1984 Topps Cereal Baseball Checklist and Details
Not a lot of kids today can relate to the joy that came with cereal box prizes. There was a lot of excitement in ripping open a fresh box and sending a hand (probably fortified with extra minerals parents called germs) straight to the bottom in search of buried treasure. That treasure varied from stickers to submarines. If you were lucky, there’d be a month or two of baseball cards. Such is the case with 1984 Topps Cereal Baseball, a set loaded with stars from the day and the haircuts to match.
1984 Topps Cereal Checklist Overview
The set consists of 33 cards — 34 with the unnumbered checklist. While there’s varying levels of star power in retrospect, more than half of the players now have plaques hanging in Cooperstown.
Readily available, none of the cards net major prices. That said, the most valuable cards include ’80s legends Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Rickey Henderson and Ozzie Smith.
Distributed in select Ralston Purina cereal boxes, this set is separate from the nearly identical set released the same year that has the company name. Cards came in four-card packs that consisted of a mix of three players plus one checklist.
A mail-away offer was also available for collectors to get specific cards. The back of the checklist gave the details. In short, if you sent $1.50 and a self-addressed stamped envelope, you could choose 12 cards — “no more, no less” as the offer states.
Cereal Series vs. Ralston-Purina
Ralston-Purina’s two 1984 baseball card sets are virtually identical. Their checklists are the same. They’re so close, there’s a chance you might get them mixed up. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple of quick and easy ways to tell them apart. There are.
On the front, the key is in the top. Cereal Series says exactly that and has the Topps logo in the corner. 1984 Ralston Purina cards have the company name on top and and the checker logo in the corner.
The backs use the same general text and font but the backgrounds and embellishments are quite different. Like the fronts, the easiest way to tell them apart is the top banner where the set name is located.
Check 1984 Topps Cereal Baseball values in the Beckett price guide.
1984 Topps Cereal Baseball Checklist
34 cards.
Buy on:
1 Eddie Murray, Baltimore Orioles
2 Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals
3 Ted Simmons, Milwaukee Brewers
4 Pete Rose, Philadelphia Phillies
5 Greg Luzinski, Chicago White Sox
6 Andre Dawson, Montreal Expos
7 Dave Winfield, New York Yankees
8 Tom Seaver, New York Mets
9 Jim Rice, Boston Red Sox
10 Fernando Valenzuela, Los Angeles Dodgers
11 Wade Boggs, Boston Red Sox
12 Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves
13 George Brett, Kansas City Royals
14 Nolan Ryan, Houston Astros
15 Rickey Henderson, Oakland Athletics
16 Steve Carlton, Philadelphia Phillies
17 Rod Carew, California Angels
18 Steve Garvey, San Diego Padres
19 Reggie Jackson, California Angels
20 Dave Concepcion, Cincinnati Reds
21 Robin Yount, Milwaukee Brewers
22 Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies
23 Jim Palmer, Baltimore Orioles
24 Bruce Sutter, St. Louis Cardinals
25 Dan Quisenberry, Kansas City Royals
26 Bill Madlock, Pittsburgh Pirates
27 Cecil Cooper, Milwaukee Brewers
28 Gary Carter, Montreal Expos
29 Fred Lynn, California Angels
30 Pedro Guerrero, Los Angeles Dodgers
31 Ron Guidry, New York Yankees
32 Keith Hernandez, New York Mets
33 Carlton Fisk, Chicago White Sox
Checklist
I’m pretty sure I own this set in a team bag along with the 1984 Topps Nestle “Dream Team”.
Love some oddball baseball card lore. Thanks!
My first 3 cards were from the Cereal Series set. Got Ron Guidry, Dave Concepcion and Dave Winfield. Lost the Winfield at some point, but I still have the Guidry and Concepcion cards, much worse for wear.