1986 Topps Baseball Breakdown with Most Valuable Cards
Breakout the shoeboxes and plastic totes, time to find out if any of your childhood, passed down, or garage sale purchased baseball cards from Topps 1986 baseball sets hold monetary value.
The State of the Game Then
Going into the 1986 season, Major League Baseball was going strong, avoiding catastrophe with a two-day strike in August of 1985. The 1985 I-70 World Series (Kansas City vs. St. Louis) was exciting, seeing future Hall of Famer George Brett (Royals) finally earn a ring and Cy Young Award winning teammate Bret Saberhagen named WS MVP.
The 1985 regular season AL MVP was Don Mattingly (Yankees) and the NL honoree was Willie McGee (Cardinals). The success of the Cardinals in 1985 also produced Rookie of the Year honors (Vince Coleman) and Manager of the Year (Whitey Herzog).
In the AL, Ozzie Guillen (White Sox) won ROY, and after leading the Blue Jays to a 99-62 record, Bobby Cox won AL Manager of the Year. The NL Cy Young winner… Dwight Gooden.
The top draft pick in 1985, the Milwaukee Brewers selected B.J. Surhoff (Univ. of North Carolina).
1986
The ’85 season played into 1986, especially for the New York Mets. Off winning Cy Young honors a year earlier, Doc Gooden helped lead the Mets to a title in ’86. The runner-ups showcased a future star in Roger Clemens, with the Rocket earning the first of seven total Cy Young Awards and AL MVP of the season honors.
Another future star hit the diamond, Athletics outfielder Jose Canseco. Canseco picked up AL ROY with relief pitcher Todd Worrell taking the honors with the Cardinals in the NL. Astros starting pitcher Mike Scott won NL Cy Young and was named NLCS MVP in 1986. The top managers were Hal Lanier (Astros) and John McNamara (Red Sox).
Mike Schmidt won his third and final NL regular-season MVP award in 1986.
The top pick in the ’86 draft, Jeff King (Univ. of Arkansas).
What to Know
Among all the lines, Topps produced a total of 2,522 individual baseball cards for their 1986 sets. In addition to their 1986 Topps Baseball flagship product, collectors could get Topps Traded, Topps Tiffany (/5000), Topps Stickers, Topps Mini Leaders, Topps Super, and Woolworth’s Topps cards.
Very much of the time, Topps also produced a line of 3-D cards, a 30-card plastic set with the player on the front and a blank back. Adhesive strips were used to stick the cards in albums, on folders and walls – you name it.
Another short collect opportunity for hobbyists, the Gallery of Champions. This 12-card set values now around $64 complete, with Bronze and Silver parallels.
In addition to send-ins, Topps also produced Glossy All-Stars, a set of 22 cards.
Topps Traded
Before Series 2 and the Update Series, Topps had their Traded release that featured rookie players that were called up and players who were traded midseason. The 1986 production, in its own way, is legendary. The 132-card set included rookie cards for Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Will Clark, Bo Jackson, Andres Galarrraga, John Kurk, Kevin Mitchell, Wally Joyner, and Bobby Bonilla.
The value of the set is now at $105.75. The Traded cards are near identical to the 1986 Topps except for a whiter stock and t-suffixed numbering.
1986 Topps Tiffany
The robust set of 792 cards was issued directly to Topps dealers. A couple of things make the Tiffany set a greater chase for collectors, the gloss shine to the cards, considered a parallel to the flagship ’86 release, and a print run reported at 5,000 per card.
The Tiffany treatment was also given to the Traded set.
A fun factoid, the set was printed in Ireland.
Putting the entire set together today, it is valued at $1,452.
1986 Topps
As card collecting was expanding, Topps got this set out in numerous ways. On the shelves, collectors could buy 15-card wax packs, 48-card rack packs, cello boxes – 24 packs with 28 cards per pack, wax box of 36 packs, and as a complete set.
Inserts included Pete Rose tribute (1-7), Record Breakers (201-207), Turn Back the Clock (401-405), All-Stars (701-722) and Team Leaders (mixed throughout set).
Error cards include:
- 1986 Topps #51 Bobby Wine MG ERR/(Checklist back)
- 1986 Topps #57 Bill Doran/(See also 51)
- 1986 Topps #141 Chuck Cottier MG/See also 171
- 1986 Topps #171 Bob Rodgers MG ERR/(Checklist back)
The Most Valuable Cards
Card values sourced from Beckett Online Price Guide and secondary online sales platforms.
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany #50T Bo Jackson RC
Raw: $200-$500
10 Grade: $18,750-plus
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany #11T Barry Bonds RC
Raw: $250-$600
10 Grade: $11,100-plus
1986 Topps Tiffany #100 Nolan Ryan
Raw: $10-$25
10 Grade: $5,900-plus
1986 Topps #100 Nolan Ryan
Raw: $.75-$2
10 Grade: $2,100-plus
1986 Topps #1 Pete Rose
Raw: $.75-$2
10 Grade: $1,670-plus
1986 Topps #500 Rickey Henderson
Raw: $.15-$.40
10 Grade: $1,500-plus
1986 Topps Traded #50T Bo Jackson RC
Raw: $10-$25
10 Grade: $1,000-plus
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany #20T Jose Canseco
Raw: $30-$80
10 Grade: $900-plus
1986 Topps Tiffany #340 Cal Ripken Jr.
Raw: $8-$20
10 Grade: $880-plus
1986 Topps Tiffany #1 Pete Rose
Raw: $10-$25
10 Grade: $850-plus
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany #24T Will Clark
Raw: $25-$60
10 Grade: $620-plus
1986 Topps #10 Tony Gwynn
Raw: $.25-$.60
10 Grade: $645-plus
1986 Topps #180 Don Mattingly
Raw: $.50-$1.25
10 Grade: $600-plus
1986 Topps #180 Don Mattingly – Blank Back
Raw: $89-plus
10 Grade: N/A
1986 Topps Traded #11T Barry Bonds RC
Raw: $8-$20
10 Grade: $570-plus
1986 Topps #690 Ryne Sandberg
Raw: $.30-$.75
10 Grade: $460-plus
1986 Topps #400 Rod Carew
Raw: $.08-$.25
10 Grade: $450
1986 Topps Tiffany #661 Roger Clemens
Raw: $20-$50
10 Grade: $450-plus
1986 Topps #300 George Brett
Raw: $.40-$1
10 Grade: $390-plus
1986 Topps #200 Mike Schmidt
Raw: $.40-$1
10 Grade: $320-plus
1986 Topps #340 Cal Ripken Jr.
Raw: $.60-$1.50
10 Grade: $290-plus
1986 Topps #250 Dwight Gooden
Raw: $.15-$.40
10 Grade: $290-plus
1986 Topps #185 Rollie Fingers
Raw: $.05-$.15
10 Grade: $290-plus
1986 Topps #520 Keith Hernandez
Raw: $.05-$.15
10 Grade: $280-plus
1986 Topps #386 Cecil Fielder RC
Raw: $.40-$1
10 Grade: $280-plus
1986 Topps #700 Reggie Jackson
Raw: $.08-$.25
10 Grade: $280-plus
1986 Topps #170 Gary Carter
Raw: $.05-$.15
10 Grade: $270-plus
1986 Topps #28 Eric Davis
Raw: $.15-$.40
10 Grade: $200-plus
1986 Topps Traded #20T Jose Canseco XRC
Raw: $8-$20
10 Grade: $170-plus
*For the full set pricing, check Beckett Online Price Guide.
**Values subject to change.
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It’s stupid money for gem mint ten….give this fad 10 years and cards will be worthless again
As long as the games are played and people have passion for their teams and players, and with the hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into the collectible market by manufacturers and collectors alike, it is hard to see the enthusiasm going away in the hobby. The ability to better preserve cards in slabs for generations of families, hard to see that going away as well. When all people had to track their sports heroes was a radio and a newspaper, sports grew in popularity. TV – streaming and cable opportunities, people can further develop their fandom for more sports and for teams outside their area and country.
I have unopened full set 1986 what is that worth
Prices on a sealed Topps set can range from $110 to $180-plus. Authenticated sealed sets tend to run higher.
I have four volumes of pristine 1986 cards. Please help to value.
I own four volumes of cards in pristine condition. Please value.
My mother collected cards in the latter 80’s . She never, ever touched the edges of her cards. I have thousands of cards. Hundreds of unopened packs, Who can afford to get their collections graded??!! Good grief, Not this girl!
I hv some all kinds of cards . For sell