Walk into any cluttered garage or suburban estate sale and you’ll likely find it. A long, white cardboard box with "89 Topps" scrawled in Sharpie on the side. It’s the quintessential relic of the "Junk Wax" era. For years, collectors treated the 1989 Topps complete set like a common doorstop. They produced millions of them. Maybe tens of millions. You couldn’t escape the wood-grain borders and the pink-and-purple card backs if you tried.
But things feel different now.
Lately, there's a weirdly specific nostalgia hitting the market. People aren't just buying these for the "big" rookies anymore. They're buying them because the 792-card checklist is a time capsule of a transitional era in baseball history. It was the year of the "The Bash Brothers," the final peak of the old-school multi-sport star, and the moment technology started to creep into card design. If you're looking for a pristine 1989 Topps complete set, you're looking for more than just cardboard; you're looking for a specific kind of perfection that was incredibly rare in a year defined by mass production and sloppy quality control.
The Ken Griffey Jr. Factor (and the Traded Caveat)
Let’s address the elephant in the room. If you buy a standard 1989 Topps complete set hoping to find the iconic Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck #1 rookie card, you’re going to be disappointed. Topps famously "missed" on Griffey for their flagship release. He isn't in the base set. To get a Topps Griffey rookie, you actually have to look for the "Traded" set, which was a separate, smaller 132-card box released later in the year.
So, what makes the 792-card flagship set actually worth owning?
Gary Sheffield.
Sheffield’s #40 rookie card is the undisputed king of the base set. Back in '89, Gary was the "can't-miss" prospect for the Brewers. Today, collectors hunt for the Sheffield card not just for the name, but for the grade. Because Topps printed these on cheap, brown cardstock (technically "chipboard"), finding a Sheffield with perfect centering and no "white "snow" on the black borders is a nightmare.
You’ve also got the Randy Johnson rookie (#647). It’s not his "error" card—that was Fleer—but it’s a classic image of the Big Unit before he became the terrifying, bird-exploding legend of the Diamondbacks. Then there’s Craig Biggio (#49), John Smoltz (#154), and Robin Ventura (#764). It’s a deep rookie class, honestly. If you pull a set out of a sealed factory box today and send those five rookies to PSA, and they somehow come back as 10s? You’ve actually made a decent chunk of change.
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The Quality Control Nightmare
Back then, Topps wasn't exactly obsessed with "gem mint" standards. Their factories in Duryea, Pennsylvania, were running 24/7 to keep up with the insane demand of the late eighties. This resulted in some serious quirks.
Miscuts were everywhere. One card might have a massive bottom border while the top border is non-existent. Then there are the "fish eyes"—those annoying little circular printing hickeys that show up in the solid blocks of color. The 1989 Topps complete set is notorious for these.
The "Set Break" is a real hobby phenomenon now. People buy a sealed factory box—usually the one with the colorful graphics of the various cards on the outside—specifically to see if the "collation" was kind to them. In some sets, the cards are sequenced perfectly. In others, you might find a "double print" where a whole run of stars is missing and replaced by 20 copies of a middle-reliever you’ve never heard of.
It’s a gamble. A cheap one, but a gamble nonetheless.
Why "Factory Sealed" Actually Matters
You'll see two types of sets for sale. There’s the "hand-collated" set and the "factory-sealed" set.
If you’re buying a hand-collated 1989 Topps complete set, you’re basically buying someone’s leftovers. It means a collector sat down with stacks of wax packs, sorted them numerically, and put them in a box. The problem? Most collectors in 1989 kept the best-centered cards for their personal binders and put the off-center "trash" into the sets they sold.
The factory-sealed version is different. These came in two main varieties:
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- The "Holiday" Box: Usually sold at JC Penney or Sears, often featuring a photo of several cards on a white or colorful background.
- The Retail/Hobby Box: A more plain, functional design.
The factory seal (usually a clear shrink wrap or a specific Topps sticker) acts as a time lock. The cards inside haven't been breathed on or cherry-picked. They're still sitting in the same order they left the assembly line. There is a specific smell to a freshly opened 1989 factory set—a mix of old paper, ink, and a hint of the late Reagan era—that you just can't replicate.
The Hidden Gems: Beyond the Rookies
Most people focus on the rookies, but the veterans in the 1989 Topps complete set are where the real aesthetic joy is. This was the era of the "Future Star" subset with the neon rainbow lettering. It was the era of "All-Star" cards with the massive "AS" logo in the background.
- Card #620 - Nolan Ryan: It’s just a classic shot of Nolan in the Rangers uniform. Simple. Iconic.
- Card #540 - Bo Jackson: Bo Knows. This card captures the pure athleticism of the man who was arguably the greatest athlete on the planet in 1989.
- Card #100 - Mark McGwire: Big Mac in his prime, before the "Bash Brothers" became a punchline.
- Card #200 - George Brett: A gorgeous horizontal shot of one of the greatest hitters to ever live.
There's also the "Turn Back the Clock" subset. These are essentially cards within cards, celebrating players from 5, 10, or 20 years prior. It was Topps' way of acknowledging its own history, and for a kid in 1989, it was often the first time we ever saw what a card from 1969 or 1974 actually looked like.
The Economic Reality of 1989 Topps
Let’s be real for a second. If you have a 1989 Topps set sitting in your closet, you aren't retiring on it. Most sets sell for $20 to $40. Shipping often costs as much as the cards themselves because 792 cards are heavy.
However, the "Grading Boom" changed the math.
A raw Gary Sheffield rookie is worth a buck. A PSA 10 (Gem Mint) Gary Sheffield rookie can go for $100 or more. The "Big Three" of this set (Sheffield, Johnson, Smoltz) in perfect condition are actually highly liquid assets. The problem is that out of 792 cards, you might only find three or four that are truly "perfect." Topps used a very soft paper stock that chipped easily. The corners "fuzz" if you even look at them wrong.
Is it worth grading them? Only if you have a literal magnifying glass and a lot of patience.
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Spotting the Rare Errors
While 1989 was the year of the Fleer "Billy Ripken" obscenity card (you know the one), Topps had its own weirdness. It wasn't as scandalous, but it's there.
There are "blank backs," where the printing press simply missed the ink on the reverse side. There are "wrong backs," where a Keith Hernandez card might have the stats of a random pitcher on the back. These aren't necessarily worth thousands, but they are highly prized by "Master Set" collectors who want every possible variation.
Actually, the most famous "error" in the 1989 Topps world isn't even in the base set—it's the 1989 Topps Traded Dale Murphy #82N with the "Reverse Negative." But even in the base 792-card set, you'll find color shifts where the team name looks blurry or the wood-grain border looks more like a muddy brown smear.
The Allure of the "Junk"
Why do we still care?
Honestly, it’s because the 1989 Topps set is accessible. It represents a time when collecting wasn't about "hits," "patches," or "autographs." There were no "1-of-1" gold vinyl parallels. Every kid in America had the same cards. We all traded them. We all knew that card #1 was the "Record Breaker" of George Bell.
When you buy a complete set today, you're buying a checklist that makes sense. It’s a census of the league. It includes the superstars, but it also includes the utility infielders and the middle-inning guys who never got a 10-year contract. It’s the full story of the 1988 season, told through the lens of 1989 production.
What to Look for When Buying
If you're hunting for one of these, keep these tips in mind:
- Check the corners of the box: If the cardboard box is dented, the cards inside are likely "dinged." The first and last cards in the box (usually the #1 Record Breaker and the #792 Checklist) take the brunt of the damage.
- Look for the "Tiffany" version: If you really want to get fancy, Topps produced a high-end "Tiffany" set with a glossy finish and white cardstock. These were limited to about 15,000 sets. They look identical from the front, but the backs are much brighter, and the fronts have a shine. A 1989 Topps Tiffany set is worth significantly more—sometimes ten times the price of the regular set.
- Avoid "Bricking": Cards from the late 80s weren't as prone to sticking together as the "UV-coated" cards of the 90s, but they can still "brick" if they were stored in a humid basement. If the set feels like a solid brick of wood, stay away.
The 1989 Topps complete set isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s a hobby staple. It’s a way to teach a kid about the history of the game or a way to relive the summer you spent biking to the 7-Eleven to buy wax packs for 45 cents. In a world of digital assets and NFTs, there is something profoundly satisfying about holding 792 physical pieces of history in a single cardboard box.
Actionable Next Steps for Collectors
- Verify the Set Type: Before purchasing, check if the box is "Factory Sealed" or "Hand Collated." Look for the specific Topps factory seal or shrink wrap to ensure the star cards haven't been swapped for lower-grade versions.
- Inspect the Backs: If you are hunting for the "Tiffany" variation, look at the card backs. Regular 1989 Topps cards have a dull, brownish-grey back, while Tiffany cards are bright white and much easier to read.
- Focus on Centering: If you intend to grade cards from the set, use a centering tool or a simple ruler. The wood-grain borders make off-centering extremely obvious to the naked eye, and PSA is notoriously harsh on this specific year.
- Storage Check: If you already own a set, move it out of the original cardboard box and into "archival-safe" storage if you live in a high-humidity area. The original boxes are acidic and can cause the card edges to yellow over decades.