Sunday, August 1, 2021

Completed Set: 1985 Topps Baseball

 
The two big collecting years of my baseball childhood were 1984 and 1987. Both years I collected Topps, and Topps alone. (Mainly because those were the packs my dad bought for my sister and I.) 
 
And although 1985 falls in between those two years, somehow I didn't collect many cards that year at all. 
 
And that's too bad, because the 1985 Topps baseball set, as I discovered while compiling all the cards recently, is a bit more unique than some of the other sets of the decade. 

Firstly, it's the design. As you look through the cards below I think you might agree that it's better than average. The cards are bright. Bold. Fun. And on top of all that, the colors are very well matched to each team's colors. That's a departure from the previous few years, when Topps chose colors that sometimes provided a nice complement to the team's colors, and other times did not. (For example, 1980 Topps Pirates cards received a purple and orange combo, while 1982 Topps Cardinals cards were hit with magenta and brown.)

Along with the design, another reason I like this set is that the images provide ample evidence that it was issued smack-dab in the middle of the 1980s.
 
There are the bespectacled players.
 


And the bearded players.
 
 
 
And more than enough mustachioed players.
 
 
 
Choking up on the bat was such a common thing in the 1980s that players even worked on it during batting practice, as Dan Gladden demonstrates quite nicely.
 
 
 
The uniforms are also a great indicator of the decade.
 
 
 
And if not the uniforms, consider the warmup jackets.
 
 
 
But that's not all the 1985 Topps set has to offer. Most surprising to me is that there are quite a few cards that portray fierce action.
 
There are pitchers who are straining to their limit.
 
 
 
And hitters who are absolutely swinging out of their shoes.
 
 
 
Through it all there are the steady infielders, ready for any smash that comes their way. 
 
 
 
Some of the stars have cool-looking cards.
 



Reggie: You're the man, Dickie! 
Dickie: No Reggie, YOU'RE the man!
 
 
 
And we can't forget the big rookie cards. (Honorable mention to Bret Saberhagen, Orel Hershiser, Dwight Gooden, and Eric Davis.)

 
 
Now let's go to the subsets, which are also fresh and different.
There are 10 record-breaker cards in this set, which is the most of any set of the decade.

 
 
There's a nice father-son subset.
 
 
 
And hey, Mark McGwire isn't the only Olympian featured in the set. There's an entire USA Olympic Team subset. (Nicely done in red, white, and blue colors.)
 
 
 
Here's a nifty #1 Draft Pick subset, featuring cards of some notable #1 picks from the previous 15 years or so.

 
 
And an example of a card back. Not the easiest color combination for readability, but I do like the trivia questions that appear on some of the cards like this one.

 
 
Finally, here are two versions of the "Winning Pitch" game card Topps issued that year (one per wax pack), plus an example of a checklist.
 
 

And there you have 1985 Topps baseball. It's a nice-looking set. Bright. Colorful. Bold lines. The cards look good in nine-pocket pages. It's also quite affordable—even more so if you've already got the "big three" rookie cards. I'm very happy to have completed this one. 

What are your thoughts on the set? Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading, as always.

18 comments:

  1. Well done! From one set collector to another, congratulations on completing the 1985 Topps set. I like pretty much all of the Topps flagship designs from the last five decades or so. The 1985 design is relatively bland imho but those USA Baseball cards do stand out. I think I may have most of that set completed but it's kind of hard to tell when I haven't even inventoried those cards yet, lol.

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    1. Thanks very much, bbcardz! Hope this post spurs you on to be the next one to complete the '85 Topps set. (Or at least move it up on your to-do list, heheh.)

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  2. Great summary. You highlighted a lot of the reasons I have always really liked this set.

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  3. -One of the first sets I completed when I started collecting again in 2016. I am currently trying to complete the Tiffany version, which in reality, probably won't happen. I really like the Carlton Fisk and Rick Sutcliffe cards in the set....and the Detroit Tigers cards look great too....

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    1. Thanks for reading, Alan! Completing the Tiffany set is a tall order, for sure. I've got one: #442 Ken Forsch. If you want it, it's yours.

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  4. 1985 was a solid year for baseball cards. I like Fleer the best, but Topps is right behind it and Donruss is close behind. I bought way more packs of Topps than Fleer or Donruss back in 1985... but not enough to build a hand collated set. I'm sure part of the reason was I started buying Garbage Pail Kids that year too.

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    1. Oh man, Garbage Pail Kids. I opened quite a few of those packs around '85 or '86, too. Good times, Fuji.

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  5. It is a fun, underrated set. The jaunty angle of the rectangles is very pleasing to me.

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    1. Good observation, Bo. The angle definitely adds something to the card. Much more interesting than if it were horizontal.

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  6. My thoughts would be here, a whole blog of them: https://1985topps.blogspot.com/

    I probably should've condensed the set into one post like you did, I actually would grade '85 a B-minus.

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    1. Dang. How did you have time to do the 1985 Topps blog? And wait, the 1971 Topps blog, too? And the 1975 Topps blog on top of that?? (Well, I understand why you covered 1975, heheh.) Nice going, Night Owl.

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  7. I've always like the 85 set, congrats on completing it.

    Like you say, the design is quite bold and colorful.

    I started collecting in 1986 and I remember the 1986 Topps set quite well from my childhood. Its not a very attractive set compared to the 1985 and I remember just really being impressed when I first saw what the 1985s looked like a couple years later. Thanks to all those rookie cards though it was super expensive by the time I became interested in it and so I never completed it (even to this day).

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    1. Thanks for reading, Sean! It's nice to know that quite a few readers enjoy '85 Topps, too. I wish I had some duplicates to send you, but I've got nothing left after building the set myself.

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  8. Congratulations on the completed set, Greg!

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  9. Congrats on completing the '85 Topps set! I think this might be my favorite Topps set of the '80s, even though it was the set before the one that got me into collecting. I have fond memories of seeing random '85s pop up in my brother's baseball card binders. He had assorted cards in 9-pocket pages, arranged by team, and his Yankees were on top. I remember the Andre Robertson and Willie Randolph in particular.

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    1. Thanks very much, Chris! Glad this post brought back some good collecting memories. The Yankees cards from this set do look good next to each other in a binder.

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