The designs for Topps's three main sports issues in 1989 don't really have a unifying theme, other than "simple".
The icy effects on the hockey cards are a nice distinguishing feature. The football design has a little bit of stripes. The Topps design is very minimalist, somewhat similar to the '78 design.
While these were the only Topps sports cards issued in the US in 1989, there was a small soccer set produced in the UK. Another minimalist design, though it does accentuate the photograph well.
As was the case throughout the '80s, Topps was all over the big pop-culture highlights of the year. As a 12-year-old in '89 I remember all of these well, even though I didn't collect the cards, other than baseball and football.
The Batman movie was the biggest event of the year, and Topps put out a set that looked very similar to their movie sets of earlier years; very simple design accentuated only by the movie logo.
The Ghostbusters II set had another staple of previous Topps movie and TV sets, jagged lines.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set was a little more interesting, with it's "ooze" background.
Another sequel set was Back to the Future II. Not much going on here, though the border is nice and colorful. This card, like the three sports cards up top, is available for trade.
New Kids on the Block was one of a long line of Topps sets devoted to teeny-bopper music. It does look like this is the most complex Topps design of the year.
Finally, there was a Nintendo sticker set. Not much to do design-wise here other than the yellow background.
I remember thinking the baseball design was pretty boring back then. It's grown on me a little bit over the years, but I still think it's a bit too plain. The Turtles set design is my favorite of the bunch. I also like the Nintendo stickers, but that's more for the video game tips on the back than the design on the front.
ReplyDeleteI was not impressed by the 1989 Topps design back in 1989. It was just OK and is still just OK. That's why when the 1990 design appeared, I was very happy that Topps did not put out another bland design.
ReplyDeleteNot a standout year for Topps. The hockey design is my favorite... followed by the TMNT. The rest range from too plain to okay for me.
ReplyDeleteI still have one of those TMNT cards! I found it in the crawl space of my old house. Also found way too many sheets of 1989 Topps baseball. I must have been working on a set build as a kid. As an adult, that's probably my least favorite flagship set ever, at least during my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThat was another great year for non-sport designs... one of my personal favorites in fact!
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