The Story Behind George H.W. Bush's 1990 Topps Baseball Card
Former President George H.W. Bush is remembered for a lot of things.
One way he has been immortalized is with a Topps baseball card. It remains one of the most unusual cards ever produced.
The former president, in fact, played first base when he was a student at Yale University. While he served only one term as president, as a baseball player starting in 1946 Bush played for three years and batted .224.
In 1990, Topps Chairman Arthur Shorin decided to make a special edition card -- #USA1 -- and presented Bush with 100 copies of them in an Oval Office meeting. The president gave the cards to his friends, family and White Hosue staffers.
In 2013, former Bush Chief of Staff John Sununu, an avid sports card collector, submitted 11 of the special Topps cards to PSA for grading.
"After the presentation of the special issue cards in the Oval Office, the president distributed a number of them to family, close friends and several members of our White House staff," he told Sports Collectors Digest. "Since I was sure that few, if any, of us would ever part with such a personal memento, I was surprised to see so many cards beginning to show up in auctions in recent years, although Topps' original intent was to distribute only the 100, which were given to the president."
In fact, thanks to some help from PSA and Topps, it was discovered that additional Bush cards had been printed beyond the special White House issue.
The biggest difference between the two issues? The cards given to Bush by Topps have a thick, clear coating on the front, while others do not. On its website, PSA noted that the card "remains one of the most valuable post-1980 trading cards, mainly due to its scarcity."
PSA added that the cards were "all delivered in a three-ring binder to President Bush at the White House. While 100 of these cards were gifted to President Bush, it turns out that other examples of this card have escaped Topps over the years. In addition, after further research, it turns out there are two different versions of this card. ... Most of the examples that have reached the hobby, including those graded by all major third party grading services, were made without the coating and look exactly like most regular-issue 1990 Topps cards."
Nonetheless, the Bush cards remain popular decades later due to their rarity and subject.
In all, PSA said that 129 Bush cards have been graded -- two of them featuring his autograph -- and that none of them received a 10. Only 14 graded versions are what PSA labels the glossy "White House Issue."
The cards do come up at auction every few years and can fetch thousands. In 2021, one sold through PWCC for $6,100. Reprints of the card can be had for $10.
Clemente Lisi is a writer and editor with nearly three decades of experience. You can follow him at x.com/ClementeLisi.