Obviously any Big Mac collection has to start with a rookie card and right out of the gate we have some controversy. The 1985 Topps issue #401 is often argued as not fitting the description of a true rookie as it depicts Mac in his Team USA uniform. Skip 1986 (Minor League issues) and you get to the 1987 Topps #366, his first card in a A's uniform. Parallels existed even in the 80's with Tiffany (glossy coated) issues available of both the 85 and 87 cards. Interestingly, McGwires highest value card is a misspelled (McGuire) minor league team set issue from 1985. His Modesto A's ERR is currently booking at around $800. A few oddball issues worth pursuing from the early days are his 1990 USC Smokey the Bear and the 86' Huntsville Stars minor league cards. Mark was featured in a ton of the infamous "Broder" issues of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Unlicensed and literally blacklisted from the hobby, these issues are rumored to have considerably low print runs and have a place on the serious collector's checklist. I'm not even sure if my checklist is complete in regards to these hobby bad boys as there always seems to be a new one popping up that I've never seen or heard of before. If your going to concentrate on standard card issues only, you will miss out on alot of McGwire items that were produced regionally, issued by or inside food products, and novelty and test items produced by the various card companys. Stickers, coins, magnets, postcards and more were produced by Topps, Mother's Cookies, Kelloggs and many others. Two Topps issues I am still hunting for are the extremely rare 1988 Topps Cloth (#71) and the 1989 Topps Heads Up test issue (#14). Consider yourself lucky if these are already in your collection. A few McGwire "specials" that collector's should be aware of are the 1987 Leaf Rated Rookie Canadian version (#46), a postage stamp issued in Grenada (#77), the CMC Marketing Groups Jose Canseco Collector's Kit has Mark featured on card #12, Pepsi-Cola released a 12 card set in Northern California that is becoming hard to find, and the 1989 Upper Deck Kirby Puckett card (#376) shows Mark holding Puckett on at first base! Good Luck with your McGwire collection and don't give up on those tougher issues, a little patience is often rewarded.