Another Brick in the Wall, part 3: Downsized

1995 scarred the game of baseball as much as 1994 did.  A shortened 144 game schedule that started nearly a month late did nothing to turn the fans disgust with the game.  Topps must have read the tea leaves because much like MLB did with its season, Topps also downsized the size of its set.  For the first time since 1982 Topps did not produce a 792 card set.  During this "Downsized" era, smaller sets became the norm for the rest of the decade.  

I was pretty much done buying packs during this time, but would pick up a retail set whenever I chanced upon one.  Unlike the recent pandemic, where cards were scarce, in the 90's I could wait an entire year and watch the set age on the shelf.  It wasn't uncommon to find a set from the prior year marked down in a big box store.  

This era of retail sets brought a number of changes.  Each year's design was unique and Topps started using legends of the game to promote its product.

1995

Topps brought back bright yellow again, screaming for people to buy its sets.  Topps also added 3 more players - for a total of 9 - on the box.  This is the last year Topps put current cards on the package.  No gold card promotion this year, but there are special commemorative opening day cards as well as Cyberstat cards.

Who's on the box:

Top: Sandy Alomar, Deion Sanders, Pat Kelly

Front: Cal Ripken, Cliff Floyd, Mike Piazza

Back: Bobby Bonilla, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Bournigal 

From a promotional point of view, it's about time Cal Ripken appeared on a box.

1996

This year's box promotes Mickey Mantle, who had passed away in 1995 and which also marked Kirby Puckett's forced retirement.  Still, it is nice to see both Puckett and Gwynn paired up on the package.  Also at 440 cards it is worth noting Topps hadn't produced a set this small since 1958's 497 cards.

Who's on the box:

Mickey Mantle, Kirby Puckett, Tony Gwynn

This is best trio yet for promoting a set of cards.  This set also gave buyers an incentive with a hermetically sealed Mantle card plus a few chase cards.

1997

Topps departure from displaying current cards on the box had run its course.  They once again leaned on old legends to promote their product.  The parallel between Giants Superstars Barry Bonds and Willie Mays was not lost on Topps, with both players prominently featured.  Topps also added a reprint incentive for collectors to pick up this small 495 card retail set.

Who's on the box:

Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle

Very strong star power there.  Topps needed it as fans were still unhappy with the players strike.

1998

The new millennia was coming up and fans were still debating on returning to baseball.  Topps continued to be rather conservative with their sets, but this set did manage to top 500 cards (502).

This box promised more select insert cards and a hermetically sealed Clemente card.  Unfortunately my set was opened when I bought it and the Clemente card is missing.

Who's on the box:

Roberto Clemente and Juan Gonzalez

Clemente makes his first appearance on a box and Gonazlez was MVP in 1996, so it makes sense Topps chose him.

1999

This small 462 card set shockingly did not contain a wealth of chase cards.  There are a couple of HR Record and HR Parade subset cards and that's it.  Topps must have been cost-cutting because this is also the first retail set that featured the full checklist on the back of the box.

Who's on the box:

Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens

Two of the biggest names in baseball, hard to argue against this.  For the first time, Topps featured two pitchers on the box.  Nolan Ryan was ready for the Hall of Fame and Roger Clemens was coming off another Cy Young Award winning season.

2000

Yet another small 478 card set.  Again, Topps didn't feel the need to push incentives with gold cards, sweepstakes or hermetically sealed cards.  The bland design of this box relies on the appeal of the players featured.  For a second year, Topps also included the checklist on the box.

Who's on the box:

Hank Aaron and Mark McGwire

The first appearance for these two sluggers.  I'm not sure McGwire would hold as much appeal nowadays.

 

Conclusion

It should be of no surprise the decision to downsize the size of sets also corresponds with the players strike and its aftermath.  During these years fan apathy also led to a downturn of collectors.  You can almost feel the apprehension Topps must have felt these years, first by cutting production and offering incentives, then dropping those incentives and waiting (hopefully) for the market to rebound.  

For those of us that stayed in the game, bargains could be had.  However mom and pop hobby stores were closing everywhere and ebay was relatively new.  Despite this, fans became reinvigorated in the late 90's thanks to Sosa and McGwire.  A new era of optimism was approaching.