The 1985 Topps baseball card set was the 64th series produced by Topps and featured cards of players from American League and National League teams. Some key things to know about the 1985 Topps baseball card set include:
The set totals 792 cards and includes photograpghs of all Major League players, managers, and coaches from the 1984 season. The design features a thick brown border surrounding each player’s photograph with their team logo, name, and other stats printed below. On the reverse of each card isadditional stats and career highlights.
Topps used a variety of photograph sources for the cards, coming from both team and Topps photographer files.This led to some noticeable differences in photo quality between cards. The Phillies and Braves team sets featuredposed team shots on the cards rather than individual photos which was unique for the time.
Rookie cards for Will Clark, Barry Larkin,Mark McGwire, and Gregg Olson are among the most notable rookie cards found in the set. Clark quickly became astar first baseman for the Giants and his rookie card remains one of the most popular from the 1980s. Larkin andMcGwire also went on to Hall of Fame careers.
The Gwynn brothers, Tony and Gaylord, both had cards in the set marking the only time two brothers appeared in thesame Topps baseball card set. Gaylord’s card featured him as a member of the Expos while Tony’s showed him as thePadres’ left fielder.
The reverse of Dave Parker’s card notes him winning the 1984 National League Batting Title with a .318 average whileplaying for the Reds. Parker hit 21 home runs and 76 RBI’s that season in route to his third batting title. His 1985 Toppscard remains one of the more iconic from that decade.
Other notable rookie cards include Fred McGriff’s debut for the Blue Jays, Shawon Dunston’s first appearance as theCubs’ shortstop, and Lance Parrish’s rookie card as the #1 overall pick by the Tigers in the 1977 draft. Parrish wentonto have a solid 17 year MLB career primarily as a catcher.
The set is also memorable for showing Pete Rose as a player still active with the Reds prior to his career ending with4,256 hits after the 1984 season. His card pictured him batting left-handed and does not note his all-time hits record ascrafted that off-season.
On the team level, Don Mattingly’s card highlights his breakout ’84 season where he hit .327 with 35 HRs and 145RBI’s to lead the AL. His dominance as the Yankees’ first baseman in the mid-1980s is clearly evident on his ’85 Toppscard.
Rare error cards exist with swapped photos in the set. The most notable is Kenny Henderson’s 1984 Tigers photo printedon Kurt Bevacqua’s Royals card while Bevacqua received Henderson’s stats. Only a small number of these error cardswere produced leaving them among the toughest inserts to find from the 1985 set today.
In graded mint condition, popular rookie cards like Larkin, McGwire, Clark, and Dunston regularly sell in the $100-500range. Stars of the era like Mattingly, Parker, Gwynn, and Rice command $20-100 depending on grade. Less commonduplicates can usually be found for $1-5.
When coupled with the player performance in the latter 1980s, the 1985 Topps set remains a memorable vintage issuethat popularized baseball cards for kids of the era. Its mixture of stars, rookies, and errors make it an enticingslap for collectors today seeking pieces from the golden age of the card collecting hobby.
Over 35 years since its original release, the allure of the 1985 Topps baseball card set endures. Containing the earlycareer cards of future Hall of Famers like Larkin, McGwire, and Clark among many others, it serves as a snapshot intotime capturing the players and teams of 1984. Whether collecting for childhood nostalgia or serious vintage investment,the 792-card issue remains a vintage cornerstone accessible to collectors of all eras.
