The 1987 Topps baseball card set was the 66th series produced by the Topps Chewing Gum Company. It marked several notable occasions for both Topps and the baseball card collecting hobby in general. For starters, it was the first Topps set featuring an all-color photograph on every card. Prior to 1987, black and white photos were still used for many players. Topps decided to go all-color in ’87 to better showcase today’s vivid baseball card photography technology. Furthermore, 1987 would be legendary slugger Pete Rose’s final card appearance before his lifetime ban from Major League Baseball the following year for gambling.

The design of the 1987 Topps cards was fairly simple. On the front was a 3×4 cropped color photo of the player against a white background. Below the photo was the team name and logo along with any nicknames. At the very bottom was the player’s name and uniform number in blue font. On the reverse, statistical information was presented in blue and orange tables spanning four seasons of data (1983-1986). Career stats were also included. The card stock was thicker than previous Topps issues, providing sturdier cards that held up better to the rigors of being shuffled, traded, and stored in bulging cardboard boxes under kid’s beds.

Speaking of photos, the 1987 Topps set saw the debut of respected baseball photographer William “Bud” Smith. A longtime Topps hire, Smith would go on to shoot photographs for hundreds of future Topps releases. His artistic eye and attention to detail helped elevate the visual quality of the ’87s above previous cardboard. With Smith’s photos serving as the main visual component on each card front, sets took on a cohesive polish not readily apparent in past mixed photo/illustration designs. Players finally seemed consistently posed at the plate or on the mound from card to card.

Some key statistical and player milestones found in the 1987 Topps set included Fernando Valenzuela’s emergence with the Dodgers, Roger Clemens’ first of many 20-win seasons with the Red Sox, Wade Boggs hitting .368 to lead the AL for the 4th straight year, and Tim Raines amassing 90 stolen bases as the league’s premier base stealer. Rookies Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire also got their cardboard introductions. The Dodgers and Twins faced off in the ’87 World Series, captured on the card fronts of Orel Hershiser and Kirby Puckett respective to their championship teams.

Beyond just the on-field action, the 1987 Topps cards also highlighted some off-the-field transitions. This was the final set to feature Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose before his lifetime ban took effect in August 1989 after an investigation found he had bet on baseball games while managing the team. Cards of Rose in a Reds uniform would never be seen again. Similarly, this was the last Topps issue for longtime Expos slugger Tim Raines in a Montreal uniform. He would be traded to the Cubs before the 1988 season. Raines’ Expos career was captured perfectly with his ’87 Topps RC.

When it came to card layout and distribution, the 1987 Topps set contained 792 total cards as was standard for Topps issues of the era. The base cards ran from #1 to #792 with additional inserts like Topps All-Star cards and Traded subsets rounding things out. As with most modern releases, the cards came in factory-sealed wax packs of five cards each, with one pack included free inside a stick of Topps Chewing Gum. This blast from the past retro packaging helped fuel the enthusiasm kids felt for the cardboard hobby each spring.

In the decades since, the 1987 Topps baseball cards have become very influential and iconic issues within the collecting community. They represent the transition from mixed photo sets to fully colorized cardboard. Topps’ commitment to higher quality photography is evident. And the clean yet classic designs have aged extremely well. Modern condition-sensitive collectors especially seek out pristine ’87s to showcase in protective holders. But even beat-up examples hold significance as tangible pieces of baseball history from a transformational period for the cardboard craze. Values have steadily climbed since the late ’80s boom, ensuring these classic cards remain beloved staples in collections worldwide.

Thanks to breakthroughs like all-color photos, elite photographers, and enduring nostalgic designs, the 1987 Topps baseball cards earned their place as some of the most important and fondly remembered issues in the hobby’s lore. They captured a special year in MLB on the field while celebrating iconic players and careers off it. Today, they continue to inspire new generations of collectors with their timeless mix of baseball, bubblegum, and childhood summers past. The ’87s were truly a seminal set that pushed cardboard collecting to greater heights.