The 1987 baseball card season brought some exciting changes. For the first time, both Donruss and Topps produced cards in sets of over 700 cards each. The 1987 Topps set contained a record 792 cards while the 1987 Donruss set had 720 cards.
There were several major stars and rookie cards spotlighted in the 1987 sets. Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees was featured prominently as was slugger Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs. Rookie cards for future stars such as Mark McGwire, Greg Maddux, and Cal Ripken Jr. also debuted.
While the size of the sets grew, the card stock quality declined some compared to previous years as manufacturers packed more and more cards into wax packs and boxes. Both Topps and Donruss used a thinner paper/paperboard stock for their 1987 issues. The thinner stock led to cards that had less rigid feel and were prone to more dents, creases or damage compared to earlier card issues.
Design-wise, the 1987 Topps set had a basic and consistent design approach with team name plates across the bottom of each card front. The team logos were prominent. Player photos were generally headshots with some diversity in poses. Statistics on the back followed the typical Topps layout but added team batting and pitching stats to the season wrap-ups. Topps Gum was still included in wax packs.
Donruss took a more flashy and photograph-heavy design route for their 1987 release. Player photos covered more of the card fronts with vibrant images and colors. Captions and statistics were kept to a minimum on card fronts. On the backs, Donruss included career statistics along with a “player profile” paragraph and season stats. Donruss packs contained sticker cards instead of gum.
Both sets included special subsets highlighting rookie cards, league leaders, and All-Star cards. Topps included separate All-Star subsets for each league as well as multi-player “Topps All-Star Collection” cards. Donruss featured multi-player “Diamond Kings” subsets with foil stamped images on some of the cards. Insert cards for star players like Juan Gonzalez, Mark McGwire and Nolan Ryan added to the chase for premium cards.
In terms of chase cards, the flagship rookie cards for Mark McGwire, Greg Maddux, and Cal Ripken Jr. debuted in the 1987 Topps and Donruss sets. Prior to their Hall of Fame careers, these rookies attracted early collector interest. Other popular rookie cards included Sammy Sosa, Bobby Thigpen, and Jeff Russell. The Barry Bonds rookie from 1986 carried over hype into 1987 collections as well.
In the buying markets, 1987 Topps and Donruss wax packs and factory sets could be found in most general retail outlets including drug stores, grocery stores and hobby shops. The popularity of baseball cards continued to rise through the mid-1980s. Both manufacturers produced high print runs to meet growing collector demand. This ease of availability kept most 1987 base cards fairly common in the years after their release with the exception of the star rookie cards.
In the vintage market decades later, the 1987 Topps and Donruss sets are still popular with collectors and traders. The inclusion of rookie cards for future all-time greats like McGwire, Ripken and Maddux guarantee the sets have retained substantial collector interest. PSA 10 Gem Mint rookie cards for these players routinely sell for thousands of dollars. Key inscription, autograph or variation cards fetch even higher prices. 1987 also stays collectible due to representing a transitional period when card sets grew dramatically in size.
The 1987 baseball card season featured record large sets from Topps and Donruss as the hobby continued expanding. Major rookie debuts and growing availability kept the market booming. While the thinner card stock represented a decline in quality compared to earlier issues, the 1987 sets remain popular chase items for established collectors and hold historic significance for the impressive rookies and hall of famers that were first captured on cardboard over 30 years ago.
