The 1990 collector’s choice baseball cards were released at the beginning of the 1990 season and featured many of the game’s biggest stars from 1989. The cards were part of Topps’ flagship set released annually and were highly anticipated by collectors given the talent level in Major League Baseball at the time. Some of the notable rookies and players featured in the set included Ken Griffey Jr., Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, and Don Mattingly.
The design of the 1990 Topps cards was similar to previous 1980s sets featuring various action shots of players on a white background. The photos generally took up about two-thirds of the front of the card with limited negative space around the image. On the bottom was the team logo and player’s name/position. At the top was the familiar Topps logo. On the back was the usual stats, career highlights and fun facts about the player that Topps had become known for including.
Ken Griffey Jr. was arguably the biggest rookie card in the set given his immediate superstar potential and talent. The 21-year-old had just come off a dominant season in the minors and was called up late in 1989 by the Seattle Mariners. His colorful and electric rookie card showed Griffey swinging the bat with his long locks flowing behind him. This card quickly became one of the most sought after and valuable from the beginning given collectors recognizing his potential. Within a few short years, Griffey would cement himself as arguably the best player in baseball and one of the true five-tool stars the game has ever seen.
Nolan Ryan’s 1989 stats and accomplishment merited him one of the highest visible and desirable veteran cards in the set. At age 42, Ryan struck out 210 batters helping lead the Texas Rangers to an AL West title. His card depicted the flame throwing right hander on the mound ready to unleash one of his 100 mph fastballs. Ryan’s longevity chasing pitching records made him a fan favorite that season and collectors snapped up his card hoping to have a piece of history from one of the game’s all-time great hurlers and stats leaders.
It wasn’t just young stars and old favorites that made the 1990 set collectible and interesting. Role players and relatively unknowns that season could also become valuable cards in the future if those players ended up having breakout seasons or defying the odds. One such relatively obscure rookie from 1990 was bench player David Justice of the Atlanta Braves. Justice didn’t start too frequently his first two years but collectors saw his potential and bought up his rookie card. Over the next decade, Justice became a two-time All-Star, Silver Slugger winner, and key cog on the Braves’ 1995 World Series championship team. His otherwise unremarkable early card became quite valuable in hindsight.
Another factor that added to the intrigue and collectibility of the 1990 Topps cards was the excitement of pennant races and playoffs that season. The A’s, Reds, and Pirates all won over 100 games in their respective leagues. The AL West stayed competitive all year between the A’s and Rangers right down to the final week. The NL East saw four teams (Mets, Pirates, Cubs, Cardinals) within three games of each other in mid-September. This dramatic competitive landscape was reflected on many of the cards as players were in the midst of tight divisional battles and October aspirations. Cards of slugging outfielders like Kevin Mitchell, Bobby Bonilla, and Barry Bonds took on new meaning as their teams were slugging it out down the stretch.
The combination of future Hall of Famers, iconic veterans, potential young stars, memorable individual season stats, and memorable pennant races that 1990 provided made it one of the most interesting and valuable flagship sets ever produced by Topps. Thirty years later, many of the top rookies, star veterans, and statistically dominant players from that magical season continue to be among the priciest vintage cardboard in the hobby due to their historical context and quality photography capturing special moments in time. The 1990 collector’s choice cards defined an era of Mariners, Rangers, Reds, A’s, Pirates excitement and continue nostalgically transporting fans and collectors back to autumn Sundays decades ago.
