1989 Topps

1989 Topps Rick Mahler

This a list with brief descriptions of Topps trading card products for 1989. All sets listed are standard size (2½ × 3½ inches) unless noted.

Baseball

Base Set

The 1989 Topps set, called "Wave" by collectors, totals 792 cards and was issued in wax, rack, jumbo packs, vending boxes or factory sets. Subsets include Future Stars, Topps All-Star Rookies, Record Breakers, Turn Back The Clock, All-Stars, Team Leaders, First Draft Picks, Checklists and Manager cards. Player cards had a thin colored line separating the white border and action photo, and the upper-left corner of the action photo is rounded off. The team name appears in a cursive font in the lower-right corner, with the player name appearing below it within a ribbon-like area. For the third year in a row, the player's position does not appear on the front of the card. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Traded Set

The Traded set totals 132 cards and was issued as a factory set. The cards are identical in appearance to the base set except for the lighter colored back. This set featured traded players and managers, and rookie cards. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Glossy Send-Ins

This set totals 60 cards and was available by mailing in the special offer cards found in 1989 Topps wax packs. The fronts have a glossy player photo while the backs say All-Star Set Collector's Edition and include the players name, team, and position. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Glossy All-Stars

This set totals 22 cards and was available as an insert in 1989 Topps rack packs. The back says All-Star Game Commemorative Set and includes the players name, position and league. There are 11 cards each for the American and National League All-Star teams. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Mini Leaders

The Mini set includes 77 cards and were available in wax packs. The cards vaguely resemble the base set and featured players that led various statistical categories. Size:  2 1⁄8 × 3 in.

Glossy Rookies

This set totals 33 cards and was available as an insert in 1989 Topps jumbo packs. The back says Rookies Commemorative Set and includes the players name, position and team. The cards slightly resemble the Glossy All-Star set. 10,000 sets produced Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Batting Leaders

This 22 card set was issued as an insert in K-Mart blister packs and features the top active career batting leaders. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Topps Big

This set totals 330 cards issued in three series of 110 cards and was available in wax packs. Comic style career highlights are featured on the back. This set included Olympic team members. Size:  2 5⁄8 ×  3 3⁄4 in.

Wax Box Cards

The "Box Bottom" cards were featured 4 to a box on the bottom of the wax pack boxes of 1989 Topps of which there were 4 different boxes for a total of 16 cards. They resemble the base cards except for having a career milestones on the back instead of full statistics. The set is lettered A-P rather than numbered. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in. when individually cut out.

UK Minis

This United Kingdom set has 88 total cards and was issued in wax packs for the UK. The backs feature explanations of plays and definitions of baseball terminology. Size:  2 1⁄8 × 3 in.

Senior

The Topps Senior Professional Baseball Association set has 132 cards issued as a factory set. The set contains retired players and manager cards, a checklist plus one card of SPBA Commissioner Curt Flood. The cards have wood grain borders similar to the 1987 Topps base set. In the top left corner of the player photos it is stated that the set is the 'Premier Edition'. The backs are pink and white with one line each for Major League Career Totals, Career Bests, and SPBA statistics. A small subscription card for Topps magazine was included in the box. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Other sets

Traded Jackie Robinson Bronze Metal replica of his 1952 Topps card available to dealers who purchased a Topps Traded case. Size: 1¼ × 1¾ inches.
Gallery of Champions (12) This set is metal ingot replicas of regular issue cards in 1/4 scale of twelve players who won major awards done in three variations: aluminum, bronze and sterling silver. The Jose Canseco card has a fourth variation in pewter given to dealers who bought the bronze and silver sets. The sets were issued as complete sets. Size: 1¼ × 1¾ inches.
Double Headers All-Stars (24) This test issue features two-sided mini reproductions of a player's rookie card and 1989 card. The thin paper cards are encased in clear plastic stands. Size: 1⅝ × 2¼ inches.
Stickers/Stickercards (326/66) The stickers feature either one full player photo or two half size individual photos with white borders. There is a zipping fastball graphic trailing graduated color bars above and below the photo. The color bar is red for AL players and blue for NL. The only information on the sticker is the number while the player info was found in the album where the sticker was to be placed. The back is another player card. The sticker cards had 66 players. The cards say 'Super Star' inset in a star next to a bar with the player's name and position at the lower end of the photo. The player's stats are in a box at the bottom. Size: 2⅛ × 3 inches (sticker cards)/1½ × 2⅛ (half stickers).
Coins (60) The fronts have a full-color photo with the player's name, team, and position in a shooting star device. Edges are rolled in color. Backs are show some personal and statistical info in black on silver. The coins were in 3-packs or as a factory set. Size: 1½" diameter.
Sports Shots Portfolios (39) Some of Topps' 1989 regular issue cards were reproduced by Shaeffer Eaton as large cardboard folders with pockets for storage on the interior of the folder. Size: 9½ × 11¾ inches.
Double Headers Mets/Yankees (24) This test issue identical to the Double Headers All-Stars except that it features only New York players and was issued regionally. Size: 1⅝ × 2¼ inches.
Heads Up! (24) This issue featured a 'shrunken head' die-cut of a player's head and hat printed on heavy cardboard. This was originally issued as a test set in 1989 to select locations in Pennsylvania. Because of its limited distribution, the test set remains a rare and difficult to obtain collector's item. The set was released into production in the following year. The backs have a peel-off adhesive strip and a small hole cut in the card to insert a plastic suction cup for mounting the card on hard surfaces. The player's name, team, card number and year "1989" are printed in black on the reverse. The cards were distributed in boxes of 24 with the cards individually wrapped in sealed packages. Size: 4½ × 6½ inches. Players in order by their card numbers within the set are:

  1. Tony Gwynn
  2. Will Clark
  3. Doc Gooden
  4. Ricky Jordan
  5. Ken Griffey Jr.
  6. Darryl Strawberry
  7. Frank Viola
  8. Bo Jackson
  9. Ryne Sandberg
  10. Gregg Jeffries
  11. Wade Boggs
  12. Ellis Burks
  13. Gary Sheffield
  14. Mark McGwire
  15. Mark Grace
  16. Jim Abbott
  17. Ozzie Smith
  18. Jose Canseco
  19. Don Mattingly
  20. Kirby Puckett
  21. Eric Davis
  22. Mike Greenwell
  23. Dale Murphy
  24. Mike Schmidt

Bowman

Parallel Sets

In 1989 Topps issued Tiffany sets of the Base set and the Traded set in limited quantities only available as Factory sets. A Tiffany set was also available of the 1989 Bowman set.

Licensed sets

For the O-Pee-Chee sets that resembled the Topps issue see List of O-Pee-Chee Sports Cards.

Retail/Food Issues

These are sets issued by other companies in conjunction with Topps.

Football

Base set

The 1989 Topps football set contains 396 cards and was issued in wax packs and factory sets. Subsets include Team leaders, Record Breakers, league leaders, Super Bowl, and checklists. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Box Bottoms

The box card set has 16 cards that were found on the bottom of regular issue wax pack boxes as a four card panel. The cards feature two players per card of the offensive and defensive players of the week for the 1988 season. The cards are lettered A-P. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in. (individually)

1000 Yard Club

This set totals 24 glossy cards and were issued as inserts in the football wax packs. The 'members of the club' are players who gained 1000 yards or more during the season by rushing or receiving. The back of the cards list the total yardage gained by the player in each game of the season. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Traded set

The traded set contains 132 cards and was issued as a factory set. The players featured in this set are rookies or traded players on their new team. The cards are similar to the regular issue except for the white card stock and the T suffix in the numbering. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Topps American/UK

The UK set contains 33 cards and was issued in the United Kingdom as a factory set. They are similar to the regular issue cards except for the white card stock. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Football Talk

This 8 card set was distributed by LJN toys in four card blister packs. These cards are similar to the Baseball Talk cards mentioned above and are used with the sportstalk record player. Size:  3 1⁄4 ×  5 1⁄8 in.

Ice hockey

Base Set

The 1989-90 Topps hockey set totals 198 cards and was issued in wax packs. Below the player photo is the player's name and team logo. The backs feature career and playoff stats and game winning goals and highlights from the previous season. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Box Bottoms

This 16-card set appeared as four different 4-card panels on the bottom of wax pack boxes. The cards are the same design as the base set while the backs are red and black and give the players position along with statistics. The players in the set are team scoring leaders. The cards are lettered A-P. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches individually.

Stickers

This is a 33-card insert set found one per wax pack. Included in the set are 21 stickers of team logos, pucks, and numbers along with 12 All-Star players. The backs are printed in blue and red over a white background. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.

Non-sport

Back To The Future II

Topps produced a 99 card set about the second 'Back To The Future' film starring Michael J. Fox. The first 88 cards have yellow to red transitioned borders with captions in arrow styled panels. The cards are numbered on front and back and offer a brief description of the scene on back. The last 11 cards are stickers with photos in a stopwatch-like frame on white backgrounds with puzzle backs. Size: 2 × 3.5 inches

Batman Deluxe Reissue Edition

A 143 card reprint set was released featuring the three original Batman series issued in 1966. The differences in this release are the glossy fronts and the puzzle only backs of the third series. This set was issued as a boxed set. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Batman Movie

Another Batman set was issued in 1989, this one based on the Tim Burton film. There are 308 cards in the set issued in two series. Both series feature 132 story cards and 22 stickers. A Collectors Edition, one for each series, was released as a boxed set with 11 bonus cards. The Collector Edition cards are glossy with brighter backs than the regular issue. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Ghostbusters II

This 99 card set is based on the Ghostbusters sequel. There are 88 cards and 11 stickers. Subjects include colorphotos, artwork, a variety of ghosts, and wide screen SFX shots. The card backs have some text below a large movie logo while the sticker backs are puzzle pieces. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Nintendo

This set totals 93 cards issued in Nintendo Game Packs 'with Top Secret Tips!' as the wrapper indicates. The set has 60 game cards covering 6 different Nintendo games. The cards have scratch-off dots which reveal the game winning moves. There are also 33 sticker cards with game play tips on the back. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Stupid Smiles Stickers

This is a 44 count sticker card set featuring the yellow 'Happy Face'. The cards have stickers of different sizes which total 241 in all. The smiley faces are parodied in a variety of fashions accompanied by silly captions. The backs of the cards combine to form one of four different large pictures. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

This set is based on the TMNT animated series and totals 99 cards. There are 88 story cards with light green turtle shell borders and text backs. The rest of the set is eleven stickers with yellow backgrounds and puzzle backs. A Collectors Edition was issued as a boxed set with glossy card fronts and white backs and included 22 bonus cards. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 inches

Sources

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