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Most cards released in the Junk Wax Era of baseball cards have since seen a massive drop in their value. This was due to the extreme overproduction and distribution of cards at the time.
Buy 1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Cards Now
However, within that era, some lesser-produced sets have the scarcity to make the cards in them valuable. Sets like O-Pee-Chee and Tiffany see the value of rookies sell for much higher than their base counterparts.
1987 will likely be remembered as a year where Madonna dominated the top music charts it should also be remembered for the emergence of young stars such as Barry Bonds, Will Clark, and Berry Larkin.
1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball: The Basics
The set of 1987 O-Pee-Chee baseball features a large checklist of 396 cards compared to the much more massive 792-card checklist of the base Topps set. Meaning O-Pee-Chee features a much higher concentration of the star veterans and rookies of the day.
This set features the highly desired Barry Bonds rookie card. Each box contains a total of 252 cards divided between 36 packs of seven cards each.
While this set wasn’t produced as much as the base Topps product it was still produced enough for boxes of these cards to be still picked up pretty quickly. Prices for these boxes can vary widely, so check the box’s recent sales to ensure you’re paying a fair price. Also, remember this is an old set so when buying be cautious of wear on packs and boxes.
Best 1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Cards
Here are the top cards/investments from the 1987 O-Pee-Chee baseball card set. The Barry Bonds rookie card is the real standout here and one that we would absolutely recommend investing in for the long term.
#1. Barry Bonds RC #32
#2. Roger Clemens RC #98
#3. Will Clark RC #361
Best of the Rest
- Cal Ripken JR #312
- Nolan Ryan #100
- Mike Schmidt #200
- George Brett #300
- Ozzie Smith #107
- Don Mattingly #229
- Tony Gwynn #198
1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Design
The O-Pee-Chee label is placed on the bottom in black lettering with the team logo in the top corner. The player’s name is also written in black within a yellow box at the bottom of the card.
The card also features a color image of the player with perhaps the most memorable aspect of the card, the faux wooden border. Perhaps one of the reasons this is one of Bond’s most desirable cards is due to the yellow and black theme of the card that color matches the Pirate’s team so well. This card design is still iconic, stands out among the often bland-looking Junk Wax Era cards, and can be easily recognized.
This design is good enough to have warranted multiple different kinds of reprints in a few modern sets of Topps baseball cards.
1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Box Buyer’s Guide
Overview:
What to expect in a box:
252 Cards, 36 packs, seven cards per pack
Investment Outlook
While typically, the advice for Junk Wax Era cards would be to stay as far away as possible, unless it’s Griffey Jr, in terms of investments, these lesser-produced sets provide an opportunity to grab some of the game’s greatest player’s cards.
Barry Bonds is the big fish in the 1987 set, and it’s not even close. High-grade Barry Bonds rookies from both the O-Pee-Chee and Tiffany sets can oftentimes fetch high price points for cards of this era. If you are looking for one card from this set, Bonds is the one.
Barry Bonds will provide the most significant ROI for the future as his low-production rookies become rarer over time. Many people have fond memories of growing up watching Bond’s smash record after record and his absolute domination of the game of baseball during his prime.
Overall, it would be better to stick with investing in an individual player from this set than holding the box itself. These boxes are not made of high-quality material and are hard to uphold the condition. In addition to this, there are not many star rookies in this O-Pee-Chee, mainly set-star veterans, so having the box itself won’t net as large of a return as just an individual player would.
This set outside of the Bonds is a dud in terms of its rookies. Cards in this set are also notorious for being centered, so it will be hard to pull a high-grade card from a box.
Down the line, this set will be remembered only as the set with the Barry Bonds rookie in it and not much else. This set won’t prove to have the most significant returns down the line just because of the weaker checklist.
It is still a fun product if you’re itching for something to rip. However, there are cheaper options for that and you will probably get a better return for opening something else.
1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Box Rating
BUY O-PEE-CHEE BASEBALL CARD BOX NOW
Investment Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (Weak)
Bottom Line: Let’s be real; the only reason this 1987 set is relevant is because of the Bonds rookie.
If it weren’t for Bonds, this set would be another dud of the Junk Wax Era. Editors Note: Watch the Roger Clemens O-Pee-Chee RC as we feel Roger is super undervalued based on his numbers (even with the steroids accusation).
This set checks neither of the two essential boxes when evaluating a product, is it a good investment, and is it worth ripping. There are way better places to put your money that will provide greater ROI over time and there are way more fun products to rip that will yield better pulls.
1987 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Checklist
396 Card checklist. 252 per box. 36 packs. Seven cards per pack
1 Ken Oberkfell
2 Jack Howell
3 Hubie Brooks
4 Bob Grich
5 Rick Leach
6 Phil Niekro
7 Rickey Henderson
8 Terry Pendleton
9 Jay Tibbs
10 Cecil Cooper
11 Mario Soto
12 George Bell
13 Nick Esasky
14 Larry McWilliams
15 Dan Quisenberry
16 Ed Lynch
17 Pete O’Brien
18 Luis Aguayo
19 Matt Young
20 Gary Carter
21 Tom Paciorek
22 Doug DeCinces
23 Lee Smith
24 Jesse Barfield
25 Bert Blyleven
26 Greg Brock
27 Dan Petry
28 Rick Dempsey
29 Jimmy Key
30 Tim Raines
31 Bruce Hurst
32 Manny Trillo
33 Andy Van Slyke
34 Ed Vande Berg
35 Sid Bream
36 Dave Winfield
37 Scott Garrelts
38 Dennis Leonard
39 Marty Barrett
40 Dave Righetti
41 Bo Diaz
42 Gary Redus
43 Tom Niedenfuer
44 Greg Harris
45 Jim Presley
46 Danny Gladden
47 Roy Smalley
48 Wally Backman
49 Tom Seaver
50 Dave Smith
51 Mel Hall
52 Tim Flannery
53 Julio Cruz
54 Dick Schofield
55 Tim Wallach
56 Glenn Davis
57 Darren Daulton
58 Chico Walker
59 Garth Iorg
60 Tony Pena
61 Ron Hassey
62 Dave Dravecky
63 Jorge Orta
64 Al Nipper
65 Tom Browning
66 Marc Sullivan
67 Todd Worrell
68 Glenn Hubbard
69 Carney Lansford
70 Charlie Hough
71 Lance McCullers
72 Walt Terrell
73 Bob Kearney
74 Dan Pasqua
75 Ron Darling
76 Robin Yount
77 Pat Tabler
78 Tom Foley
79 Juan Nieves
80 Wally Joyner RC
81 Wayne Krenchicki
82 Kirby Puckett
83 Bob Ojeda
84 Mookie Wilson
85 Kevin Bass
86 Kent Tekulve
87 Mark Salas
88 Brian Downing
89 Ozzie Guillen
90 Dave Stieb
91 Rance Mulliniks
92 Mike Witt
93 Charlie Moore
94 Jose Uribe
95 Oddibe McDowell
96 Ray Soff
97 Glenn Wilson
98 Brook Jacoby
99 Darryl Motley
100 Steve Garvey
101 Frank White
102 Mike Moore
103 Rick Aguilera
104 Buddy Bell
105 Floyd Youmans
106 Lou Whitaker
107 Ozzie Smith
108 Jim Gantner
109 R.J. Reynolds
110 John Tudor
111 Alfredo Griffin
112 Mike Flanagan
113 Neil Allen
114 Ken Griffey, Sr.
115 Donnie Moore
116 Bob Horner
117 Ron Shepherd
118 Cliff Johnson
119 Vince Coleman
120 Eddie Murray
121 Dwayne Murphy
122 Jim Clancy
123 Ken Landreaux
124 Tom Nieto
125 Bob Brenly
126 George Brett
127 Vance Law
128 Checklist 1-132
129 Bob Knepper
130 Dwight Gooden
131 Juan Bonilla
132 Tim Burke
133 Bob McClure
134 Scott Bailes
135 Mike Easler
136 Ron Romanick
137 Rich Gedman
138 Bob Dernier
139 John Denny
140 Bret Saberhagen
141 Herm Winningham
142 Rick Sutcliffe
143 Ryne Sandberg
144 Mike Scioscia
145 Charlie Kerfeld
146 Jim Rice
147 Steve Trout
148 Jesse Orosco
149 Mike Boddicker
150 Wade Boggs
151 Dane Iorg
152 Rick Burleson
153 Duane Ward
154 Rick Reuschel
155 Nolan Ryan
156 Bill Caudill
157 Danny Darwin
158 Ed Romero
159 Bill Almon
160 Julio Franco
161 Kent Hrbek
162 Chili Davis
163 Kevin Gross
164 Carlton Fisk
165 Jeff Reardon
166 Bob Boone
167 Rick Honeycutt
168 Dan Schatzeder
169 Jim Wohlford
170 Phil Bradley
171 Ken Schrom
172 Ron Oester
173 Juan Beniquez
174 Tony Armas
175 Bob Stanley
176 Steve Buechele
177 Keith Moreland
178 Cecil Fielder
179 Gary Gaetti
180 Chris Brown
181 Tom Herr
182 Lee Lacy
183 Ozzie Virgil
184 Paul Molitor
185 Roger McDowell
186 Mike Marshall
187 Ken Howell
188 Rob Deer
189 Joe Hesketh
190 Jim Sundberg
191 Kelly Gruber
192 Cory Snyder
193 Dave Concepcion
194 Kirk McCaskill
195 Mike Pagliarulo
196 Rick Manning
197 Brett Butler
198 Tony Gwynn
199 Mariano Duncan
200 Pete Rose
201 John Cangelosi
202 Danny Cox
203 Butch Wynegar
204 Chris Chambliss
205 Graig Nettles
206 Chet Lemon
207 Don Aase
208 Mike Mason
209 Alan Trammell
210 Lloyd Moseby
211 Rich Dotson
212 Mike Fitzgerald
213 Darrell Porter
214 Checklist 265-396
215 Mark Langston
216 Steve Farr
217 Dann Bilardello
218 Gary Ward
219 Cecilio Guante
220 Joe Carter
221 Ernie Whitt
222 Denny Walling
223 Charlie Leibrandt
224 Wayne Tolleson
225 Mike Smithson
226 Zane Smith
227 Terry Puhl
228 Eric Davis
229 Don Mattingly
230 Don Baylor
231 Frank Tanana
232 Tom Brookens
233 Steve Bedrosian
234 Wallace Johnson
235 Alvin Davis
236 Tommy John
237 Jim Morrison
238 Ricky Horton
239 Shane Rawley
240 Steve Balboni
241 Mike Krukow
242 Rick Mahler
243 Bill Doran
244 Mark Clear
245 Willie Upshaw
246 Hal McRae
247 Jose Canseco
248 George Hendrick
249 Doyle Alexander
250 Teddy Higuera
251 Tom Hume
252 Denny Martinez
253 Eddie Milner
254 Steve Sax
255 Juan Samuel
256 Dave Bergman
257 Bob Forsch
258 Steve Yeager
259 Don Sutton
260 Vida Blue
261 Tom Brunansky
262 Joe Sambito
263 Mitch Webster
264 Checklist 133-264
265 Darrell Evans
266 Dave Kingman
267 Howard Johnson
268 Greg Pryor
269 Tippy Martinez
270 Jody Davis
271 Steve Carlton
272 Andres Galarraga
273 Fernando Valenzuela
274 Jeff Hearron
275 Ray Knight
276 Bill Madlock
277 Tom Henke
278 Gary Pettis
279 Jimy Williams CL
280 Jeffrey Leonard
281 Bryn Smith
282 John Cerutti
283 Gary Roenicke
284 Joaquin Andujar
285 Dennis Boyd
286 Tim Hulett
287 Craig Lefferts
288 Terry Landrum
289 Manny Lee
290 Leon Durham
291 Johnny Ray
292 Franklin Stubbs
293 Bob Rodgers CL
294 Terry Francona
295 Lenny Dykstra
296 Tom Candiotti
297 Frank DiPino
298 Craig Reynolds
299 Jerry Hairston
300 Reggie Jackson
301 Luis Aquino
302 Greg Walker
303 Terry Kennedy
304 Phil Garner
305 John Franco
306 Bill Buckner
307 Kevin Mitchell RC (“Now with Padres”)
308 Don Slaught
309 Harold Baines
310 Frank Viola
311 Davey Lopes
312 Cal Ripken, Jr.
313 John Candelaria
314 Bob Sebra
315 Bud Black
316 Brian Fisher
317 Clint Hurdle
318 Earnest Riles
319 Dave LaPoint
320 Barry Bonds RC
321 Tim Stoddard
322 Ron Cey
323 Al Newman
324 Jerry Royster
325 Garry Templeton
326 Mark Gubicza
327 Andre Thornton
328 Bob Welch
329 Tony Fernandez
330 Mike Scott
331 Jack Clark
332 Danny Tartabull
333 Greg Minton
334 Ed Correa
335 Candy Maldonado
336 Dennis Lamp
337 Sid Fernandez
338 Greg Gross
339 Willie Hernandez
340 Roger Clemens
341 Mickey Hatcher
342 Bob James
343 Jose Cruz
344 Bruce Sutter
345 Andre Dawson
346 Shawon Dunston
347 Scott McGregor
348 Carmelo Martinez
349 Storm Davis
350 Keith Hernandez
351 Andy McGaffigan
352 Dave Parker
353 Ernie Camacho
354 Eric Show
355 Don Carman
356 Floyd Bannister
357 Willie McGee
358 Charlie Haag
359 Dale Murphy
360 Pedro Guerrero
361 Will Clark RC
362 Bill Campbell
363 Alejandro Pena
364 Dennis Rasmussen
365 Rick Rhoden
366 Randy St. Claire
367 Willie Wilson
368 Dwight Evans
369 Moose Haas
370 Fred Lynn
371 Mark Eichhorn
372 Dave Schmidt
373 Jerry Reuss
374 Lance Parrish
375 Ron Guidry
376 Jack Morris
377 Willie Randolph
378 Joel Youngblood
379 Darryl Strawberry
380 Rich Gossage
381 Dennis Eckersley
382 Gary Lucas
383 Ron Davis
384 Pete Incaviglia RC
385 Orel Hershiser
386 Kirk Gibson
387 Don Robinson
388 Darnell Coles
389 Von Hayes
390 Gary Matthews
391 Jay Howell
392 Tim Laudner
393 Rod Scurry
394 Tony Bernazard
395 Damaso Garcia
396 Mike Schmidt