In 1988, for the 4th straight year, I purchased a Topps factory set, rather than building the set via packs. I bought the illustrated box version of the set at AJ's card shop in Vienna, VA after taking D.C.'s Metro all the way to the end of the Orange Line from my dorm at American University. Generally, the 1988 set is very attractive - for the most part it consists of clear, colorful images, good action shots and a nice design.
Returning to a white border after 1987's wood grains, images are surrounded by a thin colored border and the team name appears in bold letters at the top. The player's name is contained in a slanted banner across the bottom right corner of the card, and the Topps logo appears in the lower left corner of the image. Again in 1988, the player's position does not appear on the front.
Backs are printed in black and white against orange. A background of baseballs cross the top, and, space permitting, a feature called This Way to the Clubhouse appears at the bottom offering information on how the player was signed or acquired by his current club.
"A" Sheet
"A" Sheet image needed
"C" Sheet
"E" Sheet
"B" Sheet
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"D" Sheet
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"F" Sheet
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6 different printing sheets each held 132 unique cards, for a complete set total of 792 cards.
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Wax packs contained 15 cards (along with a stick of gum) as well as a card which doubled as an entry form for the annual Spring Fever Baseball game and as an order form for 1988's glossy send-away set. Packs sold for 40 cents each and were packed 36 per box, with cases containing 20 boxes each.
For the first time in decades, wrappers came in a single variety and without advertisements. Side panels offered a 'no purchase necessary' way to obtain a Spring Training Fever entry card and a warning against drug use.
'Spring Fever Baseball' offered an opportunity to enter a sweepstakes for which the grand prize was a trip for 4 to the 1989 spring training camp of the team of the winner's choice.
Also, by sending in 6 of these cards along with $1.25, you would receive one of 6 "1988 All Star and Hot Prospects Collector's Edition 10-Card Sets", known in the hobby as simply 'glossy send-away cards'. For $7.50 and 18 cards, you could receive the whole set of 60.
The full glossy set included 60 cards.
The bottom of each wax box contained one of four different panels of 4 uncut 'limited edition' cards. Card backs describe some event from the player's 1987 season.
The insert cards could be found in a rare variation on white card stock. Also, a hyper rare variation exists with the notation "Cards Not Included" on the front. Other variations include the notation partially covered by a black arrow, fully covered by a black arrow and the 'correct' version with nothing there at all.
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Cello packs contained 28 cards and a stick of gum, as well as a entry/order insert card. Packs sold for 69 cents and were packed 24 per box. Cases contained 16 boxes.
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Larger cello packs contained 37 cards and an entry/order card. Packs sold for 99 cents and were packed 24 per box. Case information is unknown at this time.
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Jumbo packs (sometimes called grocery jumbos) contained 90 cards, a stick of gum and 1 special glossy Rookies card. Packs, which carried no MSRP, were packed in cases of either 18 or 120 which could be folded open into store sales displays.
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The glossy Rookies set contained a total of 22 cards.
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Rack packs held 42 cards plus one special Glossy All Star Card, and carried no MSRP. They were packaged 24 per box and cases contained either 3 or 6 boxes.
The Glossy All Star set contained 22 cards. All 18 starters from the 1987 All Star game are featured, as well as each manager and the honorary captains. Cards have either the A.L. or N.L. shield on the front, as appropriate.
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Vending boxes again contained 500 cards and came packaged 24 per case.
Factory sets came either in a plain brown cardboard box or in an illustrated, full color variety. Cases of either contained 16 sets.
It remains unclear what the sales points of each was intended to be (though my own full color set was purchased at a card shop) and whether any pricing differences existed.
Out of 792 total cards, the set contains 695 basic player cards.
Included in the basic player card count are two subsets. Topps designated 6 young players as "Future Stars" and recognized the members of the previous season's All Star Rookie team with gold cups.
8 - Kevin Elster, Mets
18 - Al Leiter, Yankees
246 - Mike Campbell, Mariners 312 - Joey Meyer, Brewers 512 - Dave Magadan, Mets
767 - Jose Lind, Pirates
580 - Mark McGwire, A's 1B 431 - Casey Candaele, Astros 2B
294 - Al Pedrique, Pirates SS
275 - Kevin Seitzer, Royals 3B
269 - Ellis Burks, Red Sox OF
493 - Mike Greenwell, Red Sox OF
192 - Devon White, Angels OF
645 - Matt Nokes, Tigers C
619 - Mike Dunne, Pirates RHP
229 - Jeff Musselman, Blue Jays LHP
Cards 1-7 highlight record-breaking performances from 1987, with newspaper-like accounts of each on the reverse.
Cards 661-665 highlight the events of five past seasons - 1983, 1978, 1973, 1968 and 1963 - in a Turn Back the Clock subset. Fronts feature a Topps card image from that year, and backs provide narrative descriptions of some of its most memorable events.
Cards 386-407 are A.L. (386-396) and N.L. (397-407) 'All Stars'. Players appearing in this set didn't necessarily appear on the rosters of either 1987 squad, but rather they seem to be Topps' selections for the best players at their positions in 1987.
AL and NL cards differ in the use of red and blue in on the card fronts. Card backs provide the top 10 performers, by league, in a variety of statistical categories, as well as a few brief season highlights of the subject.
Scattered throughout the set are 26 team leader cards. Featured on the front is a general image of a player or players from the team, while card backs provide the team's leaders in a variety of statistical categories from 1987.
8 of the team leader cards are formatted horizontally.
The set includes cards depicting the current managers of the 26 clubs. Card backs provide brief information about the manager and a team checklist.
6 checklist cards mark the set off in increments of 132: 1-132, 133-264, 265-396, 397-528, 529-660 and 661-792.
A full checklist of the 1988 set, including printable formats, can be found at the Trading Card Database HERE.
Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (779) and Paul O'Neill (204) make their debuts in the 1988 set.
Hall of Famers Don Sutton (575) and Ted Simmons (791) appear for the final time, as do Bill Buckner (147), Jose Cruz (278), George Hendrick (304), Dave Concepcion (422), Joe Niekro (473), Graig Nettles (574) and Cecil Cooper (769).
Topps again produced a 132-card boxed Traded set late in the season to reflect those players who had changed teams and rookies not included in the base set. Cards are numbered 1T-132T.
The set contains 125 basic player cards, including 20 members of the Team USA collegiate squad, as well as 6 managers and a checklist. Cards were printed on thinner, white card stock and were only available via dealers. Sets came packed in cases of 100.
Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar (4T) debuts in the 1988 and Buddy Bell (13T) makes his final appearance.
In 1988 Topps again produced what the hobby has come to call "Tiffany" editions of both their basic and Traded sets. Cards in each were printed on heavier, glossy white card stock.
Production occurred at Topps' facility in Ireland and each set was limited to a reported 30,000 units.
As usual the basic Tiffany sets were packed 6 per case but the tradeds came 6 per case plus 6 Tiffany versions of the Topps UK set which was a small, 88-card set intended to expose British fans to the American game and its players. It is unknown whether cases of just the traded sets were issued.
Sets were only available via dealers.
Card 3, the Mark McGwire Record Breaker, can be found with and without an errant white patch by his left foot.
Card 18, Al Leiter, can be found with an photo of Yankee prospect Steve George (left) instead of Leiter, or with the correct Leiter image (right).
Card 4, the Eddie Murray Record Breaker, can be found with and without a text box.
Card 528, checklist 397-528, can be found with the peripatetic Steve Carlton erroneously listed as card #455 and with Shawn Hillegas correctly listed. Carlton had retired before the season started and Hillegas took his place in the set.
Card 295, Bert Blyleven, can be found with a crack in the plaster over his right shoulder and with the crack airbrushed (mostly) out.
Card 778, Keith Comstock, can be found with the PADRES name wrongly printed in white, and correctly printed in blue.
In 1988, 'The Real One' continued to rely on the use of paint jobs. No less than 13 cards in the set are artists' creations, some really bad. Plus, for good measure, the cards of Doug DeCinces and Dickie Noles contain "Now With..." notations.
All 15 players had spent part of 1987 with their "new" club, and in all but 3 instances (Landrum, Noles and Tewksbury, who didn't appear on any other cards in 1988) each was featured by one, two or all three of Topps' competitors actually in their proper uniform without the aid of an artist. In fact, in 8 cases Fleer, Donruss and Score ALL managed to show them with their correct team.
I love Topps, but this was just plain lazy.