A pack of 1989 Topps baseball cards had 15 cards. Buy a handful and you were still a long way from completing the 792-card set. Even a couple of rack packs barely put a dent in your list and you probably wound up with a few doubles. If you wanted a big jump-start–or maybe scout out some packs that had stars and rookie cards on top–there was one place to go.
K-Mart.
It was quite a revelation to walk inside the discount store and spot a giant rack pack of 100 cards staring you in the face. It turns out the best part wasn’t those three packets of regular issue Topps cards, though. It was the insert card sitting face up in the middle of each one. Those weren’t in any other type of pack. It quickly became obvious that completing the Career Active Batting Leaders set would take a lot of money (packs were $2.97 in 1989 and the set had 22 cards) or some serious horse trading with other collectors.
Sure, Topps had been experimenting with giant cellos that also held 100 cards and a stick of gum along with a special rookie glossy card (more on those some other time) but these were different than the standard Topps glossy cards. They had bright red borders. The backs had a little cartoon illustrating the player’s career hit total and average. The checklist went in descending order: Wade Boggs, who was tops on the list, was card #1 with Tony Gwynn #2.
There were 11 future Hall of Famers among the 22 cards, but also guys who had risen to the top of the career active leader list with a string of productive seasons like Carney Lansford, Pat Tabler and Johnny Ray.
In 1990, Topps again created the 100-card blister packs and included a new set of Active Batting Average Leader cards, this time with a green border. Packs were $3.28 this time (at least at my local K-Mart).
Most of the players from 1989 were still on the list and were featured in the set, some with the same photo that was used in ’89. This time the cards had a green border. The ’90 set has ten Hall of Famers with Alan Trammell among those dropping off the list. Lonnie Smith, Phil Bradley and Tony Fernandez were the newcomers.
For some reason–maybe the pack price increase–the 1990 set seems to be a bit tougher to complete these days. A complete 22-card set sold for $129 on eBay in December. A 1989 set brought $96.55 in January. Single card prices vary by player, of course, but the 1990 George Brett typically sells for over $20 with other Hall of Famers in the $5-$20 range. Commons often sell for just a buck or two, which is quite a bargain considering how scarce the sets are, especially the 1990. The cards were only available inside the blister packs, which were exclusive to K-Mart and few, if any, appear to have snuck out the back door. Only two to three dozen are usually on eBay at any one time, along with an occasional lot or set.
1989 Topps Career Active Batting Leaders checklist
1 Wade Boggs
2 Tony Gwynn
3 Don Mattingly
4 Kirby Puckett
5 George Brett
6 Pedro Guerrero
7 Tim Raines
8 Keith Hernandez
9 Jim Rice
10 Paul Molitor
11 Eddie Murray
12 Willie McGee
13 Dave Parker
14 Julio Franco
15 Rickey Henderson
16 Kent Hrbek
17 Willie Wilson
18 Johnny Ray
19 Pat Tabler
20 Carney Lansford
21 Robin Yount
22 Alan Trammell
1990 Topps Career Active Batting Leaders checklist
1 Wade Boggs
2 Tony Gwynn
3 Kirby Puckett
4 Don Mattingly
5 George Brett
6 Pedro Guerrero
7 Tim Raines
8 Paul Molitor
9 Jim Rice
10 Keith Hernandez
11 Julio Franco
12 Carney Lansford
13 Dave Parker
14 Willie McGee
15 Robin Yount
16 Tony Fernandez
17 Eddie Murray
18 Johnny Ray
19 Lonnie Smith
20 Phil Bradley
21 Rickey Henderson
22 Kent Hrbek
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