The 1987 Topps baseball card set is one of the most valuable and desirable vintage baseball card releases of the late 20th century. While individual cards can fetch huge prices, the 1987 Topps box set containing a factory sealed case of 12 wax packs remains one of the Holy Grails for serious vintage card collectors. Let’s take a deeper look at what makes this box set so valuable.
The 1987 Topps set was the company’s 66th annual release and marked some significant milestones. It was the first Topps set to feature gumless wax packs instead of the traditional stick of bubble gum. It was also the first Topps set since 1969 to feature a design change from the standard bordered portrait style to vertical player poses on a solid color background. This new photographic style was met with mixed reviews at the time but is now recognized as a key transitional design in the evolution of baseball cards.
From a collectors standpoint, the 1987 Topps set also stands out because it includes some true icon rookie cards that are now among the most desirable in the hobby. Stars like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Greg Maddux all made their rookie card debuts in this set. In fact, the 1987 Topps Maddux rookie has routinely sold for over $10,000 in high-grade condition in recent years. Bonds’ and McGwire’s rookies, while not in the same condition-sensitive premium tier as Maddux, still command thousands in top shape as well.
Besides the star rookie cards, another huge factor in the box set’s value is the sheer rarity of finding a factory sealed case today over 30 years later. Upon its initial release in 1987, the 12-pack wax boxes retailed for around $1.25. While collectors surely cracked plenty of cases back then, it’s estimated less than a dozen pristine sealed cases have survived to current times. Natural fluctuations in production numbers combined with the elapsed decades mean one of these sealed ’87 Topps box sets has effectively become one of the rarest sealed vintage sets in the entire hobby.
Setting aside purely subjective fan attachment to the 1987 design and players, from a strictly market valuation standpoint the 1987 Topps box set has been appreciating extremely rapidly in recent bull market conditions for vintage cards. A little over a decade ago, the box set was still trading hands in the $3,000-$5,000 range. In the mid-2010s, condition-fresh cases started to break the $10,000 mark. But things have blown wide open in recent years.
In January 2020, a sealed ’87 Topps case achieved a new record price of $20,000 when it crossed the auction block at Heritage Auctions. Less than a year later in November 2020, that record was obliterated when another pristine case realized an absolutely stunning $100,000 hammer price through the same auction house. This 10-fold boom in value highlights how red hot the vintage card market has been, with the ultra-rare ’87 Topps factory case being an elite blue-chip asset amid the frenzy.
As investment demand has only intensified since that November 2020 sale, it’s difficult to predict just how high the price ceiling may now be for one of these holy grail ’87 Topps sealed cases should another one surface. Given there are realistically less than 10 left in this condition nationwide, a new record north of $150,000-$200,000+ would absolutely not surprise seasoned industry insiders. The combination of marquee star rookies, unprecedented rarity levels for a sealed wax box product after 30+ years, and a seemingly relentless bull market trend have converged to create a perfect storm driving values to never-before-seen heights.
For the obsessive collector seeking to check the ultimate box, acquiring an intact 1987 Topps factory wax box set still sealed and untouched for over three decades represents about as close as it gets to the pinnacle achievement in the vintage card world. Not only does the set commemorate a seminal year for the industry and include some of the most iconic rookie cards ever made, its phenomenal rarity and jaw-dropping rate of recent price growth establish it as hands down one of the true blue chip trophies any collector would dream to own. For that collector willing to make a historic six-figure investment, finding and securing one of the small number believed left in this pristine sealed state would be a virtual unparalleled coup in the high-end hobby marketplace today.
