Buzz Break: 1988 Topps football cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The pack: 1988 Topps football cards
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for what was in this one.

Cards per pack: 16
Base set completion: 
15 of 396 (3 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Charles Haley, Kellen Winslow, Bobby Hebert, Tim Harris ... most not all that notable now.

Rookie Cards (3) – Mark Jackson, Jesse Solomon, Major Everett

Insert cards: 1
1,000-yard Club (1) – J.T. Smith

Autographs/Memorabilia: Nothing in this release.

What's Buzz-worthy: This is arguably the last of the best Topps flagship NFL designs ever -- clean, classy, timeless and more modern than many from the company in all the years leading up to it and even more than some from the years after. It's, in my mind, a strong finale of the Topps era of the past as Pro Set and Score arrived the year after this to truly show how Topps was behind the times back then. Atop that, the 1989 Topps set was, well, a big downgrade in a multitude of ways from this one. This set is one of the better releases of the 1980s and it's largely due to one card -- the NFL Rookie Card of Bo Jackson. Sure, you'll find other RCs -- Tom Rathman, Pat Swilling, Brian Bosworth, Chris Doleman, Cornelius Bennett, Vinny Testaverde and Christian Okoye among others -- but none have the lasting star power of Vincent Edward Jackson. This wax isn't super-flashy -- and it's definitely not as good as the two years before it overall -- but it's becoming harder to find. After this release, the presses rolled pretty hard for a few years after the NFL card world evolved in 1989. This particular pack was rough with arguably the best card -- and it's nothing special -- on the back of the pack so it got a minor wax stain but not as bad as many like it. One reason why I think this design is a strong one? It's not been reproduced to death in years since -- but it really should have been. The Super Rookie subset adds just one little element to the design and it's a classic ... and even a #TBT-style set for baseball rookies using this one last year was a really good look. (Topps swapped the helmets for MLB teams logos ... still worked.) This pack was perhaps below-average, but I was nice today ... but packs like this will happen with a bigger set and not that many cards. Next time I dabble here or elsewhere I'll probably pick off a pair to increase my odds of finding more star power, though this wasn't a great at $5 a pack, either. Singles might be the simplest way to go with this one -- pick off who you like.

Product Grade: B+
Lot Grade: C- (probably a B-level back in the day with a couple of names here)
Fun Grade: C-

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