The 1990 Topps baseball card set was the 69th annual set released by Topps and contained 792 total trading cards celebrating players and teams from the 1989 Major League Baseball season. Some key things to know about the 1990 Topps baseball card set include:
Set Details:
The 1990 Topps set included cards numbered 1-792.
There were 72 additional parallel insert cards numbered I-1 through I-72 included in the set.
Standard size cards measured 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.
Card design featured mostly solo portraits of players with their team logo in the background.
Some cards featured action shots or team photos instead of solo portraits.
Card stock was thinner than previous years to keep production costs down.
Distribution was through traditional wax packs, racks, and boxes.
Rookies and Rookies of Note:
The 1990 Topps set included rookie cards for future Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Mike Piazza.
Other top rookies included pitcher Todd Van Poppel (OAK), outfielder Dwight Gooden (NYY), catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. (CLE), and pitcher Frankie Rodriguez (STL).
Griffey’s rookie card is one of the most coveted and valuable baseball cards ever made due to his huge career success and popularity.
Insert Cards:
The 72 parallel insert cards featured popular veterans, Hall of Famers, and team checklists.
Insert cards were designated by an “I-” number prefix instead of the standard numbering.
Popular inserts included Nolan Ryan of the Rangers (#I-1), Wade Boggs of the Red Sox (#I-2), and Derek Jeter’s rookie card (#I-67).
Top Players:
Griffey led all players with a staggering five different cards in the main set and as inserts.
Other top stars with multiple cards included Boggs, Gooden, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., and Ozzie Smith.
Don Mattingly of the Yankees was featured on the very coveted card #1 position as defending American League batting champion.
League Leaders:
Kevin Mitchell of the Reds had the “NL Home Run Leader” parallel insert after smacking 47 home runs in 1989.
Nolan Ryan had the “AL Strikeout Leader” insert with 270 strikeouts for the Rangers in 1989.
Rickey Henderson had the “MLB Stolen Bases Leader” insert after swiping 93 bases for the A’s in 1989.
Team Checklists:
Insert checklists showcased the full 40-man rosters for all 26 MLB teams at the time.
These served as a helpful reference for collectors seeking to complete their team sets.
Design and Photography:
The design had a very clean and classic look about it with mostly solo headshots on a solid color backdrop.
Photography quality was top-notch as usual for Topps with sharp focus and clarity.
Action shots and team photos provided some variety amongst the predominantly solo portraits.
Design elements were simple with just the team logo, player name, and position listed.
Estimated Print Run and Population:
The print run for the 1990 Topps baseball set is estimated between 140-150 million individual cards.
Due to the massive print run and popularity of the hobby in the late 80s/early 90s, most commons cards retain only nominal value today.
Exceptions include the rookies, inserts, parallel versions, and big star cards that have held/increased in value due to strong demand.
The 1990 Topps baseball card set remains a very iconic issue due to the inclusion of so many future Hall of Famers’ rookie cards. While commons have little value, the collecting community still covets cards like Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Mike Piazza from this spectacular set that captures an exciting time in baseball history. Serious collectors still love assembling complete original sets or individual star/rookie cards from the 1990 Topps release.
