The 1979 Topps baseball card set was a highly popular and memorable issue during a decade that saw the hobby of baseball card collecting truly explode in popularity across the United States and Canada. Issued annually since the late 1950s by Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., the 1979 set marked another step forward in aesthetic design and production quality compared to cards from previous eras.
The 1979 Topps set contains 514 total cards and features all 26 Major League Baseball teams from that season. The design featured bold colors, larger player headshots, and team logo designs that were seen as a significant upgrade from cards just a few years prior. For young collectors at the time, the 1979 Topps cards represented the pinnacle of what a modern baseball card should look like during that period. Over 40 years later, many consider them among the most aesthetically pleasing issues from the high-watermark era of 1970s Topps designs.
Some key notes about production and notable cards from the 1979 Topps set include:
The cardboard stock used was of a thicker, higher quality than previous issues. This helped the cards hold up better to the rigors of being shuffled, traded, and stored in boxes over decades of use and storage.
Glossy full-color photos covered the entire front of each card, moving away from the smaller black-and-white photos of the early Topps cardboard. Crisper printing technology enhanced the vividness of these images.
Each player’s name, team, and position were printed clearly below their image in block lettering, a consistent style across all 514 cards that created a uniform aesthetic.
Traditionally, the set included rookie cards for future Hall of Famers like Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith, Ted Higuera, and Dave Stieb. These are highly valued by collectors today.
High-numbered cards featured team logos and cartoonish action poses on the fronts instead of individual player images. This added more visual variety to the set.
Unique “mini-cards” measuring slightly smaller than the standard size paid homage to the 1948Bowman Gum set with a retro-style design on the fronts.
The reverse of each card showed that year’s individual and team stats for the player pictured on the front. Clean organization of these stats allowed easy player comparisons.
The final two cards in the set were the by-then traditionual annual “manager” and “team checklist” cards to wrap up all teams and managers covered.
Many consider the 1979 Topps design to represent the peak of 1970s baseball card aesthetics before designs increasingly moved toward photography in the 1980s. An exceptional quality of photo reproduction for the time resulted in crisp, bold images that really popped from the card face. Team colors were also strongly represented through the logo designs incorporated.
The higher quality cardboard stock was a considerable upgrade from the soft, easily-damaged materials of 50s/60s issues. These factors all contribute to 1979 Topps cards retaining their visual appeal and collecting value today. While productions costs were higher, the end product was a set that felt like a serious sports collectible, capturing the intense hobby boom taking off in the late 70s.
Contemporary accounts from baseball card collectors and publications at the time almost uniformly praised the 1979 design for taking another step forward. After over a decade of steady innovations, Topps had by 1979 created a template for the modern baseball that still holds up today in terms of blending stats, photos and team colors into a visually cohesive sports collecting product. This helped drive interest in the hobby to new heights.
In the ensuing decades since 1979, many key rookie and star player cards from the set such as Eddie Murray, Dave Kingman, Nolan Ryan, and Joe Morgan would become among the most in-demand, valuable vintage issues. The iconic designs ensured they remained a Constant presence in collections for over 40 years running.
For young collectors who grew up with and continue to treasure their childhood 1979 Topps collections, the set remains symbolically representing a golden age of baseball cards. Modern production values blended with classic 1970s graphic designs made it both a highly enjoyable issue to enjoy as kids but also one that has proven to stand the test of time for enthusiastic collectors even today.
