The 1987 Topps Baseball Card set was the 66th year that Topps produced their iconic trading cards and it featured photos and statistics for players from the 1986 Major League Baseball season. Some key details and highlights about the 1987 Topps set include:

The 1987 set contains 792 total cards including portraits of over 700 Major League players as well as manager and team cards. The set is notable for being one of the largest baseball card releases of the 1980s both in terms of total number of cards and the size of the player roster featured. Collectors enjoyed finding cards for even relatively unknown or bench players from 1986 thanks to the immense size of the set.

Topps continued their long-running tradition of including additional cardboard ad cards in wax packs beyond the standard baseball cards. Many collectors disliked these advertisements mixed in with the player cards but they provided Topps with extra revenue. The 1987 set included ad cards promoting Garfield comics, Arby’s restaurants, and Snoopy stuffed animals among others.

Roberto Alomar’s rookie card from the 1987 set is one of the most valuable modern rookie cards. A PSA 10 graded mint condition Alomar rookie has sold for over $12,000 at auction, a testament to his Hall of Fame career and the continued demand for premiere rookie cards from the late 1980s. Other highly sought rookie cards in the 1987 Topps set include Bob Welch, Gregg Jefferies, and Mark McGwire in his true rookie season before his massive breakout season in 1987 that ignited baseball’s power surge.

Several iconic players and future Hall of Famers are featured prominently in the 1987 Topps set in the primes of their careers including Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Tony Gwynn, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith, and Dave Winfield. The design elements and photos selected for these stars’ cards help fuel their continued popularity with collectors decades later. Veteran stars like Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt also had celebrated cards in the 1987 Topps set during their later playing days.

The design elements of the 1987 Topps cards featured bright primary colors and a very simple iconic look. A solid color background took up much of the card with theteam logo prominently displayed at the top. Underneath was the player’s headshot and career stats. While straightforward, this aesthetic lent itself well to showcasing the photography which remained a Topps strength. The back of each card included more stats and a career recap leaving room for fun tidbits or accomplishments for notable players.

The rise of Rickey Henderson’s base-stealing prowess is evident in the statistical highlights on the back of his 1987 Topps card. In what would become a theme of his Hall of Fame career, Henderson amassed 119 stolen bases between the 1986 A’s and Yankees after being traded mid-season, a single season record that still stands today. Plenty of collectors enjoy Henderson’s expressive photo and the stats celebrating his blazing speed on the basepaths.

While tobacco company Philip Morris purchased Topps in 2007, at the time of the 1987 set Topps remained an independent, family-owned company. The tradition of distributing hits and stars across the 700+ cards aimed to satisfy collectors but also generated sales that fueled Topps’ profits as the baseball card market boomed through much of the 1980s. The oversized 1987 Topps set embraced the surplus of available players and helped make collecting cards of every MLB team an achieveable hobby for many.

In mint condition, a complete 1987 Topps set with all 792 cards can sell for over $1,000. Most collectors are content owning subsets of stars, rookie cards, or particular teams. While designs and production values of sports cards has evolved significantly, the traditional affinity for Topps baseball cards endures. Sets like 1987 that so thoroughly documented a Major League season continue finding new generations of appreciative fans and maintaining their collecting allure decades later.

The 1987 Topps Baseball Card set rewarded collectors with expansive coverage of the 1986 MLB season through nearly 800 total cards. Future Hall of Famers, rookie standouts, and statistical milestones were all featured prominently while fundamental design elements have helped the set retain popularity. Along with vintage players, even relatively unknown participants from 1986 are represented, a testament to both Topps’ reach and collectors’ ongoing quest to own cards depicting their favorite teams from baseball’s past.