Baseball cards have a long history dating back to the late 1800s, with some of the earliest manufacturers including Allen & Ginter and Old Judge. One company that really began creating cards specifically aimed at highlighting big hitters and home run hitters was Topps, with their line of “Sluggers” baseball cards produced from 1967 to 1987. These Sluggers cards paid homage to some of baseball’s premier power hitters through colorful designs, action photos, and stats focused on their home run prowess.
Topps launched their Sluggers subset in 1967 as American interest in home runs was peaking during the “Power Era” of baseball. Legendary sluggers like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Harmon Killebrew were in their primes, and flashy young stars like Willie McCovey and Frank Howard were coming into their own. The Sluggers cards spotlighted 25 Topps regular issue stars known for their longball ability, with photo action shots typically showing the highlighted player mid-swing. On the back, stats like career and season homers took prominence over traditional batting average.
Design-wise, the ’67 Sluggers stood out with a blue boarder framing the player photo, along with a home run themed graphic in the bottom corner. The front also touted the player’s nickname in large orange letters below their name. Some of the featured sluggers that inaugural year included Mays, Aaron, McCovey, Killebrew, Howard, Rico Carty and Orlando Cepeda. The set was a hit with collectors and helped further popularize stars based on their power prowess.
In 1968, Topps expanded the Sluggers subset to 50 cards but kept the popular blue boarder design. New additions ranged from established slugging veterans like Eddie Mathews and Bill Skowron, to up-and-comers like Reggie Jackson and Dick Allen. Duke Snider and Rocky Colavito returned after starring in earlier iterations of the set. Home run stats remained the focal point on the rear, with career and season best dingers given extra attention.
Topps tweaked the Sluggers design slightly for 1969, removing the colored banner and instead going with a simple white border. The subsets exploded in size to a then-whopping 125 cards, covering every notable slugger of the era. Icons like Ken Griffey Sr., Rocky Colavito, and Boog Powell made their Sluggers debut. Highlighting the unprecedented power on display that year, the record-setting home run performances of Hank Aaron (47) and Harmon Killebrew (49) received due recognition.
The 1970s saw the Sluggers subset maintain around 100 cards each year as the Power Era continued delivering legendary slugfests. Sets from this decade highlighted the emergent stars and milestones of super sluggers like Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, Dave Kingman, and George Foster. The design evolved as well with each year, incorporating new colors, graphics and layouts while still spotlighting key power numbers. A memorable set from 1974 even tipped its cap to the year’s three 30+ homer men – Dick Allen, Steve Garvey, and Lou Brock, an unlikely inclusion given his speed skillset.
Through the rest of the ’70s, Sluggers grew more specific by annually honoring the top home run hitters from each league. Sets paid tribute to the American League’s record breaking sluggers like Jackson, Graig Nettles, and Thurman Munson, while also acknowledging National League mashers like Mike Schmidt, George Foster, and Dave Kingman. Designs leaned into a modern, colorful style befitting the era. The 1979 Sluggers typified the late 70s look with a radical rainbow border and neon colored graphics accenting hitting stats.
The 1980s saw further specialization from Topps as they released Sluggers subsets focusing on specific years and milestones. A popular theme was honoring the 40+ home run seasons, with cards produced to commemorate the 1980 and 1981 40 HR Clubs. Other notable concepts included a 1982 subset on Earl Weaver’s Baltimore Orioles sluggers, and a 1986 set that revisited major home run seasons from a decade prior like Jackson’s 1973 AL-record 47 round trippers.
The final Topps Sluggers set of the flagship Power Era came in 1987. Design-wise it featured blue banners, player headshots and a unique cartoony graphic of a ballpark in the borders. It paid homage to the AL’s 35+ homer hitters led by Mark McGwire’s record-setting 49 bombs. Sluggers were always a highly anticipated pull for collectors thanks to the superstar subjects, sharp visual designs and focus on career home run exploits. Changing collector trends and the end of baseball’s highest-scoring decade led Topps to not produce any new Sluggers after 1987.
While Sluggers are no longer regularly produced by Topps, today the vintage 1967 to 1987 sets remain hugely popular with collectors both for their nostalgia value as well as housing some of the most iconic sluggers’ rookies, early career highlights and milestones in colorful visual form. Prices have risen dramatically in recent decades for high grade gems of star sluggers like Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt in their early Sluggers years. Similarly, completionist collectors chase condition graded examples of more lesser-light era sluggers showcased in the latter 1970s and 1980s sets. After helping create baseball card collecting “themes” focused on a single statistic or category for decades, the Topps Sluggers subset pioneered appreciating superstars based more on their long-ball potency rather than all-around production. Their colorful tribute cards solidified home run hitting as its own artform permanently codified in the premium hobby of baseball cards.
