Iconic Rookies: 1981 Topps Indiana Jones #2 – Freelance Adventurer

When people hear “rookie card,” they think Jordan, Gretzky, Trout, Wemby.

But if you spend any time in the pop-culture trenches, you know that some of the real rookie cards belong to characters, not athletes. The first time a truly iconic character shows up on cardboard – in a proper, licensed set – that’s a rookie in my book.

So to kick off an ongoing series on Iconic Rookies in Non-Sports, we’re starting with a whip, a fedora, and a fear of snakes:

1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark #2 – Indiana Jones (Freelance Adventurer).

Why #2 Is Indy’s “Rookie Card”

Topps released Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards in 1981 to tie in with the film. It’s an 88-card set that walks through the movie scene by scene, with character cards up front followed by story cards.

Card #1 is the title card.

Card #2 is just: “Indiana Jones – Freelance Adventurer.” That’s the first dedicated cardboard appearance of Indy himself in the set, and effectively his introduction as a character for kids ripping packs in 1981.

There were earlier Harrison Ford appearances – most notably Star Wars sets in the late ’70s – but those are Han Solo cards, not Indiana Jones. If you’re defining rookies by first appearance of the character, not the actor, then #2 is Indy’s true rookie.

Is this splitting hairs? Absolutely. But this is a hobby where people argue endlessly about which 1986 Fleer is the “real” Jordan rookie. We’re allowed to get nerdy.

A Quick Look at the 1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark Set

Some context on the set this card lives in:

• Manufacturer: Topps
• Year: 1981
• Set Size: 88 base cards
• Theme: Still-frames and character shots from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Design notes:

• Bright green borders that jump out from a binder page
• Story cards framed by a cartoony snake border – on-brand for Indy’s biggest phobia
• Yellow ribbon at the bottom with a caption, logo on the back, and plenty of text walking you through the film

In Canada, O-Pee-Chee did a bilingual English/French release of the same basic design, which gives us a nice parallel/variant rabbit hole for the hardcore character-rookie people.

PSA Pop Report Links

If you want to dig into how many copies have been graded and in what condition, here are direct PSA links you can use:

• 1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark – Indiana Jones #2
  Card-level PSA page (Population + Auction Prices):
  PSA Pop / Auction – 1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark #2 Indiana Jones
• 1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark – full set pop
  PSA Pop Report – 1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark (Set)
• 1981 O-Pee-Chee Raiders of the Lost Ark – Indiana Jones #2 (bilingual variant)
  Card-level PSA page (Population + Auction Prices):
  PSA Pop / Auction – 1981 O-Pee-Chee Raiders of the Lost Ark #2 Indiana Jones
• 1981 O-Pee-Chee Raiders of the Lost Ark – full set pop
  PSA Pop Report – 1981 O-Pee-Chee Raiders of the Lost Ark (Set)
• 1981 Scanlens Raiders of the Lost Ark (Australian release) – set pop
  PSA Pop Report – 1981 Scanlens Raiders of the Lost Ark (Set)

What’s Actually On Card #2?

Card #2 gives you a straight-on, no-nonsense shot of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Fedora, leather jacket, stubble – the whole “Freelance Adventurer” package.

A few reasons this works well as a “rookie” image:

• It’s clearly Indy. Not a tiny figure in the background of an action scene, not a group shot.
• The caption literally names him and defines the character. You’re not guessing.
• It’s early in the checklist, right after the title card, so Topps is basically saying, “Here’s the main guy, let’s start here.”

If you’re building a “Pop-Culture Rookie Hall of Fame” binder, this checks all the right boxes.

Condition & Grading: Not Rare, But Not Always Pretty

Let’s be clear: this is not a scarce ’50s regional food issue. 1981 Topps movie cards were produced to be ripped by kids, traded on playgrounds, and rubber-banded into oblivion. Complete raw sets still show up for relatively cheap, and loose singles are everywhere.

That said, high-grade copies aren’t a complete gimme:

• The green borders make edge and corner wear really obvious.
• Centering can be an issue, as with most early-’80s Topps products.
• A lot of surviving copies lived in shoeboxes, not card savers.

You’ll see raw #2s floating in that affordable “under $20” range, with graded copies bumping up depending on the number on the label. The PSA pop reports linked above are the place to check how many exist at each grade and how top-heavy the distribution is.

Heritage and other auction houses have moved PSA-graded copies in that roughly low three-figure range, which tells you where the market is right now: respectful, but not insane.

Translation: you can still be early here compared to where some other iconic character rookies have gone.

OPC, Variants, and the “Which One Is the Rookie?” Game

If you want to make this as complicated as possible (and let’s be honest, you probably do), there are a couple of ways to slice it:

• Topps #2 – “flagship” U.S. rookie
• O-Pee-Chee bilingual #2 – international/bilingual variant rookie

If you’re coming from the sports world, this starts to feel familiar:

• Think of Topps as the main U.S. release.
• O-Pee-Chee gives you that twist for collectors who like a slightly weirder lane and smaller print runs.

I’m not going to die on any particular hill here, but if you want a clean two-card “rookie” representation of Indy, pairing Topps #2 and OPC #2 in the same row of a binder does not look wrong.

Why This Card Matters in a Bigger Iconic Rookie Conversation

A question I keep circling back to:

If we treat sports rookies like sacred artifacts, why don’t we do the same for truly legendary pop-culture characters?

Indiana Jones checks every box:

• Multi-generation appeal
• Instantly recognizable silhouette
• Huge influence on adventure and genre storytelling
• A whole ecosystem of merch, toys, games, and reboots

And yet, 1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark is still sitting there, largely ignored compared to what has happened to similar-era sports issues.

If you believe in the long-term staying power of characters like Indy, Luke, Vader, Spidey, etc., then these “first appearance” movie/comic/set cards are the foundation of a completely different kind of rookie PC.

This card is cheap enough that:

• You can grab a raw copy just to have one.
• You can chase a centered, clean example for grading without taking out a second mortgage.
• You can even build a little Indiana Jones run across different sets without tripping into high-end insanity.

Where This Series Goes Next

This post is the first in what I’m planning as a running “Iconic Rookies” series for non-sports:

• Character-first, not athlete-first
• Looking at true first appearances in trading card form
• Comparing how the market treats them today versus how big those characters actually are in the culture

1981 Topps Indiana Jones #2 is a perfect starting point: a recognizable character, a fun set, a very reasonable buy-in, and a lot of room for the hobby to catch up to reality.

If you already own a copy, grade it, scan it, and flex it.
If you don’t, maybe check what’s floating around right now and decide how nice you want to go.

Because if we’re going to talk about iconic rookies for the next few years, there’s no way Indy doesn’t have a seat at that table.