The other day, when I said there were two kinds of hobby articles I’ll always share (52 Topps and Card Backs), I was kidding; there are three; you can add 1991 Topps Desert Shield to the list. This one’s from the July ’96 issue of Sports Cards Magazine.
O’Connell uncovered some nice info, for example, that 5.4 million cards were printed, or enough for about 6,800 sets (confirmed by this letter). Also, Topps donated the cards with no strings attached. Next, they were immediately pricey, commanding $1,500 a box (and $4,500-$6,000/set) at the 1991 NSCC Show; that growth continued, but by the time O’Connell published this article in 1996, prices had settled around $2,000/set.
That’s not bad since, in the spring of 2024, REA sold a high-grade complete set with 24 graded cards for $12,600.
Happy Collecting!
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