80's Cubs Cards: 1992 Topps Year of Sammy Sosa

Monday, December 12, 2022

1992 Topps Year of Sammy Sosa

The 1992 Cubs Vintage Cubs Cards Collection, which included a ton of amazing sets, was a blog that I started back in July 2009 but never finished. So with that said, the 1992 Topps set is an important part of baseball collection history. This year has seen many firsts, which I will list below. Remember that Sammy Sosa, maybe the best Cubs slugger ever, began his legendary run this year.

Number of Cards

With 792 cards, Topps 1992 features 29 Cubs players and 7 players who were traded.

Size of Cards

The size of the cards are approximately 2 3/8" by 3 1/2."

Basic Features

The 792-card Topps collection was published in February 1992. This would be the last single-series Topps set to be made available, and it would also be the first to be printed on white cardstock. For the first time, Topps was packaged without bubble gum, and the packets were not wax paper-wrapped.

The set also included Gold and Gold Winner, the company's first pack-inserted parallels. Additionally, Topps released a Gold Edition factory set that includes a signature from Brien Taylor as well as a complete set of parallels.

The first real parallel series, 1992 Topps Gold. The player's name and team are imprinted in gold foil on the front of each card.

A "Match-the-Stats" game card was included in every pack of 1992 Topps Baseball cards. Collectors could get a pack of ten Topps Gold cards for every 100 "runs" they rescued in the game (plus $2 for postage and handling). The cards are significantly more plentiful than the standard Gold parallels since the Gold Winner promotion was incredibly well-liked.

Card fronts have a white border. A small frame overlaps either posed or action player photos. The player's name and team in separate boxes at the bottom of the card. It was also the first year to feature color photos on the card reverse (of the player's home stadium) as well as a full color backside overall.

Subsets including Draft Picks, Managers, All-Stars, Record Breakers, and Prospects, which have four players on each card.

Chicago Cubs 1992 Topps Checklist

Number	Player
67	Luis Salazar
81	Ced Landrum
98	Mike Harkey
110	Ryne Sandberg
140	Mark Grace
168	Dwight Smith
181	Hector Villanueva
196	Frank Castillo
213	Les Lancaster
229	Shawn Boskie
274	Bob Scanlan
320	George Bell
348	Rick Wilkins
370	Shawon Dunston
387	Ryne Sandberg AS
439	Chico Walker
460	Andre Dawson
509	Doug Dascenzo
529	Joe Girardi
543	Jerome Walton
551	Alex Aries Top Prospects
561	Jose Vizcaino
576	Heathcliff Slocumb
580	Greg Maddux
601	Dave Smith
619	Danny Jackson
696	Turk Wendell Top Prospects
727	Chuck McElroy
753	Paul Assenmacher

Traded Set

The Traded set totals 132 cards and was issued as a factory set. The cards are identical in appearance to the base set except for the T suffix in the numbering. This set featured traded players and managers, rookie cards, and Team United States cards. Size: 2.5 × 3.5 in.