1972 Topps - Starter Set/Lot (380) diff with (16) Hall-of-Famers

When I was a kid, I loved grocery shopping with my mom in the hope that I would find my next favorite food - you know the one, of course the one that came with baseball cards !!! Well thanks to Armour, back in 1955 kids were able to enjoy hot dogs along with their baseball collectibles.

1955 was the first of 3 years that Armour released near exactly similar coins, 1955, 1959 & 1960. The 1-1/2 inch plastic coins came in a large variety of colors including several rare with perhaps even some 1-of-1's !!!

Six "common" colors (aqua,navy,pale green,orange,red & yellow) along with the "scarce" colors (black,dark green,lime green,pale blue,tan, gold,silver,pale orange & pink (some call peach)) made collecting a "master" set nearly impossible. Add in the many variations (some found 50 years after release) and you can imagine the task.

For a detailed article on the 1955, 1959 and 1960 Armour baseball coins be sure to check out sportscollectorsdaily.

The 1953 Topps set is a collection of gorgeous portraits drawn by the leading sports artists of the day. Key cards in the 1953 Topps set include: Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays & Satchel Paige. Satchel Paige had his name spelled incorrectly (2 'L') on the card front.

As with all Topps sets from the 1950's & 1960's, 1953 Topps was issued in series, (#1-85, #86-165, #166-220 & #221-280) with the final series "High Numbers" the least produced, least available and thus the most costly. Topps and Bowman still at war likely accounts for the 6 missing #'s from the High Number series.