A Year of Topps designs: 1968

Topps went with the burlap look for their '68 baseball set, a bold yet controversial move that no card company has repeated. Football, on the other hand, had a classic but simple design of diagonal shapes along the border, a look they used multiple times in '68.

As was customary, Topps's hockey design featured the player superimposed on a generic hockey scene. Topps went all-horizontal for the '68 set, and had a footer for the player information very similar to what was on the football design.

Topps also tested out a basketball set, which looked a lot like 1960 Leaf baseball, but the set did not get a full release. 

Topps put out a few non-sport sets in '68. For example, there was the hot rod set which featured a design that looked a lot like the football and hockey sets.

Land of the Giants was a short-lived TV series that got the card treatment. This style is very reminiscent of other TV and movie sets of this era.

Another simple design, Target: Moon cashed in on moonshot hype, but the set covered a wide range of space topics. Like this one - what the hell?

Finally, Topps was able to ride the wave of the enormously successful TV show Laugh In. With word bubble gags, this set is more reminiscent of the company's gag cards than their TV show cards.