1980's Topps / Donruss & Fleer Top Rookies1980: Rickey Henderson 1981: Tim Raines / Harold Baines / Fernando Valenzuela 1982: Cal Ripken Jr. / Lee Smith 1983: Tony Gwynn / Wade Boggs / Ryne Sandberg 1984: Don Mattingly / Darryl Strawberry 1985: Kirby Puckett / Roger Clemens / Mark McGwire / Dwight Gooden 1986: Fred McGriff / Jose Canseco / Cecil Fielder 1987: Greg Maddux / Barry Bonds / Barry Larkin / Will Clark 1988: Roberto Alomar / Mark Grace / Tom Glavine 1989: Randy Johnson / John Smoltz / Gary Sheffield / Curt Schilling / Craig Biggio |
1965 O-Pee-Chee (OPC) Baseball |
The first baseball trading cards date back to 1869. For many years, baseball cards were packaged in packs of tobacco as a way to increase sales the same way that today prizes are packaged in boxes of cereal. In the 1920's and 1930's, candy and gum companies started packaging baseball cards in their products as well.
Baseball card production was virtually halted in the early 1940's due to paper shortages created by World War II. The "Modern Era" of baseball cards began in 1948 when Bowman Gum Inc. offered one card and one piece of gum in a pack for a penny.
The first important football set was the Mayo set featuring college players in 1984. Other than the 1935 National Chicle set no other key football set was issued until 1948 when noth Bowman and Leaf produced sets.