Discussion 1987 Topps

1987 Topps is noted for many things including it's (at the time) awesome rookie crop, great vintage design, and the start of true mass production.

This is definitely my favorite set of all time and and something I have very fond memories of collecting as a kid.

I literally cannot tell you how much money I spent or how many packs I bought this year because I loved the product so much.

It was the year when I went from "casual kid collector" to "I can set up at the show collector" because I had so many of every hot card.

Whether it's wax packs, Rak Paks, cello packs whatever I bought it all, including this monstrosity

In my book 1987 Topps was the year when the company " got with the program" and started to notice the changing market.

After a long hiatus, Topps brought back a newly designed future stars logo and the rookie cup at a time when rookie cards were really booming and the hobby had just blown up.


Rookie cards ruled the roost in 1987 and Topps was pretty much on top of it.

Sure the actual rookie class of the previous year helped a ton , but they were also ready for that season with young prospects like McGwire, something Topps usually avoided.


Not surprisingly in the Bronx, this was the card to get and had a CCP price guide value of four bucks...FOUR BUCKS!!

Another favorite of mine growing up were finding error cards and even though 1987 Topps had only a few of them, this one (along with the Gooden) were hot because of missing ™ sign near the eagle.

But for some reason the most obvious error card was never corrected, and it was this one.

Topps corrected errors with missing trademarks and registration symbols, misplaced copyright lines etc, but for some reason never corrected this obvious reverse negative.

Generally speaking, it was rookie cards and star cards. There was nothing scarce in any way shape or form so any little thing with any sort of rarity caught fire and packs with stars and rookies showing got hot.

But it wouldn't be a "vintage" topps set without horrible airbrushing jobs

Because I bought so much of this product, I learned the patterns meaning I knew which cards generally came before and after hot cards.

So for instance since Mattingly was a four dollar card I learned that Tim Leary would generally always come before him and then I would just remember who the players before Mattingly and the players after Mattingly.

Knowing the patterns made looking at the cello packs and rack packs a lot easier to determine what was inside.

This was the number one reason how I was able to acquire such a huge amount of all the best cards without buying them separately.

So to sum it all up there is no product I have better memories of than 1987 Topps.

How about you guys do you have fond memories of this product?

I put together 4 or 5 complete sets of 87's growing up. I wonder if there are more autographed 87 Topps cards than any other set? It has to be the most popular set for autograph set collector's to work on.

Every Christmas I'm reminded of how in 1989 I got a TV for my bedroom (this was a big deal for you young ins that are used to having a TV in every room of the house).

I was crushed by this awesome gift. The reason why? All I wanted that year was a 1987 topps set bc of the Bo Jackson card.

IUjapander said:

Every Christmas I'm reminded of how in 1989 I got a TV for my bedroom (this was a big deal for you young ins that are used to having a TV in every room of the house).

I was crushed by this awesome gift. The reason why? All I wanted that year was a 1987 topps set bc of the Bo Jackson card.

Click to expand...

Lol, that is awesome

The 1st cards I can remember collecting as a kid. I should rly get a set now that I can..great memories

1987 Topps cards were abundant in my area. 87 Fleer were fairly easy to find and I liked the blue borders. I remember large bins of rack packs at one store that we frequented often, but continuing the trend from previous years, Donruss were almost impossible to find. My brother and I bought a crapload of 87 Topps though. More than Fleer by a long shot. Although I was the bigger collector, I think he ended up buying more than me. He must have hand assembled 3 or more sets, which was unusual for him. I started buying cards in 1978, but aside from the 3 sets he got as a Christmas gift in 1984 (lucky year to start him out), 87 was the beginning and would signal the end of his collecting not too long after that.

I was firmly entrenched into my love of the Padres after Garvey had left the Dodgers a few years earlier and I was watching a lot of the younger guys coming up in their farm system. The following year would be a good one for the padres with Santiago and Alomar, but 87 had a few names (at least at the time). I was a big fan of the trophies already and was glad to see them return, but those Future stars cards were sweet as well. Palmiero was one of the more colorful copies of this card and such a cool name. Maybe not as cool as Tim Pyznarski though!

I don't remember my favorite card at the time, but looking back now…I would pick Tartabull, B. Jackson, Joyner, Canseco and Palmiero as my favorites. Kevin mitchell gets honorable mention here too, for having one of the better IN ACTION shots of the set. Really, looking thorough the set as a whole though, I actually don't like it at all. There are not enough cool photos and not a lot stands out. The team Leader, AS and TBC subsets, which are usually fun for me, are boring and recycled or have less than exciting designs. I know a lot of people really like this set, but I am not one of them. Lastly,Steve Garvey has one of the worst cards of his career and it would be his last regular Topps appearance. What a way to end a great Topps career, but to be stretching on your card! Yawn...

I still have an unopened case of 87 Rack packs sitting in a closet somewhere in the house ....

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Funny that you wrote 87 fleer were easy to find and donruss was impossible because that was the complete opposite for me.



Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Love the Maddux with his **** mustache, but the "Flying Booger" printing flaw by his nose always bugged me on that card.

I casually collected in '85 and '86 but in '87 was when my collecting became more, it became an obsession. I stole more money out of the house's "Fireman's Fair" kitty than I care to admit. Then I learned my Dad had an account at the local 7-11 down the street and it was on like Donkey Kong. He was not amused at the $100 or so dollar bill he got at the end of April/May of that year...lol. There were many weekends of chores and lawn cuttings to pay for that little blunder.