The 1987 baseball card season marked a pivotal year in the evolution of the hobby. Major League Baseball players were still riding high on growing salaries and popularity in the post-strike season of 1986. The upper deck company had only just begun producing cards in 1987, shaking up the landscape that was dominated for decades by Topps.
It was also a seminal year for the Beckett Baseball Card Monthly price guide. Then only in its third year of publication, the guide was still working to gain widespread acceptance among collectors. The state of the growing secondary market and demand for certain star players was rapidly evolving. Beckett strove to provide the most accurate and up-to-date values for collectors seeking to understand how to properly assess their growing collections.
Some of the most notable rarities and stars featured in the 1987 sets included rookie cards for future Hall of Famers Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas. The Upper Deck company debuted by only producing 1 million total cards, making even common players quite scarce compared to the mass-produced issues from Topps. This served to inject new excitement and competition into the annual card releases.
In the 1987 Beckett guide, a common Frank Thomas rookie card from the Pacific set was listed at a value of $1. While humble beginnings, this presaged what that card would become as “The Big Hurt” developed into one of the game’s most feared sluggers. A near-mint condition Thomas rookie reached $7 in the February 1988 issue. Just one year later in February 1989, that same card had skyrocketed to $30 as Thomas’ dominance grew.
The Trout card market today reaches values unthinkable in 1987. But even then, certain young superstars created immediate buzz. In the ’87 Beckett, an ungraded Ken Griffey Jr. rookie fetched $5. This number increased steadily issue over issue as Griffey showed tantalizing flashes of what was to come. By 1990, that same Griffey rookie listed for $35 in near-mint condition before exploding exponentially from there.
Other notable early values and increases documented in the 1987-1989 Beckett guides included the 1st Edition Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck rookie jumping from $7 to $20 to $60 in the same time period. A Mark McGwire rookie listed at $3 and rose steadily each year thereafter. And a Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps in average condition went for an eye-popping $700, already cementing its status as the holy grail card.
While star rookies and iconic vintage cards commanded big numbers, the bulk of 1987 and prior year cards held relatively little monetary worth. Average common players across all brands and years ranged from a few pennies to around $1 near-mint. This made sets highly completion-able for collectors of all budgets. But it also meant the risk of cards ending up in the nickel box was high without proper care and storage.
The late 1980s saw rising interest in vintage cards from the 1950s thanks to the first golden era revival books published. Within a couple years, that nostalgia would spill over significantly into 1960s hobby as well. In November 1987, Beckett listed a 1969 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie at just $3. But by February 1989 it had jumped to $15 as Ryan’s career milestones mounted and 1960s sets gained mainstream popularity.
As the 1980s drew to a close, Beckett also began documenting the emerging phenomenon of error cards. Mispunched stats, swapped photos, and off-centered variations added intrigue and chase to the annual releases. While the monetary value of most error cards remained modest, their scarcity intrigued collectors. This presaged what the error card market would become in future decades.
The 1987 season marked both continuity and change for the baseball card industry and collectors. Beckett helped navigated the transition by establishing reliable early pricing benchmarks that still hold relevancy today. While the monetary figures pale in comparison to current record prices, the evolutionary story of cards like Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mark McGwire chronicled in those late 80s issues hold nostalgic significance for veterans of the hobby.
