"Best" Basic Sets of the 1990s, year-by-year

[ThoseBackPages]

Would like to hear what FCBers have to say on this topic ...

Basic Sets are as follows:

BOWMAN, DONRUSS, FINEST, FLAIR/FLAIR SHOWCASE, FLEER/FLEER TRADITION, LEAF, PINNACLE, SCORE, SELECT, SP/SP AUTHENTIC, STADIUM CLUB, STUDIO, TOPPS, ULTRA, UPPER DECK.

1990 - Leaf
1991 - Stadium Club
1992 - Bowman
1993 - Finest
1994 - Flair
1995 -
1996 -
1997 -
1998 -
1999 -

Feel free to share your thoughts.

 

[James52411]

I'm going to go with a couple of sleepers.

1996: EX-L Motion
1999: Fleer tradition

 

[DeliciousBacon]

I would go with Donruss for 1998. Best crop of inserts on a year that had phenomenal inserts across the board. Good size set, cheap to pick up on release, and good design.

 

[matfanofold]

I still prefer bowmans best to flair for 1994

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

I would go with Donruss for 1998. Best crop of inserts on a year that had phenomenal inserts across the board. Good size set, cheap to pick up on release, and good design.

+1 my favorite as well. I'm guessing more base Donruss was produced that year than base Topps. I also really enjoyed Leaf that year.

 

[ronfromfresno]

I loved 1992 Donruss but full-bleed 1992 Ultra had great photography, or ever 1992 Donruss Studio

 

[jay1065]

1990 - Leaf
1991 - Stadium Club
1992 - Topps
1993 - Score (very under-appreciated, imo)
1994 - Leaf (ticket and stadium shot on the back makes this set)
1995 - Upper Deck
1996 - SP
1997 - Leaf
1998 - Stadium Club
1999 - SP Authentic (very clean front, and the prime example of great back design)

 

[sportscardtheory]

1990 - Leaf
1991 - Bowman
1992 - Bowman
1993 - Finest
1994 - SP
1995 - Bowman's Best
1996 - Topps Chrome
1997 - Bowman Chrome
1998 - Leaf Rookies and Stars
1999 - Bowman Chrome

 

[carlitoson]

In my view, any good base set needs to have its share of nice rookie cards (simply because that's what I collect). That eliminates "93 Finest. I'll go with these:

1990 Leaf
1991 Upper Deck
1992 Bowman
1993 Stadium Club (or Pinnacle, due to Jeter)
1994 UD Collector's Choice
1995 Bowman
1996 Topps
1997 Fleer
1998 Leaf R&S (could this be considered a basic set?)
1999 Bowman (esp. series 2)

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

In my view, any good base set needs to have its share of nice rookie cards (simply because that's what I collect). That eliminates "93 Finest. I'll go with these:

1990 Leaf
1991 Upper Deck
1992 Bowman
1993 Stadium Club (or Pinnacle, due to Jeter)
1994 UD Collector's Choice
1995 Bowman
1996 Topps
1997 Fleer
1998 Leaf R&S (could this be considered a basic set?)
1999 Bowman (esp. series 2)

I'm not saying it necessarily matters, but I remember when 1998 R&S was released in 1999.

 

[cbrandtw]

I think Topps Gold Label is one of the best looking sets ever.

 

[Slette]

I'm not knocking the choice of Finest for 93, but I loved Flair that year, and also agree with the person who mentioned 93 Score.

 

[Gwynn545]

1990 - Leaf- First High Quality "limited" cards...
1991 - Stadium Club...Nolan Ryan Tux, Thomas, Griffey...these were selling for $20+ straight out of the pack! AND I still remember the smell!
1992 - Bowman: Rookies...'nuff said.
1993 - Finest: Refractors...'nuff said.
1994 - SP: C'mon...Holoviews? Red Holoviews? Nothing better at the time... (+1 for local rookie sensation Alex Rodriguez)
1995 - Bowman's Best- What do you get when you mix Rookies with Refractors? 1995 Bowman's Best...(No offense 1994...Ruben Rivera???)
1996 - Leaf: Bronze, silver, gold...the birth of the "rainbow"...
1997 - Bowman Chrome: KERRY WOOD!!
1998 - Topps Tek...Hated it for years...now I respect it. (But deep down, I still hate it...)
1999 - Topps Traded... I was out of collecting at this time, I just somewhat remember the buzz...

 

[nevermore]

E, cool thread. I'm a fan of the PSA Basic Sets. Like you, I am trying to collect (ungraded) sets of a few Yankees.

I may be in the minority but I strongly believe PSA should "update" their inclusion criteria for the Basic Sets with the newer releases from the past decade (Ginter, Heritage, Elite, Sweet Spot,...). The current sets are all from the 90s, it doesn't seem like they've changed it since then.

Here are my favorites, I don't care for rookies, I am going just by designs/eye appeal of the base cards. I personally have a dislike for Finest/Chrome and Refractors

1990 Score
1991 Donruss
1992 Ultra
1993 Fleer
1994 Score
1995 Ultra
1996 Ultra
1997 Ultra
1998 SP Authentic
1999 Stadium Club

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Yes, the PSA Basic Sets are fantastic and very addictive! LOL

Good input so far fellas, but remember that Bowman/Topps Chrome and the like are not basic sets

 

[schmidtfan20]

Upper Deck nailed the rookies in 1999 with Ultimate Victory, basically a retail only set with some hobby that had all
the hot rookies in it. Back in the days when UD could compete with topps in the RC catagory.

Kevin

 

[saucywombat]

1990 - Leaf (Score Runner up)
1991 - Stadium Club (Topps Runner Up)
1992 - Ultra (Bowman Runner Up)
1993 - Upper Deck (Finest Runner Up - can't be mainstream if you were at least paying $18 per pack back in the day)
1994 - Donruss (Upper Deck Runner Up)
1995 - Fleer (Finest Runner Up)

Strictly by design appeal.

1991 Stadium club as set of the decade.

I stopped in 1995 came back in 2006 or so.

 

[bdj610]

I'll chime in. But I'm sticking to the eponymous products from the five main companies back then (Pacific doesn't count...sorry Pacific fans). Heck, I won't even show my bias for the Topps company here. By design only:

1990 - Score
1991 - Upper Deck
1992 - Topps
1993 - Upper Deck
1994 - Donruss
1995 - Donruss
1996 - Topps
1997 - Upper Deck
1998 - Fleer Tradition
1999 - Topps

Oh wait, never mind.

 

[gmarutiak]

Loves me some 1992 Upper Deck. Still my favorite TTM set of all time.