Back in 1983, the bubble in the baseball card market had already started to form as Donruss and Fleer had both entered the market in 1981 and all three companies started to boost production. One of three mainstream Puckett Rookie Cards in 1985, this is actually the Hall of Famers second Fleer release. Nearly 700 examples of Gwynn's Topps rookie card have achieved a PSA 10 grade, while only 32 of the O-Pee-Chee versions have done so. There is, however, a big market for older baseball cards and other sports cards (generally cards manufactured before 1980). This number is mind-blowing when you think about all the time, energy, and money that goes into the grading process for 1 card, let alone 29,032. While New York faded from the postseason race in September, Mattingly kept the city enraptured with a batting crown race for the ages. Price: $925,000 . This can be attributed to several things. And the introduction of grading to the hobby has led to some collectors paying massive amounts of money for certain cards deemed to be in pristine condition. One of Ken Griffey Jr.s most sought-after rookie cards is his 1989 Bowman Tiffany card #220. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Stay in the know about the latest sports card, hobby news, and promotions from Beckett. Nobody gets to 3,000 career hits by accident. That ones found in the main 1989 Donruss set. With a print run of just an announced 6,000, this may well be the toughest rookie-year Griffey Jr. card to find. If you were around for the card boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s, you'll surely recognize this iconicMark McGwire rookie card. The 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany version of Barry Bonds' iconic rookie can be worth big bucks, as much as $1,250 in PSA condtition. Cal Ripken Jr. played for the Orioles for the entire 21 years of his career. The third key Hall of Fame rookie card in the iconic 1983 Topps set belongs to Chicago Cubs legend, Ryne Sandberg. Completely missed him, while Upper Deck, Fleer and Donruss did include the games top prospect. The fans roared their approval and Winfield shook his hand with a knowing glance. What is known as the Highlights in White version has white text, while the intended version has yellow letters, which have a much higher print run. These are our picks for the top 100 baseball cards of the 1980s. But, the "Tiffany" version of this card is worth thousands of dollars. Due to the low print run of the letters in white variation, they are much more valuable than the copies with yellow text. Shortcuts: Most Expensive , Cheapest , List by Card # Had that trend held, it would've easily made this list. The Wizards first Cardinals card helped drive Topps second Traded box set. You'll also notice the numbering of the sets was different as Clemens is card #99 in the Leaf set versus #273 in the Donruss set. The greatest lead-off hitter in the entirety of baseball history, Rickey Henderson finds no equal in the career rankings for both stolen bases and runs scored, keeping the spirit of the Dead Ball Era alive into the twenty-first century. Alexander went 9-0 from mid-August on. And its Tiffany version is easily the most expensive of them all. As Ripkens greatness played out on the field, this became a must-have for any collector who understood what they were seeing. Indeed, Grace went on to collect the most hits of any player during the Decade of the 1990s. Finding them in PSA 10 condition is much tougher, hence the high price tag. At the time this card was pulled from packs of 1988 Topps, Glavine was en route to a 17-loss season as a rookie. Top 25 Most Valuable Baseball Cards from the 1980's - Update with giveaway! Of those 22 submitted, 14 were found in mint condition, with just 1 being gem mint. Its easy to do, they said. By navigating the site, you agree to the use of cookies to collect information. A 1963 Topps Pete Rose is worth more than a 1983 Topps Pete Rose. Essentially, collectors are buying the grade of the card. But despite the image, this is a really important card of one of the games greatest pure hitters. The Topps Traded set, however, has had a mind-blowing 46,835 submitted! So, I stuck with big-name companies like Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Upper Deck and others when building this list. Five hundred thirtyhave been found in gem mint 10 condition, which means only 10% of the population has reached the highest grade, making them relatively rare. For whatever reason, some moments in sports history seem to resonate with people in such a way that they almost become locked in memory. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an all-star in baseball and football. Furthermore, the back also has the O-Pee-Chee logo and a much brighter card stock than the regular issue Topps. The Cubs drafted him in 1982, but he left to play for eight different teams throughout his career. Furthermore, he is the only pitcher in major league history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters. To be fair, though, his innings pitched totals in Houston weren't as steep as those during his time in California, and his 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 1987 was the highest mark of his career. Like Roger Clemens, Kirby Puckett has a 1984 Fleer Update XRC. The entire 1988 season was memorable for Gibson as he picked up the only MVP and Silver Slugger awards of his career that year. My next move was to go diving through my cards to see if I had one. For those on a budget, a PSA 9 example will only throw you back about $200. Ryan was just an absolute monster when it came to pitching, and the value of his baseball cards reflects this. He signed, became an All-Star and marketing gold. Additionally, the second-year Tiffany sets cards resemble regular-issue variety but feature a high-gloss finish. The third and fourth are the hardest and come close to a tie. And you get a Griffey Jr. RC! which would have made fun viewing. Like its competitors, Topps waited until its late-season Traded release to issue the companys first card of the 17-game winner and 1984 Rookie of the Year, who also finished second in the Cy Young Award voting. Website . It certainly does. One of the main reasons his rookie card is valuable is that even though he was a relief pitcher, he still made it into the Hall of Fame. And as you can see, it's value has held up very well over time. Growing up in central Indiana, Sandberg was one of the players I was able to watch most frequently and I remember being amazed at his ability to hit for power as a second baseman. Another valuable card from the 1985 Topps Tiffany set is the Roger Clemens rookie card #181. Mint 9s sell for about $200 on average. For some reason, Topps did not include every member of the team as they notably left out players like Barry Larkin and Will Clark, among others. However, Puckett is the only player to meet both of those criteria making this card the only Hall of Fame rookie card in the 1985 Topps set. Shop the 1986 Donruss Bo Jackson rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1980 Topps baseball cards on eBay, Shop the 1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1982 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. rookie card on eBay, 1982 Topps Orioles Future Stars base set card, Shop the 1982 Topps Lee Smith rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken baseball card on eBay, Shop the 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1981 Topps Pete Rose baseball card on eBay, Shop the 1982 Topps Trade Cal Ripken Jr. rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1985 Topps Tiffany Kirby Puckett rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany Barry Bonds rookie cards on eBay, Shop the 1984 Topps Tiffany Don Mattingly rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1988 Best Ken Griffey Jr. minor league card on eBay, Shop the 1980 Topps Nolan Ryan baseball card on eBay, Shop the 1983 O-Pee-Chee Tony Gwynn rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1985 Topps Tiffany Mark McGwire rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany Bo Jackson rookie card on eBay, 565 of the Tiffany Traded Bo Jackson rookies, Shop the 1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1985 Topps Tiffany Roger Clemens rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1987 O-Pee-Chee Barry Bonds rookie card on eBay, Shop the 1987 Barry Bonds rookie card error on eBay, Shop the 1980 WBTV Cal Ripken Jr. minor league card on eBay, Shop the 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson rookie card on eBay, 8 Best Baseball Cards to Collect in 2022 Hall of Fame Potential, Best Chipper Jones rookie card & baseball card list. Sparky Anderson did Kirk Gibson no favors comparing him to Mickey Mantle before Gibson fully figured out major league baseball. Among the most anticipated cards of the late-1986 releases were the first MLB-licensed cards of rookie sensation Wally Joyner. Those ripping packs of 1989 Upper Deck looking for Ken Griffey Jr. cards did find this RC of a Brewers shortstop who, at the time, was most known for being Dwight Goodens nephew and for his gold front teeth. Puckett cracks the Top Ten! However, he was openly disappointed with Berra's assertion in Spring Training that he'd open the season on the bench. Many still are. Bo warned the Bucs not to select him, but they did anyway. "Honus Wagner." Sports Card Investor. And, by default, its O-Pee-Chee cousin is also an incredibly desirable baseball card though it is much more difficult to find in top condition. I have 75 of these and am working on completing my little set!! Havent seen this card before? But even before the allegations, Bonds was a great player. Jackie Robinson, Mike Piazza, Hideo Nomo and, you guessed it, Fernando Valenzuela each took the league by storm as soon as they stepped on the field. Donruss sold a lot of 86 Donruss packs for this Canseco card alone. Topps decides not to follow through with the set and tells them to dispose of the cards. They are selling for over $1,500 today, which means they have tripled in value. And while its value pales in comparison to other big-name vintage rookies like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente, to name a few, its price soared dramatically during the recent sports card boom. Bo Jackson washuge when I was a kid and his popularity is still quite high to this day. This card should be an excellent investment as long as the population stays low. Donruss knew something good when they saw it, and made Wally card #1 in the inaugural The Rookies box set. Anyone hear from Bonner or Schneider lately? You just wish he had embraced it more. When graded gem mint 10 by PSA, the value has gone as high as $180,000. This was a really fun read and great for this time in particular. The 1983 season saw the Rookie Cards of four players break out Sandberg, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn and Ron Kittle. This Mickey Mantle card sold for $5.2 million in 2021, in large part due to its high-quality rating and its rarity its assumed to be one of only 6 remaining versions of the card in the world. But, PSA 10 examples of this card can sell forsix figures. Ask i may have it for sslr. But, it's not always the case. Fernandos 1981 Topps Traded appears elsewhere on this list, but this is Valenzuelas actual Topps RC. Nobody seriously, nobody could have seen 305 wins and the Hall of Fame in his future. There are four variations: a whiteout, a black box, and scribbled-out black and white. This is one of the hobbys most iconic and recognizable error cards. Great article. He would win another ten years later, collecting three in three different decades. Viewing the population report for the two makes it clear just how rarer they are than the Topps cards. After an eBay auction that ended in October 2022, one copy sold for an impressive $1,800. Also, this seems to be available in fewer quantities than Topps and Donruss Clemens efforts in 1985. 1980 Topps Baseball Cards 30 Most Valuable. Barry appeared in several 1986 year-end releases that are considered XRCs. 1989 Topps Traded #41T Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Topps #647 Randy Johnson Rookie Card. There are two versions of this card yellow lettering with red Two For the Title came from wax packs. Or take Joe Montana's pass to Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone during the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys. He was, then, the youngest player to ever play in an All-Star Game. The dual-photo fronts remain a favorite with many collectors. In 1962, Topps had opted not to sign Wills to a trading card deal, apparently believing he was not major league material. Of all his rookie cards, the 1986 Topps Traded is the most desirable and expensive card you can find. Despite his complicated legacy,Pete Rose cardsalso remain some of the most desirable in the hobby. The headline: Strawberry Fields Forever. So when time came to include the 1962 NL MVP in its Kmart MVP box set, Topps did the only thing they could they produced a card that never was. Rounding out the top 10 is the 1983 O-Pee-Chee Tony Gwynn rookie card, in PSA 10 gem mint condition. Nolan Ryan made his debut with the Houston Astros in 1980 and that season was a bit unusual for him for one glaring reason:he did not lead the league in strikeouts. 12. by ; 28 kwietnia 2023 The All-Star designation on this card seems pretty appropriate. Over 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, Harold Baines appeared in six All-Star games, hit 384 home runs, tallied 1,628 RBI, and scored another 1,299 runs. Although the 1980 season would mark the first of a nine-year stint for Nolan Ryan with the Houston Astros, Topps still had to show him as a member of the California Angels because of the timing of their print run for their 1980 Topps set. You want the Rookie Card of the major leagues all-time runs scored and stolen base leader? Remember, the Tiffany versions were produced in much smaller quantities and were printed on premium card stock. The 1985 Leaf set was much smaller than its Donruss counterpart as it included only 264 cards instead of 660. Meanwhile, this might be the only time Johnny Ray was ever mistaken for Barry Bonds. And the Ken Griffey Jr. can be worth thousands of dollars in any grade: Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at the list: Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $120,000. PSA has graded just 610 of the Griffey Bowman Tiffany rookie cards. With the hunter green borders, clip art of a baseball hat with team names, and the vintage Topps logo, this card screams, collect me! Fleer used a great image for this Rookie Card, opting for a dialed-in Clemens, which seems appropriate. Much like the Bowman and Topps Tiffany releases, Fleer also produced a premium version of their cards that year to go along with their 1989 Fleer base set. This Barry Bonds card with Johny Ray pictured on the front goes down in hobby history as one of the most recognizable error cards ever produced. "Fernandomania" still lives on with many collectors and they're willing to pay up for this card in PSA 10 condition. The 22-year-old future Hall-of-Famer put on a show in the days after the manager's announcement, winning Berra over with his impact bat and elite fielding instincts. For example, the 1989 Topps Heads Up set turned out to be a test issue that the company released to expand its reach into the hot market. The population report for both the Topps Traded and Topps Traded Tiffany sets will give us some insight into how rare the Tiffany version is. So far, PSA has graded 265 of the Platinum, with only 17 making the PSA 10 grade. An underappreciated card for much of Robbies career, it did gain some momentum as fans and followers began looking at his career as a whole and how good he was at second base. Not many of his rookie cards have yet made it into PSA for grading. He also loves to write about the hobby and has written for Beckett, Topps, SABR and of course, this website. Need help buying or selling cards or have a general question about the hobby? Topps Tiffany baseball cards are by far some of the most valuable baseball cards from both the 80s and the 90s. Baines also won a Silver Slugger in 1989 and led the American League in slugging percentage (.541) in 1984. So far, 2,378 of the Tiffany Bonds rookie cards have been submitted to PSA, which is not very low but not very high. Making it much more collectible and valuable. The same design of this card also appeared in the Nestle and O-Pee-Chee sets that year and all three cards are worth around $250-300 in top grade. Produce an Opening Day box set, they said. For that reason, his card is easily the most desirable in the set and is worth around $250 or so in a PSA 10 holder. As you can imagine, finding PSA 10 examples of a given O-Pee-Chee card is substantially more difficult than finding a Topps example in the same condition. In 1984, the young slugger put on a clinic that cemented his spot and won the hearts of Yankees fans the world over. The same thing that had people rushing to see Ready Player One, or even, for some reason, wanting to relive the horror of It. Cant have that. Lee Smith was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on December 9, 2018, as part of the Todays Game Era Committee vote. And you were living large. But, given its popularity, it became one of the most frequently-submitted cards to third-party grading companies like PSA as collectors sought to capitalize on the high values. Making them one of his most valuable baseball cards from the 1980s. Baseball had two tall guys breaking in at about the same time: 6-foot-7 Ben McDonald and 6-foot-10 Randy Johnson. And you thought Lex Luthor had a lot of brain power . Part of a subset (cards #389 - 404) that paid tribute to several members of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that took silver in Los Angeles that year, McGwire's card is clearly the key. Sometimes youll find versions of these that look like they were hand-cut by a kid with plastic scissors and little use for even borders. Ryan had a lifetime winning percentage of .526 and was an eight-time MLB All-Star. With just 29 of the 1,000 Gwynn rookies submitted graded gem mint 10, finding one for auction will be complicated.