The 1987 Topps baseball card set is one of the most notorious for errors and anomalies found among collectors. While all mass-produced sports card sets contain some mistakes, the ’87 Topps issue stands out for the variety and quantities of errors zipping around in factory packs that year. Some errors are much rarer finds than others, making certain pieces real prizes for dedicated error card collectors. Let’s take an in-depth look at some of the most significant screw ups in the 1987 Topps baseball card production run.
One area where errors often occur is in the photograph selection and cropping process. In 1987 Topps, a number of cards had photos of the wrong player somehow get assigned to that player’s regular card number and design layout. Perhaps the most famous example is Cardinals reliever Todd Worrell’s card, which mistakenly contained a photo of former Cardinal outfielder Andy Van Slyke. Only a handful of the Worrell/Van Slyke mix ups are known to exist. Another mixed photo error saw Met pitcher Rick Aguilera’s image substituted for teammate David Cone’s card. Dozens of examples of the Aguilera for Cone mistake have been reported, likely making it one of the set’s most widespread photo flubs.
Photo cropping errors were also rather common in ’87 Topps. Cards like Yankees outfielder Danny Tartabull and Cardinals catcher Tony Pena had portions of their photos cropped off in error. On Tartabull’s issue, only the top half of his face is visible. Meanwhile, about half of Pena’s torso is chopped out of sight. The manufacturing defect created very unusual, incomplete images that collectors love to find. Beyond single players, there were also focus problems where photos seemed badly blurred on specific cards. Royals third baseman George Brett and Twins catcher Tom Nieto experienced these types of focus photo snafus.
Beyond photography, a bunch of typos and stat errors made it into the final ’87 Topps run as well. Perhaps the zaniest was on Yankees pitcher Dave LaPoint’s card, where his last name was mistakenly spelled “LaPointe.” Additionally, Giants pitcher Atlee Hammaker had his earned run average listed as “2.85” when it should have read “2.48.” Reds outfielder Kal Daniels was awarded an extra home run, with 8 shown when he actually hit 7 in 1986. The back of Cardinals star Ozzie Smith’s card typo’ed his birthplace as “Herbon, Kentucky” rather than the correct “Mobile, Alabama.” Dozens of other players had incorrect stats, positions or other typos pollute information on their ’87 cardboard.
Errors could even pop up in card design specs themselves beyond just text or photos. A select few ’87 Cubs and Tigers cards were printed on the wrong card stock, giving them a noticeably lighter hue than standard issues. Meanwhile, the checklist card at the end of the set had it’s blue color changed to a deep purple tone. These stock errors stand out wildly versus standard versions. In an even rarer mistake, Reds reliever John Franco’s card completely lacked the normal white border framing around his image and stats box. Franco’s card was left unadorned all around its edges in solo exception.
Perhaps the wackiest error subset involves 1987 Topps cards that were seemingly printed with no gum inside their packages. While flavors and styles varied year to year, Topps baseball cards traditionally came with that stick of familiar chewing gum. A small batch of ’87s seems to have escaped the gum lining process altogether. These “gumless” versions are considered among the most bizarre anomalies collectors seek. Their aberrant nature makes gumless 1987s highly valuable finds today.
As one would expect, the rarer an error, the more coveted it becomes in the hobby. Top miscuts, reversed images, missing stat boxes and more can draw mega-dollar prices for pristine examples. But even common errors enhance the ’87 Topps set for the dedicated error collector. After all, these quirks are what make the cards interesting reflections of real-life imperfections that sometimes slipped through the factory process back in the day. Three decades later, they continue providing enjoyment and challenge for sports card fans seeking out the mistakes in one of the error-prone years of baseball cardboard.
