Friday Five: Five Things I Love About the 1985 Topps Set

I have spent the past week sorting out a bunch of the sets that I collected as a kid.  My wife was awesome enough to help out with the sorting process, but a few of the sets took a little longer to sort than normal.  I spent a good deal of time just looking at the cards as I took them out of their boxes to sort out into complete sets.  So many good memories and many great names on the cards.  One of my favorites from my first years in collecting was the 1985 Topps set.

Before I get into my five things, I encourage everyone who likes these cards to go check out the 1985 Topps Blog written by the legendary Night Owl.


5.  There Are Expos Cards 

The Expos never really won anything, but they had some good players over the years.  Plus they had really cool uniforms.  The Nationals are not quite the same thing.  One of the best parts of flipping through old 1980s and 1990s sets is the Expos cards.  While they had some of their better teams in the mid 1990s with Pedro Martinez and Larry Walker, I love the Tim Raines and Andre Dawson teams of the 1980s.  The 1985 set has plenty of good Expos cards.

4.  Blue Uniforms 

The blue road uniforms were really common in the 1970s and early part of the 1980s.  By the time the mid 1980s started to roll around the blue road uniform was on its way out the door.  My beloved Cardinals had plenty of cards featuring players in road blues in the 1985 Topps set, but by the time the 1986 Topps set rolled around many teams, including the Cardinals, had ditched the blue for grey uniforms.  Sad, but at least teams break them out occasionally still for throwback days, or alternate jerseys.

3.  Rookie Cards, But Not Clemens, Puckett, Or McGwire 

There are three really good rookies in the 1985 Topps set that many collectors know, recognize, and love: Mark McGwire, Kirby Puckett, and Roger Clemens.  However, there are some other nice rookie cards in this set beyond those three players.  Eric Davis was a good player, he has a rookie card in this set.  Bret Saberhagen, also pretty good, has a rookie card in this set.  Mark Langston, personal favorite and once traded for Randy Johnson, also has a rookie card in this set.  These rookies do not have much monetary value, and you might find them in the dime boxes at your local card shop or show, but they are still worth filing away in your collection.

2.  USA Baseball Cards 

Many people love the Mark McGwire rookie card in the USA Baseball subset.  Nice card, good player.  It was also the first really popular USA Baseball card.  Many USA Baseball products have been made in the years since the 1984 Olympic team was included in the 1985 Topps set.  I was not really big into the Olympic, or USA cards as a kid, but as an adult I have found enjoyment in collecting these cards.  I would like to think that without the USA Baseball cards in the 1985 Topps set, many of the products featuring some of the great amateur baseball players in the country would not be produced, or at least not as popular.

1.  Well Loved Cards

In the time I spent sorting out my cards from the 1985 Topps set it was plain to see which cards in my stacks I actually owned in 1985.  I was a second grader at the time and really enjoyed collecting cards.  I am not sure I really understood taking care of my cards, but I went back and recollected these cards later on as an adult.  While I sorting out my cards in to sets I have generally taken out the doubles, I am holding on to these gems from my younger years.  I did not draw, or mark on cards, but I clearly handled them frequently.  Anyway, I do not quite have a complete set of 1985 Topps cards collected by my second grade self, but I am really close.