find something to like about every set's design. No matter how horrendous the design might be there's going to be one card that makes it work. When I find a set where there isn't a single card that looks decent (to say the least) that'll be my "ugliest set."

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    Replies
    1. Wish I had the same positive attitude ;-)

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  14. Man this is a tough one. I always liked the 1988 Topps Tom Henke All Star card.

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    Replies
    1. Lol... I can actually picture this card ;-)

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  15. OK, I rearranged things JUST FOR YOU.

    http://nightowlcards.blogspot.com/2012/07/ow-my-eyes.html

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    1. I'm glad you joined the fun... and this is one of the greatest posts I've ever read.

      It'll be a resource for ugly baseball cards for collectors around the world.

      You know the routine... extra credit for you. And to think that you almost missed the party ;-)

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  16. I dislike the a lot of the 80's baseball sets. They don't look that good.

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    Replies
    1. There were some bad ones... but there were some classics too.

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  17. 1970 topps = top ugly.

    heck, i dont even want the Dodger cards from that set.

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    Replies
    1. I understand where you're coming from, but for some reason, I'm more forgiving of the vintage designs... and the gray borders don't bug me that much.

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  18. I'll give you ugly...

    http://playattheplatedude.blogspot.com/2012/07/you-want-ugly-i-can-give-you-ugly.html

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    Replies
    1. Great post... how'd you find the 80's glam rock band dressed to match the 1990 Classic set? Love it. Just for that... I have no choice but to throw you another point.

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  19. I went with 1990 Donruss

    http://tenetsofwilson.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-ugliest-card-set-as-chosen-by-me.html

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  20. Easy one for me, the ugliest and cheapest set ever produced is the 1991 Fleer Football set what a dog!!!!! I have an unopened box collecting dust oh probably dirt by now!

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    Replies
    1. Lol... yeah those were green bordered monstrosities.

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  21. http://arbitrary-crap.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/u-ugly-national-chicle.html

    U-G-L-Y

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    Replies
    1. LOL... I love National Chicle. It's actually one of my favorite sets in recent years.

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  22. 1987 Donruss. Ugly!

    http://thelostcollector.blogspot.com/2012/07/you-sir-are-ugly.html

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    Replies
    1. I agree... to each their own... that's why we collect.

      I disagree... I can't say I love the 1987 Donruss design... but I don't find it ugly. I'd compare it to Pam on The Office... she's not exactly hot. But she's definitely not ugly ;-)

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  23. Let's look at Japanese uglyness:

    http://thiscardiscool.blogspot.com/2012/07/those-ugly-japanese-cards.html

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    1. Wow... I need to find some of these cards. I agree that the game cards just have too much going on and take away from the card's design. But cards #1, #2, & #3 are awesome!

      You know the routine... extra effort on a post = extra credit.

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  24. THE.UGLIEST.HOCKEY.CARD.SET.EVER>
    http://hockeykazi.blogspot.ca/2012/07/worst-hockey-card-set.html

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    Replies
    1. Lol... now that's a blast from the past. Yeah... those aren't the most attractive cards.

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  25. Pretty much everything put out by anyone after 1992 deserves serious consideration. I'll limit choices to sets that came packaged in wax. So with all due respect to '84 Donruss, '87 Fleer and '74 Topps, the ugliest set of all-time goes to:

    1988 Donruss

    Awful on so many levels, from the Dale Murphy box the packs game in to the clashing front and back blues, stupid squared pattern, lame subsets, and complete lack of notable rookies. At least there was enough of it for everyone to obtain a lot of it.

    http://classonave.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Wow... I totally remember the Dale Murphy box. Nice call.

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  26. The 1991 Donruss set always left me feeling like someone had seen a Lichtenstein and a Pollack and thought that putting those together in some kind of 80's mishmash of blue and green would be a good idea. Spoiler alert! It wasn't. I also never understood the 1968 Topps burlap look. Burlap is the ugliest of all the fabrics, why base an entire set on it? Even a searsucker set would have been a better notion.

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    Replies
    1. lol... awesome! great call on the 1991 set... although i tend to be partial to some of the uglier vintage sets.

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  27. I'm going with Collector's Edge basketball. I don't have the year in mind because I'm at work, but the couple of packs I have of them hid the pro logos (or used the college jersey), the photo quality was almost slightly blurry, and there was very little info in the back.

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    Replies
    1. I think I know what you're talking about... late 90's nastiness?

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