Ninety-eight percent of the packs my mother or I purchased were of the wax variety. However... every now and then, I'd have the opportunity to open up a Topps rack pack.
Anyone who is familiar with mid 80's to early 90's Topps rack packs recognizes the Topps Glossy All-Star inserts.
Starting in 1984, Topps included one of these inserts into every baseball rack pack. This tradition continued through 1991. For years, I've been talking about acquiring all 8 twenty-two card sets and putting them into a binder for easy viewing.
Today, I finally got the ball rolling...
So far, I have the 1987, 1988, and 1989 sets in their entirety:
1987 Topps Glossy All-Star Set
1988 Topps Glossy All-Star Set
1989 Topps Glossy All-Star Set
As you can see, all three sets share the same design on the front:
The only exception is the year at the top of the card. The concept is similar to the Living Set that Topps is currently marketing, except that these aren't numbered continuously. Each of these sets are numbered 1-22.
The card backs basically feature the same design as well with the exception of the years located at the top and bottom. The card stock is slightly different on the 1988 set as well.
This project wouldn't have been possible without the help of my buddy Woody over at The Cardboard Connection. Two weeks ago, he shipped me this medium flat rate box filled with goodies:
Inside there were tons of cards for my Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Japanese athlete collections. He also included a bunch of San Francisco Giants, Oakland Raiders, and Golden State Warriors cards for my students, as well as a bunch of oddball issue sets that I'll eventually feature in future posts. Three of those oddball sets were the ones pictured above.
He also sent me most of the 1990 set:
I'm excited to start targeting the 1984 to 1986 sets as well as the 1991 set on eBay. Hopefully they're pretty affordable. If not, I've got a lot of patience.
1990 Topps Glossy All-Star Set
I'm excited to start targeting the 1984 to 1986 sets as well as the 1991 set on eBay. Hopefully they're pretty affordable. If not, I've got a lot of patience.
Thank you Woody for this very generous package of cards. And thank you for finally inspiring me to start this project. I truly needed that kick in the butt.
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
16 comments:
I have thought about doing the same thing, good luck in your quest!
Looks like a neat project (and I like your cover page). I think I can help you out with a few singles.
I remember those, great project.I hope you finish it off.
Very cool project!
Yeah, that’s what I am talking about. A true set collector indeed and a great package by a fellow hobbiest!
Awesome project! It is a project that I have thought of pursuing myself one day. I remember there were a couple of summers that I received complete sets of these All Stars at the local library for being in their reading program. Oh how I wish I had those sets now.
Excellent low budget project!! I’m constantly grabbing those in dime boxes! One day I’ll get organized and put some sets together 😄
Great project Fuji!!! Love these cards!
One of the few cards that were okay to pack search for. I always liked these (especially the 1986 set with the team photos) and while I've made sure to get the Giants I can totally see wanting to pick up the rest and eventually getting a complete run.
Those were my favorite 80s 'insert/add on/sub-set' or whatever you want to call them. Good luck finishing them off. I wish I would have held on to mine, I could have helped you out with this.
I'm building those sets, and the glossy send ins too, plus the other similar set. One is numbered to 22 as you note above, the other two are numbered to 40, and 60. I have most of them by now and yes they are super affordable. I'll have to remember to throw in dupes aside for you when I go through those boxes.
I don't talk about these Glossy All-Stars much -- probably because they're so common -- but I've always liked the design. Any binder-related project is okay by me!
arpsmith - thanks. should be fun.
chris - i hope to one day invest in a nicer printer... maybe even a color printer.
sg488 - it may take a year... but it's definitely managable
sport card collectors - i know, right?
sumomenkoman - woody is the man. have no idea how he decided to throw these into the box... but it very much appreciated.
tshenson - wow. i wish my local library offered these up when i was a kid. definitely would have motivated me to read more
baltmoss68 - yeah. i see these floating in dime boxes all the time. gonna take the easy route though and purchase as many of these sets as i can on ebay (if the price is right)
snorting bull - thanks!
nick vossbrink - i wish they would have done those team photos every year. and i totally bought my favorite players back in the day... when i was allowed to choose my own pack
commishbob - lol. whatever they're called... i love them.
john miller - the glossy send-ins are another project i want to do as well. one day. i've got way too many projects lined up.
nick - i've got another binder related project lined up that i'll be sharing in the upcoming weeks. started in this box as well.
I love those All-Star glossies, and have thought about collecting them as well. good luck with getting the rest of them!
Matt - Thanks. You should go for it. They're really cheap, cool cards.
I have some of those cards, but mine are not glossy. I'm a simple girl lol ;)
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