The 1989 Topps complete set of baseball cards was the 68th complete set produced by Topps and featured 660 total trading cards celebrating the 1988 MLB season. Some key details and highlights about the 1989 Topps baseball card set include:
At 660 cards, it was one of the largest sets Topps had produced to date. Only the 1990 set would contain more cards with 702 total. As was standard for the time, the set primarily featured player cards but also included manager, rookie, league leader, and team cards to round out the checklist.
Some notable rookies that debuted in the 1989 Topps set included eventual Hall of Famer Craig Biggio as well as Barry Larkin, Gregg Olson, Bobby Thigpen, and Bip Roberts. These rookie cards are still popular with collectors today given how successful their MLB careers turned out.
Topps continued experimenting with photography and design elements in 1989. For the base player cards, the standard black and white photo was placed on the left side as usual but embedded in a colored rectangular design element matching the team colors. So Cardinals cards had a red rectangle, Cubs blue, etc. This helped the cards stand out in rack packs.
The design and photo sizes also varied throughout the set more than usual. Sometimes the picture took up more space with less text under it while other cards had a smaller photo and longer player stats and storyline under the image. This irregularity made for a more interesting visual look compared to the lockstep aesthetic of prior years.
Stats featured on the cards included games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, batting average, along with pitching totals for wins, loses, ERA, strikeouts, complete games and saves depending on the player’s position. Box scores and highlights from that year’s All-Star game and World Series were also included.
Trading cards for Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith, and Roger Clemens were particularly sought after given their star power and performances in 1988. All 5 would go on to be strong Hall of Fame contenders. Clemens’ card stood out for recording a then-record 24 wins and closing in on a second consecutive Cy Young award.
Team checklists helped collectors hunt for complete franchise sets within the massive larger checklist. Popular complete team sets included the “Eck Express” 1988 American League Champion Oakland Athletics, powerful Detroit Tigers, and the emerging Bash Brothers era Athletics. The Dodgers, Mets, and defending World Series champion Twins were other popular subjects.
The design graphics and color palette had a distinctly late 80s aesthetic with vibrant hues, angled block lettering, and geometric shapes underlying the photos. Blues, oranges, yellows and bright reds dominated. This differed significantly from the more subdued and straightforward designs of the 1970s sets collectors had grown up with. The modern design helped keep the cards feeling fresh.
The cardboard stock quality showed continued improvements versus early issues but was still prone to damage from moisture, creasing, fading over time compared to the highly resilient plastic and chromium options that would emerge later. Toploaders and magnetic holders helped preserve the most valuable vintage specimens.
The ubiquitous bubble gum packet was still included with each pack, appealing to the kid collectors as the primary customers. This product inclusion helped set Topps baseball cards apart from competitors like Fleer who lacked the confectionery bonus in their offerings.
The 1989 Topps complete set marked the high point of the boom years for baseball cards in terms of production volume, availability on the secondary market, and widespread collector enthusiasm among both children and adults. While speculation and overproduction would lead to a bust, the 1989s remain a favorite for their designs, rookies, and snapshots of the late 80s MLB stars.
The 1989 Topps complete baseball card set was another milestone release that showcased the highest level of creative design and photography yet achieved while providing a virtually complete record of that MLB season. Rookies like Biggio and Larkin along with superstars like Clemens make these vintage cards perpetually desirable among collectors today. The bright colors, varied designs, and player-tracking stats represented the pinnacle creative expression of the boom era.
