Another set that is also important to the collecting community is the 1957 Topps football set (154 cards). Issued in a horizontal format with a front that contained an action shot and a portrait, these cards are possibly the best remembered of their genre. Boasting NFL Hall of Fame rookies Dick "Night Train" Lane, Raymond Berry (pictured at right), Tommy McDonald, Johnny Unitas, Paul Hornung (pictured, below left) and Bart Starr, this set has 32 different Hall of Famers in addition to multitudes of stars and Heisman trophy winners. Issued in two series, cards numbered 89-154 are rarer and generally more colorful. Of the major star cards, Bart Starr and Frank Gifford are among most difficult to obtain in top grade! However, the absolutely scarcest football card in high grade is the unnumbered Checklist (pictured at left) from this set. To compound the difficulty in assembling this set, this checklist, like the baseball checklists, has two different advertising backs. This card appears on nearly every want list and is rarely seen in top grade because of its intended use.

Another scarce football card is a variation similar to the Bakep error in the baseball set. Willard Sherman was a back for the Rams and the information printed on the obverse of his card varies on some examples. The printing die was likely damaged, clogged or worn down as the error ranges from no printing at all to very light printing of the words "BACK RAMS". Ultimately complete at 157 different cards, this has always been one of the ten most popular vintage football sets.

A set that has been in high demand for almost twenty years is the 1957-58 basketball set. Topps' first foray into round ball cardboard stood to capitalize on established players like #17 Bob Cousy (pictured, below right) and #24 Bob Pettit. Shortly after his picture appeared in the set, Bill Russell (#77) began to dominate the center position at both ends of the court, eventually establishing his card as the most valuable in the set. This center's card, as well as the rest of the 79 cards in the set, often suffers from severe centering problems. This quality control problem is clearly demonstrated by the fact that are very large number of cards exhibit either uneven borders or some order of printing defect (e.g., "snow" in the background).

There are several interesting printing facts associated with this set. Of the 80 cards in the set, 49 are double printed, 30 are single printed and #24 is quadruple printed. This was done in order to fit exactly 132 cards on the standard printing sheet (11 rows by 12 columns). Interestingly, the 49 double prints come with the reverse both right side up and upside down in relation to the front. The quadruple printed Pettit is only found with the reverse upside down when rotated over a vertical axis. Therefore, a master set would contain 129 distinctly different cards--a real challenge for even an advanced collector. Although all of the cards in the basketball set are challenging to find in top grade, two of the toughest are #1 Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (also the first black man to play in an NBA game) and #80 Dick Schnittker.

For thirty years, the 1957-58 Hockey set was considered relatively worthless. Until the late 1980's, when hockey cards significantly appreciated in value, this set could be routinely purchased for $10 to $20. Although any "old" card from this year was readily available, finding quality singles was not easy. The major star cards in this set, Hall of Fame rookies John Bucyk, Glenn Hall, Pierre Pilote and Norm Ullman as well as veteran Hall of Famers Terry Sawchuk and Gordie Howe (pictured at left), are all nearly impossible to find in Mint condition.

With only 66 cards total, this set is the smallest of the four discussed, with Hall of Famers composing almost 25% of it; but without a doubt, the fantastic action shots and mesmerizing colors make this an attractive and worthy set. Interestingly enough, collectors have come to realize that it is possible to purchase unopened football and baseball cards from 1957, but not hockey or basketball cards. This is likely due to Topps' reevaluation of the market and consequential decrease in production of the latter sports cards. In fact, it is extremely rare to find a wrapper for either hockey or basketball.

Collectors have been working on the baseball and football sets from 1957 for many years, but basketball and hockey have more recently come into vogue. All of these sets, however, have steadily increased in popularity and affordability as more baby boomers move past the early 50s material and concentrate on filling some of the holes in their collections. Collecting these sets also provides a unique and historically significant perspective on sports for an entire calendar year.