The 1998 Topps baseball card set was a highly anticipated release by collectors following the popularity of baseball cards in the late 1990s collector boom. The set features 792 total cards including all players from the 1997 MLB season as well as manager and team cards. Notable rookie cards in the set included future hall of famers Chipper Jones, Trevor Hoffman, and Jim Thome. The design featured players photographed against a colored geometric background with their team logo also featured prominently. Overall it was well received by collectors at the time for its classic look reminiscent of sets from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Some key facts and details about the 1998 Topps baseball card set:
The base set included 660 total player cards divided between the American and National Leagues. Each league subset contained 330 cards.
In addition to the base player cards, there were inserts featuring All-Star (36 cards), Gold Medal (24 cards), and Team Checklists (30 cards). There were also 13 League Leader subset cards highlighting statistical champions from 1997.
High number rookie cards in the set included future stars Nomar Garciaparra (#661), Jermaine Dye (#662), and Jason Kendall (#663). Other notable rookie cards were John Rocker (#698), Tony Womack (#699), and Rick Helling (#700).
Some of the major star players that year who had high series cards included Ken Griffey Jr. (#1), Mark McGwire (#2), Sammy Sosa (#4), Cal Ripken Jr. (#8), and Greg Maddux (#29). This reflected their popularity and status in the sport at the time.
Insert sets within the base cards included Topps Tales highlighting unique player accomplishments (28 cards), All-Time Fan Favorites saluting iconic retired players (22 cards), and Diamond Anniversary saluting Topps’ 35 year baseball tradition (21 cards).
Other special parallel subsets included Desert Rainbow parallel cards for hobby boxes only (110 cards), Topps Tek Gold parallel cards for hobby boxes only (33 cards), and Retro parallel cards available in retail and hobby (660 cards).
Design features included a color team logo background behind each player photo and blue or red borders distinguishing American and National League cards. Statistics on the reverse included career Leaders lines highlighting top stats.
Exclusive Roman numeral IV logos on the front designated short print cards, of which there were 15 total spanning rookies, stars, and random commons. These were highly sought after by collectors.
The design aesthetic was praised for its classic look inspired by designs of the past but still modern enough to appeal to collectors at the time. The geometrically patterned card backs also proved popular.
Initial print run estimates put the 1998 Topps base set release around 130 million units. This was typical for mainstream issues during Topps’ most dominant years in the baseball card market in the 1990s.
The 1998 Topps set contained one of the most memorable error cards in hobby history. The Chipper Jones (#247) card mistakenly used a photo of Armando Rios in Jones’ Atlanta Braves uniform, making it extremely rare. Only a handful are known to exist.
On the secondary market, the 1998 Topps set is still regarded as a desirable classic release by collectors. Key rookie cards like Jones, Thome, and Hoffman routinely bring hundreds of dollars graded and ungraded on auction sites.
While not quite as high profile as some other 1990s Topps issues due to being sandwiched between the legendary 1997 and 1999 releases, the 1998 set retains nostalgia and appeal for collectors. It represented the ever-popular players and teams of that MLB season with classic design aesthetics that still hold up well today. Key rookie cards in particular make it an important release chronicling future all-time great baseball talent.
