1994 Topps: An Appreciation

The early 1990s were a period of remarkable change for Topps baseball cards. I was always fascinated with how little the flagship set changed in the 1980s, with the introduction of Fleer and Donruss to the card game. In design, style, and substance, the sets of the ‘80s were not all that different from Topps offered in the late 1970s. It took Score and Upper Deck to get into the mix before collectors got the radically new 1991 set, which I have covered in this space before. 1991 was a breath-taking set, in design and photography, and remains an all-time classic. In 1992, with premium and investment-grade cards now flooding the market, Topps took another major step forward with the use of white card stock for the first time since 1970 and full-color backs for the first ever. Like the 1991 set, the ‘92s used photography far superior to the Topps sets of 1990 and before and staged many cards in a horizontal format. That year's issue also introduced the first-ever parallel set with ToppsGold, which also became the first true “chase” set in Topps flagship history. In 1993, Topps got even more in line with its competitors, using full-color photos on the back, slick card stock, and inserting a Gold card into every pack. This set also introduced BlackGold, an insert set that was available in packs and with randomly-inserted redemption cards. The 1993 set was also the largest Topps had ever produced at 825 cards issued in two series.

The 1994 set gets a little lost among all these changes. There was no major “innovation” for the 1994 set. Ok, they used a high-gloss finish for the first time (which does not age well in unopened product), but to compare ’94 with ’93 was not to find a radically different set. The 1994 set does, in some ways, mark the end of an era. It was the last 792 card set, which for collectors of my age is as near-iconic a number as there is in the hobby. The 1995 set was the first to use gold foil stamping on ever card – a development many derided at the time and which would remain a vital (and often over-used) element of base card designs until 2014. It was the last set before the baseball strike took the wind out of the hobby’s sails and shrank flagship set sizes to a level not seen since the 1950s. And it seemed to mark the end of baseball cards as a ubiquitous part of childhood. It was still a hobby and kids would still collect, but it just felt a little different. Maybe it’s just me or collectors of my generation. I turned 13 in 1995. I collected then and would for a number of years, but it became a little shameful in my later teen years. It was a dork thing (this I freely admit), but it wasn’t the kind of dork things that kids were getting into (Magic cards, for instance), it was the kind of dork thing that kids were supposed to be growing out of. And it seemed that fewer kids of six, seven, or eight were getting into the hobby by the mid-1990s.

So this all leaves 1994 Topps in a sort-of lost area. It has none of the reverence of 1991 set, we don’t remember the pure shock of it like the 1992 set. Jeter-mania hasn’t kept it relevant like the 1993 set. Each of those designs – As well 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987… - have been reused by Topps in recent years. Not so for 1994. It’s a lost set. But in revisiting it recently, I’ve come to think of it as more of a hidden gem in the Topps library.

This all started, oddly enough, with my dad cleaning out some closets back at home. He told me he’d found some cards and would bring them down next time he visited. Fine, I said. I knew I probably still had cards at home and expected a shoebox full of junk. What he brought was two unopened boxes – 1992 Upper Deck (a topic for another time) and a box of ’94 Topps Series 2. He brought them on October 2: the day that Tom Petty, one of my favorite musicians ever, died. After the folks left, my wife and I opened up a big jug of wine, cued up Wildflowers, and I set into the cards. It was a sad but nostalgic evening, the kind where you feel the sting of loss but are glad for the memories that are left behind. I ended up with a good portion of the set (many with damage from sticky gloss, sadly), and with a real nice eBay pick-up – all of series one for $10 shipped! – nearly have the whole set put together.

The photography on these cards is, in my opinion, better than the previous two years and rivals even the 1991 set. There are great candid and action shots.

The set seemed to have a particular affinity for catchers. Check out these great shots with airborne mask action.

The set also contains two of my favorite cards of the decade…

Here is Kenny Lofton chasing down a short flyball at old Municipal Stadium. The hat on the grass in the back is perfect.

And here is George Brett, on his sunset card, grounding out to second base against Jamie Narvarro. It’s a gorgeous card, probably one of the 25 best flagship cards ever issued by Topps. It was Brett’s last AB of the game, he would be pinch hit for by Hubie Brooks in the fourth inning.

The set also featured the first multiple exposure cards Topps ever put in a flagship set… something Upper Deck had been doing annually since 1989.

The backsides were bright and colorful, done with the player image either on the left or right. Which is well and good, but this also meant that the card number shifts, from the left upper corner to the middle. Which is a huge pain in sorting. Thankfully, I think is the only year this was done. 

Speaking of the backs, were got some fun information from them. Like Deion Sanders wanting to host a fishing show or Curt Leskanic shaving his arm.

There are also a surprising number of photos where the player’s face is either not shown or partially covered (like the Brett shown above). This was something done occasionally in the early 1970s, mostly with terrible results, but here the pictures remain relevant and artful.

Topps even had a little fun (god forbid) with the images. This one of Kevin Brown immediately comes to mind.

The subsets also had a fun look to them. The quad prospect cards returned (originally brought back in 1992), with a bit of a design twist. We also get Future Star cards again, with a VERY early 1990s idea of what the future might bring.

But in particular, I like these Draft Pick cards, which give the impression of being a scout’s clipboard. These are hokey and dumb, but I love them. Especially that little post-it with the comic sans. 

  

I really do like this set. The design is colorful, a bit dated, but it fits with the times and the issue is a wonderful capper to a four-year run of great Topps sets. I still need 100 or so cards to finish the set, so check out my wantlists if you’ve got any laying around. I also have a bunch of Gold cards from the S2 box, if anyone is interested in those.