Need Help! 1980's All Sports RC Collection

DunnGriffeyKearns2002

Hello. I frequently view these message boards but never post any messages. I need some help from everyone if possible. I am thinking about starting to focus my collectiion on 1980's PSA graded rookie cards. I would like to do a "Top 50 Rookie Cards of the 1980's" set that encompasses all four major sports. I have a preliminary list below that actually contains more than 50 cards. I am sure I have missed some that should be included as well (especially w/ Hockey). Hopefully, some of you all can take a look at my list and offer suggestions on what cards should be added and what cards should be dropped. Here are the ones I came up with so far:

BASEBALL

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken
1983 Topps Tony Gwynn
1983 Topps Wade Boggs
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly
1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens
1985 Topps Tiffany Roger Clemens
1985 Topps Tiffany Mark McGwire
1985 Topps Mark McGwire
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany Barry Bonds
1987 Fleer Barry Bonds
1987 Donruss Greg Maddux
1987 Topps Tiffany Rafael Palmeiro
1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr.
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.
1989 Topps Tiffany Randy Johnson
1989 Donruss Baseball's Best Sammy Sosa

BASKETBALL

1980/81 Topps Larry Bird/Magic Johnson
1986/87 Fleer Michael Jordan
1986/87 Fleer Karl Malone
1986/87 Fleer Charles Barkley
1986/87 Fleer Hakeem Olojuwon
1986/87 Fleer Isiah Thomas
1986/87 Fleer Patrick Ewing
1986/87 Fleer Clyde Drexler
1988/89 Fleer Reggie Miller
1988/89 Fleer John Stockton
1989/90 Hoops David Robinson

FOOTBALL

1981 Topps Joe Montana
1982 Topps Lawrence Taylor
1982 Topps Ronnie Lott
1983 Topps Mike Singletary
1983 Topps Marcus Allen
1984 Topps John Elway
1984 Topps Dan Marino
1984 Topps Howie Long
1984 Topps USFL Steve Young
1984 Topps USFL Jim Kelly
1984 Topps USFL Reggie White
1986 Topps Jerry Rice
1989 Score Barry Sanders
1989 Score Troy Aikman

HOCKEY

1979/80 OPC Wayne Gretzky
1979/80 Topps Wayne Gretzky
1980/81 OPC Ray Borque
1980/81 OPC Mark Messier
1984/85 OPC Steve Yzerman
1985/86 OPC Mario Lemieux
1985/86 Topps Mario Lemieux
1986/87 OPC Patrick Roy
1987/99 OPC Luc Robitaille
1988/89 OPC Brett Hull

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Patrick

ldferg

maybe add an 83 topps sandberg.

AlanAllen

Patrick,
I like the idea. I have a couple of suggestions:
1. Keep it to one card per player.
2. Use the best mainstream RC. There is significantly more interest in the hobby for Palmeiro's '87 Donruss than his '87 Topps Tiffany, for example. Make exceptions for widely collected Update sets, but not for parallel tiffany and glossy sets.

You might want to make it 40 cards - I think the extra 10 starts to include some cards of only marginal importance. Maybe something like this:

BASEBALL

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken
1983 Topps Tony Gwynn
1983 Topps Wade Boggs
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly
1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens
1985 Topps Mark McGwire
1987 Fleer Barry Bonds
1987 Donruss Greg Maddux
1987 Donruss Rafael Palmeiro
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.
1989 Upper Deck Randy Johnson

BASKETBALL

1980/81 Topps Larry Bird/Magic Johnson
1986/87 Fleer Michael Jordan
1986/87 Fleer Karl Malone
1986/87 Fleer Charles Barkley
1986/87 Fleer Hakeem Olojuwon
1986/87 Fleer Isiah Thomas
1986/87 Fleer Patrick Ewing
1988/89 Fleer Reggie Miller
1988/89 Fleer John Stockton
1989/90 Hoops David Robinson

FOOTBALL

1981 Topps Joe Montana
1982 Topps Lawrence Taylor
1982 Topps Ronnie Lott
1983 Topps Marcus Allen
1984 Topps John Elway
1984 Topps Dan Marino
1984 Topps USFL Steve Young
1984 Topps USFL Jim Kelly
1984 Topps USFL Reggie White
1986 Topps Jerry Rice
1989 Score Barry Sanders
1989 Score Troy Aikman

HOCKEY

1979/80 OPC Wayne Gretzky
1980/81 OPC Ray Borque
1980/81 OPC Mark Messier
1984/85 OPC Steve Yzerman
1985/86 OPC Mario Lemieux
1986/87 OPC Patrick Roy
1988/89 OPC Brett Hull


Good luck, and welcome to the boards!

Joe

Fuzz

Patrick,
Interesting concept and it might be included as a registry set. You should right BJ about that after you finish your list.
I agree with one cards per player but I don't have a preference on which it is. While I understand the "mainstream concept", parallels/ glossies/ tiffany were also produced in an ample supply to be available.
The only potential contenders for the list that I saw missing is 1984 Topps Eric Dickerson, 86 Bruce Smith or 88 Bo Jackson. It just depends on whether you want career accomplishments or how bright there star burned while it did.
Fuzz

jwasserman

I'm a baseball guy so here's my picks for the 80's

BASEBALL

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken
1983 Topps Tony Gwynn
1983 Topps Wade Boggs
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly
1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens
1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett
1985 Donruss Roger Clemens
1985 Topps Tiffany Mark McGwire
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany Barry Bonds
1987 Donruss Opening Day Barry Bonds Error
1987 Donruss Greg Maddux
1987 Donruss Rafael Palmeiro
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.
1989 Upper Deck Randy Johnson

SDSportsFan

I'd also consider the following:

Baseball
1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg

Football
1981 Topps Kellen Winslow (All 75th Anniversary Team)
1984 Topps Eric Dickerson
1985 Topps Warren Moon

I also agree with a previous post that it should be limited to one card per player, such as only the '84 Fleer UD Clemens, '85 Topps McGwire and '89 UD Griffey, etc...

Nice idea, and a great collection in the making by the way


Steve

wlf3

here's my list, keeping it fairly balanced between all 4 sports and only one of each player

baseball(13):
1980 rickey henderson
1982 T traded Cal Ripken Jr
1983 T wage boggs
1983 T tony Gwynn
1983 TR ryne sandberg
1984 D don mattingly
1984 FU roger clemens
1984 FU kirby puckett
1985 T mark mcgwire (tiffany?)
1987 F barry Bonds (glossy?)
1987 D greg Maddux
1987 D rafael palmiero
1989 UD ken griffey jr

football(15):
1981 joe montana
1981 art monk
1981 kellen winslow
1982 lawrence taylor
1983 marcus allen
1984 dan marino
1984 john elway
1984 USFL jim kelly
1984 USFL steve young
1984 USFL reggie white
1985 warren moon
1986 jerry rice
1989 S barry sanders
1989 S troy aikman
1989 S chris carter

basketball(11):
1980 bird/magic/erving
*1984 STAR michael Jordan OR 1986 F michael jordan
1986 F karl malone
1986 F patrick ewing
1986 F charles barkley
1986 F clyde drexler
1986 F akeem olajawon
1987 F scottie pippen
1988 F reggie miller
1988 F john stockton
1989 H dave robinson

hockey(11):
1979 OPC wayne gretzky
1980 OPC ray bourgue
1980 OPC mark messier
1981 OPC jari kurri
1984 OPC steve yzerman
1985 OPC mario lemieux
1986 OPC patrick Roy
1987 OPC luc robitaille
1987 OPC adam oates
1988 OPC brett hull
1988 OPC brendan shanahan


ALSO might consider:
1981 D golf jack nicklaus

DunnGriffeyKearns2002

I thought about the Nicklaus and I also thought about the 1987 World of Champions Jeff Gordon card. Are there any others from sports other than the "Big 4" I could consider? Thanks for the input so far.

wlf3

1988 Maxx racing Kale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt cards are considerations as well I guess

there are tons of regional issued cards in the 80s that would be nice, but hardly readily available for something like this.

mrc32

How about a flameout set
1984 Topps Darryl Strawberry
1985 Fleer Eric Davis
1985 Donruss Dwight Gooden
1986 Donruss Jose Canseco
1987 Donruss Terry Steinbach
1988 Donruss Gregg Jefferies

Could be a helluva of a lot of fun to collect.