The 1988 baseball season brought excitement and nostalgia to baseball card collectors as the Topps brand released its iconic “Starting Lineup” series featuring highly detailed figurines of MLB’s biggest stars. This innovative product put real action and personality into the traditional card collecting experience and offered a new way for fans to display their favorite players.
The 1988 Starting Lineup set included figurines of the projected starting position players for all 26 MLB teams at the time. Each figurine stood approximately 4 inches tall and featured individually painted uniforms showing logos, numbers, and decorations down to the smallest detail. The figures could be posed in batting, throwing, or fielding stances thanks to movable limbs and torsos. Accompanying each figurine was a baseball card with an image of the player and stats from the 1987 season on the front, along with a short biography on the back.
Collectors eagerly snatched up packs of the Starting Lineup series hoping to assemble full team rosters or chase rare sticker variants. Figurines came packaged randomly in plastic clamshells along with a baseball card and assorted stickers that could be applied to the bases to designate positions or add player numbers. Shortprinted stickers of team logos or player initials added another layer of scarcity to the hunt. While 1988 marked the first year of Starting Lineup, the concept became a cornerstone of Topps’s modern releases for decades to come.
Some of the most iconic players featured in the 1988 Topps Starting Lineup included Reds slugger Eric Davis, who smacked 37 homers in 1987 and was one of baseball’s emerging superstars. Davis’s figurine recreated his flashy red and white uniform and big left-handed swing. Another highly sought-after piece was Twins star Kirby Puckett, who was coming off a .332 batting average season and would lead Minnesota to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. Puckett’s figurine showed his smooth left-handed stance and signature eyeblack perfectly painted on the face.
Royals pitcher Bret Saberhagen also received the Starting Lineup treatment after capturing the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 1985 while leading Kansas City to a World Series crown. Saberhagen’s figurine depicted his windup from the stretch with ice-cold intensity on his face. Meanwhile, Angels superstar Rod Carew rounded out his illustrious 19-year career in 1987 and had one of the most detailed Starting Lineup figures with his perfectly recreated maroon and red pinstripe uniform down to the satin lettering.
The 1988 Starting Lineup series also gave collectors their first glimpses of young stars just starting to make names for themselves, like Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt’s heir apparent, future NL MVP Scott Rolen. Rolen’s figurine presciently foreshadowed his outstanding defense and cannon arm coming out of the hot corner. Meanwhile, emerging Cubs first baseman Mark Grace sported a mustachioed figurine in the classic Cubbie pinstripes that foretold his breakout season ahead.
Besides starring players, the 1988 Starting Lineup included figurines of sturdy veterans like Cardinals pitcher John Tudor, who anchored St. Louis’s pitching staff with 21 wins in 1987. Tudor’s figurine perfectly highlighted his bulldog mound presence and faded red jersey. Meanwhile, Expos catcher Mike Fitzgerald, who had played parts of five seasons as a backup by 1988, even received the figurine treatment that year thanks to Montreal’s lack of established catchers at the time.
While most Starting Lineup cards featured realistic recreations of that year’s projected lineups, collectors could also find rare variations. A few teams featured minor changes due to offseason trades, like the Mariners figurine of Don Mattingly despite his being dealt from the Yankees after the 1987 season ended. Meanwhile, shortprinted “rookie” variants of Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, and Sandy Alomar Jr. gave collectors a sneak peek at future stars yet to crack the MLB starting lineup full-time.
In all, the 1988 Topps Starting Lineup series masterfully brought baseball’s stars to three-dimensional life. Collectors delighted in posing figurines of their favorite players in action on their desks. The figurine concept also sparked children’s imaginations by allowing them to physically act out plays on the field. Three decades later, mint 1988 Starting Lineup cards remain prized possessions in collections, serving as a nostalgic trip back to a exciting time for the sport.
