The 1985 Topps football set is relatively inexpensive when compared to the other Topps football card sets from the 1980's that are considered the most valuable. The one unique thing about it when compared to those is that the cards have a black bordering, making gem mint cards from this set more difficult to obtain. Having a gem mint graded card from this set from PSA or BGS (SGC and GAI are close behind as great grading card companies) can bring some serious cash for any major star or rookie in the set. These cards are still available as unopened wax boxes, rack boxes and cases (tougher to find), complete sets, factory sets and vending boxes. For a link to ebay to search them, please see our post on this forum about ebay.
Here are some of the highlights of the set. I am looking at a Beckett Plus Price guide from late 2006 so please do not quote me on the current book prices. I also have opened a few wax boxes of these cards and am close to having a complete set, I am only missing some commons. When the forum gets more crowded, I will post my want list for those cards. This set includes second year cards of the big name rookies from 1984 including John Elway, Dan Marino and Eric Dickerson, among others. The rookies are headlined by Warren Moon, Richard Dent, Mike Munchak (a recent hall of fame inductee) and Irving Fryar. There is also a nice league leader card with Dan Marino and Joe Montana both on the card, and it books for as much as any other star card in the set for the most part. There is also an additional $6 booking Dan Marino record breaker card. In summary, this set has many high booking cards. Here are some examples: Warren Moon rookie card bv (book value) is $15, Joe Montana bv $10, Dan Marino bv $12, Marino/Montana LL (League Leader) bv $10 and so many more. Irving Fryar also has a great rookie card in here too.
I recommend this set for its collectibility, its star cards, its quality rookie cards (don't let book value mislead you on some of the rookies as even though a Munchak may book $1.50 and a Richard Dent rookie may book $4, these cards consistently sell well individually on ebay) and its condition sensitive nature. Out of the sets from the 1980's, it is still affordable and every collector should have a set or at least some of the cards in their collection. I am attempting to finish my set on it as an ongoing project.
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