Topps printed 4 BILLION cards of 1991 Topps !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

**pwaldo** · 02-18-2013, 09:45 PM

In each issue of the old Sports Card magazines that I've been scanning they have a section that is a "Back in Time" where they basically pick a time to look back on. Who was hot, what something was selling for, etc. I haven't scanned any yet until now because they have been pretty boring but I found this tidbit that was interesting:

Topps printed 5.1 million of each of the 792 cards in the set. So 5.1 million multiplied by 792 puts it at over 4 billion cards!

**kream88** · 02-18-2013, 09:52 PM

Crazy that would be why the late 80s early 90s set aren't worth anything. I like to know topps print run on the newer sets.

**DaClyde** · 02-18-2013, 10:11 PM

Sounds about right. That being the case, Donruss must have printed about 50 billion cards in 1990.

**BSEBALLCOMMISH75** · 02-19-2013, 12:26 AM

Greetings:
I be more interested in that side article in the corner 'I Had 2 $450,000 Cards and My Mom Threw Them Out' talk about OUCH!!!!!! I am just curious what 2 cards were they and ya kinda wonder what they are worth now.

**EtherealSOC** · 02-19-2013, 09:45 AM

Not surprised at all. Just finished reading Pete Williams' 1995 book on the history of the Upper Deck company and it states that they produced over 3 billion in 1990 and over 4 billion in 1991, the later of which earned them more than $230 million in sales. The book also chronicles questionable tactics like reprinting and backdating cases and offering cases of cards to shareholders as bonuses.

This was the start of the era when baseball cards became an investment product instead of a hobby. People bought packs to chase rare chase cards the same way people buy scratch tickets - and much the same way many collectors do now.

**gps29070** · 02-19-2013, 02:08 PM

Ah, the good ole early 90s, when many dealers would open packs of cards, take out the Ben McDonald's and such, and then reseal the pack. The dealer who rented space from us even could do this on the so-called protective Upper Deck packs. We used to see him do it all the time.

**pwaldo** · 02-19-2013, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by BSEBALLCOMMISH75

Greetings:
I be more interested in that side article in the corner 'I Had 2 $450,000 Cards and My Mom Threw Them Out' talk about OUCH!!!!!! I am just curious what 2 cards were they and ya kinda wonder what they are worth now.

It had to be the Honus Wagner card. I can't imagine anything else in 1991 being valued that high or worthy enough to have an article about it other than that.