The year was 1985 and baseball card manufacturer Topps introduced a revolutionary new concept – 3D baseball cards. While holograms and other advanced 3D technologies were in their infancy, Topps found a way to bring certain baseball cards to life in 3 dimensions using a basic anaglyph imaging technique.

For those unfamiliar with the process, anaglyph 3D imaging involves taking two slightly different photographs of the same subject from slightly offset angles and printing them on the same card or substrate in different colors, typically red and cyan. When viewed through special red/cyan filter glasses, the two offset images blend into one coherent 3D scene that appears to pop out from the card surface.

Topps decided 1985 would be the year to take baseball cards to the third dimension. They commissioned professional photographers to shoot action photos of star players from two camera positions simultaneously. The images were then carefully aligned and processed to produce the left/right anaglyph image pairs required for the 3D effect.

In total, Topps produced around 60 3D baseball cards as inserts in their flagship 1985 Topps baseball card series. Some of the biggest stars to be featured in 3D included Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Rickey Henderson, Dwight Gooden and Kirby Puckett. The action shots captured these players mid-swing, diving for catches or throwing across the diamond.

Unlike today’s technologically advanced holograms and lenticular 3D images, Topps relied solely on the anaglyph process which was somewhat basic by modern standards. For 1985 it was a true innovation that brought new life and realism to static baseball cards. Children of the 80s were thrilled to viewed these players seemingly leap off the card when viewing through the red/cyan lenses included with the special packs.

While collectible in their own right, the 1985 Topps 3D cards had some notable production quirks that affect their condition and long term preservation over decades. Being essentially two images overlaid on the same substrate meant the alignment had to be precise. Even minor shifts over time could degrade the 3D effect. The cyan and red inks used were not entirely colorfast and light exposure caused them to darken or fade over the following years.

Professional grading companies like PSA and BGS have struggled to properly capture the 3D aspect in modern slabs. Early encapsulations actually ruined the 3D illusion by flattening the dual images. Nowadays, qualified graders will still examine centering, corners, edges and surfaces but won’t rate the 3D effect directly. Holders designed for these special inserts must have open fronts to allow filtering.

By today’s standards of holographic animation and micro-lenticular technology, the 1985 Topps 3D may seem quite basic. For their time they represented an unprecedented integration of photography and optics into the traditional baseball card format. While production flaws mean pristine examples are now quite rare, their historical significance and ability to still produce a 3D effect when viewed properly continues to fascinate collectors decades later.

In the ensuing years after 1985, Topps experimented with additional 3D baseball cards but never generated the same massive interest as that first pioneering set. Technology and techniques advanced, leading to holograms and more complex autostereograms becoming the preferred 3D format over the simpler anaglyph approach. However, 1985 remains revered as the year Topps took baseball cards truly into the third dimension for the very first time. Condition-sensitive anaglyph examples from this iconic insert set can now command prices well over $100 when preserved especially well after 35+ years.

So while the technical execution may seem novice by today’s photorealistic standards, Topps 3D cards from 1985 were amazingly innovative for their time and remain one of the most coveted specialized subsets in the entire history of baseball cards. By merging photography, printing techniques and affordable red/blue lenses, they brought MLB’s greatest stars to stunning new 3D life for kids of the 80s – a nostalgia which continues powering collector demand to this day. Their historical importance ensures the 1985 Topps 3D baseball cards will always have an honored place in the memorabilia shelves of serious baseball historians and vintage card aficionados worldwide.