So, the supply is meager. 834 have been submitted to PSA, and only 54 were declared gem mint 10. One of the more popular cards from 1985 is the Kirby Puckett rookie card. The weather looked great in Winter Haven, and young Roger Clemens was smiling. Yeah, we know. With a print run of just an announced 6,000, this may well be the toughest rookie-year Griffey Jr. card to find. As the first sentence reads on the back of this card: Every year Pete Rose shatters another baseball record.. PSA 9s sell for considerably less in the $300 $400 price range. Yep, looks like a 1989 Upper Deck card but its not. How rare are the Johnny Ray/Barry Bonds error cards? The cards look exactly like their Topps counterparts, save for the Nestle logo in place of Topps. . Thats part of it but more important are the cards legacy and how they helped shape such an important era. Yes, it was corrected but by then it had made industry headlines and the C Nettles was all anyone wanted. Many collectors prefer the 1952 card, but the 1951 Bowman is still a piece of baseball history. However, one thing is clear about this card and the set in general: they are incredibly difficult to find in top condition. Less than 200 of these "cards" ever passed through PSA's grading facilities, so they're quite rare. Price: $925,000 . And many collectors already have figured that out. Its not necessarily the most valuable cards of the decade. Kirby Puckettwas also one of my favorite players as a kid and this card was always among the top of my want list as a young collector. And so on. These are our picks for the top 100 baseball cards of the 1980s. Not only did Ripken break Lou Gehrig's streak for consecutive games played, but he also left a legacy as arguably the greatest shortstop who ever played. With over 5,000 submitted to PSA, getting a gem mint copy of the actual FF error card is simple, but what about the four variations? However, he was openly disappointed with Berra's assertion in Spring Training that he'd open the season on the bench. But, he also received his own standalone rookie in the 1981 Topps Traded set. Because this error card has a lot of humor, collectors naturally want it in their collection. And there are several rookie cards in this set. PSA has graded just 610 of the Griffey Bowman Tiffany rookie cards. 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. Furthermore, he is the only pitcher in major league history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters. There are two versions of this card yellow lettering with red Two For the Title came from wax packs. He was, then, the youngest player to ever play in an All-Star Game. The only difference between the two is the color of the word Highlights, located in the lower left-hand corner of the card. 1989 Topps #343 Gary Sheffield Future Star. Well, PSA has graded and authenticated a mere 134 to date. If it werent for his 1989 RCs, most probably wouldnt even remember The Big Unit pitched for the Montreal Expos. For example, I didn't include the 1980 Charlotte O's team issue cards for Cal Ripken Jr., even though the blue variation can approach $10,000 in top condition and the rarer orange variation can fetch five figures in just about any condition: Second, I only included cards produced by mainstream companies and avoided any of the various "oddball" issues that appeared during the 1980s. But, how difficult are they to find in PSA 10 condition? PSA graded 1,600 of them, with 48 grading gem mint 10. New companies, new technologies and a booming marketplace all brought the hobby into the mainstream. I was stunned when I read the price next to the Barry Bonds error card. There are a few Frank Thomas minor league cards, but the 1987 Auburn Tigers are the most elusive. Cards in future sets were issued with French and English descriptions on the back. Not only are the Tiffany cards rare, but theyre also somewhat challenging to find in high grades. A raw and un-graded Rickey Henderson rookie card in less-than-mint condition sells anywhere from $30 to $50. Since 1989, hes mostly been known for his penmanship. Collectors scramble over each other to obtain the most centered and flawless example whenever they hit the market. Barry looks thrilled to be getting his picture taken. 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. Dimensions: 4-1/2 x 6. Puckett died of a stroke at age 45, becoming the second-youngest man to pass away after already being enshrined in Cooperstown. Nobody gets to 3,000 career hits by accident. Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps #311 Psa 9. From 1984 to 1991, Topps released a limited number of premium, higher-end versions of their base sets that they branded as the Topps Tiffany line. He stole 80 bases in 1986, and followed that up the next season with 50 steals. So far, I have found that in 1985, Topps commissioned O-Pee-Chee, its Canadian branch, to make a test mini set similar to the 1975 Topps Mini set. As is this case when comparing the quality of O-Pee-Chee cards to their Topps counterparts, the stock and print quality of early Leaf cards were not on par with their Donruss cousins. These "Fleer Glossy" cards were printed on higher quality cardboard and contained a much glossier finish on them. 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. Fleer was the only company that included a Kittle RC in its regular set, as Donruss and Topps passed. So its safe to say they are scarce. Alexander went 9-0 from mid-August on. However, Ken Griffey Jr can be found only in the Bowman Tiffany and Traded Tiffany sets. Or will McGriff just be collateral damage from the misdoings around him? Interestingly, Ryan's highest single-season strikeout total in nine years with the Houston Astros was only 270 in 1987, a year in which he also led the NL with a 2.76 ERA. The USA Baseball subset in 1985 Topps introduced the program to the masses, and brought this slugging first basemans first licensed trading card to the forefront of the collectibles industry. Mickey Mantle is a name known even to . Mattingly struggled on Friday and Saturday but wrestled the title from Winfield with a 4-for-5 masterclass on the last day of the season. The one shown here is the Platinum version which has a gray border. And, like the 1980 Topps set that preceded it, the centering and print quality challenges with the 1981 Topps set didn't improve all that much and only boost its value in high grade even more. After an eBay auction that ended in October 2022, one copy sold for an impressive $1,800. The local TV station printed some promotional baseball cards with players from the team and handed them out during one of Ripkens first games playing for the Os. Just two years after the release of his first minor league card and shortly after his trade from Detroit to Atlanta, future Hall of Famer Smoltz made his major league card debut in Fleers 1988 Update Set. After Fernando started 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA with eight complete games and five shutouts in his first eight starts, "Fernandomania" swept across the country. If one does surface for auction, expect prices over $2,300. This means less than 4% of the population are in gem mint condition cases. Top 25 Most Valuable Baseball Cards from the 1990's - Rookie Cards Only. The other version has blue borders and is more populated than the Platinum. Theres no Roberto Ramos or Bobby Pate to have to share on the front of this Raines card. Which gives them a much more elegant look. Contact him at [emailprotected]. Only 51 made it into a PSA 10 cases of those submitted. At the time this card was pulled from packs of 1988 Topps, Glavine was en route to a 17-loss season as a rookie. Shortcuts: Most Expensive , Cheapest , List by Card # Most Valuable Topps Baseball Cards: Record Sales Price: 1952 Mickey Mantle #311 : $12.6 million : 2011 Mike Trout "Platinum" ~$1.1 million : 1969 Reggie Jackson #260 : $1.005 million Jackson was already a household name when his card appeared in the 1986 Topps Traded set. BASEBALL CARD COLLECTOR INVESTOR DEALER (in that order)w/ Chris SewallCounting down the 25 most expensive baseball cards from the 1980s, using PSA 9 values.=. Headed into the last weekend of the season, Mattingly held an AL-best .342 average while his teammate Dave Winfield sat in second at .341. In his eight baseball seasons, Jackson had a career batting average of .250, hit 141 home runs, and had 415 RBIs, with a slugging average of .474. Your Account has been confirmed and activated successfully. The leading destination for sports card and collectible enthusiasts. Four straight Cy Youngs. The 1980s was a decade of big change for baseball cards. 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. Most Valuable Fleer Baseball Cards. But, when you add a name like Nolan Ryan (or Rickey Henderson above) to the mix then the price only skyrockets. Puckett cracks the Top Ten! Those 1988 . Since the sports card market exploded during the 1980s, many food brands, toy manufacturers, and regional companies jumped into the market. "Honus Wagner." Sports Card Investor. I love how Ryan's orange Houston Astros cap and the cartoon hat in the lower-left corner work in unison to give this card some fantastic visual pop. Not many 1981 Donruss cards can be called classic or important. None maybe. Consider Michael Jordan's buzzer-beater over Craig Ehlo during the 1989 Playoffs that sent the Cavaliers packing. And then got his own baseball card. Kirby Puckett wasted no time in making his mark in Minnesota, batting .296 as a 24-year-old rookie in 1984. Of the many Barry Bonds rookie cards, his 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany rookie card is one of the most valuable. 1. These sets were given to card shops as limited edition sets and not sold in stores. Like Topps Tiffany cards, O-Pee-Chee cards are relatively difficult to come across. This Topps RC was, and is, Rynos card of choice as he played a near-flawless second base throughout his Hall of Fame career on the North Side. But this, the only RC of future Hall of Famer Raines pictured alone, is about as close as it gets. Roger Clemens played for 24 seasons in the MLB and put up some monster stats during his career. 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson Rookie Card Estimated PSA 9 Value: $1,800 Since most collectors in this hobby tend to draw the line on the "vintage era" at 1980, many consider the Rickey Henderson rookie card to be the last big-name vintage rookie. Also, the exclusive held by Topps ended in 1981, and brands like Fleer and Bowman began to produce official MLB cards again. From 1992-1995, the guy with the pencil-thin mustache on this card won four consecutive National League Cy Young awards, leading the league in innings pitched each time. Barry appeared in several 1986 year-end releases that are considered XRCs. Some hold out hope that baseball will someday forgive him and allow the all-time hits leader into the Hall of Fame, but it still seems highly unlikely. A PSA Mint 9 card is worth $1.2 million, while a PSA NM-MT 8.5 card sells for $700,000. 5. MT 9. Many people often wonder if there are any 80s baseball cards worth money. His cards populate the majority of the rest, with about 100 submitted. 1989 Topps Traded #41T Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Topps #647 Randy Johnson Rookie Card. Meanwhile, this might be the only time Johnny Ray was ever mistaken for Barry Bonds. One of Ken Griffey Jrs biggest sleeper cards is his 1988 Best minor league cards. "100 Most Valuable Baseball Cards: The All-Time Dream List." Baseball Reference. PSA 9 examples have sold for upwards of $6,000. Henderson is often regarded as the MLB's greatest lead-off hitter and base-runner. Author Jon Gold. Read our. And you get a Griffey Jr. RC! Making it much more collectible and valuable. Predating his other MLB cards by a year, the 1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens is legitimately rare in top condition. Yeah, about that. This is Lee Smiths most valuable rookie card and one of the more expensive baseball cards from the 80s. Most know that during the hobby craze of that era, rampant overproduction led to a bubble that eventually burst. Donnie Baseball is pictured wearing a Yankees cap, which is the team he would go on to spend his whole 13-year pro career at. His mainstream Rookie Cards appeared the next spring. 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. It was only available in Canadas O-Pee-Chee baseball packs, as part of the companys emphasis on its nations teams the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos. Youll notice the same image used for this card also appears on Bos Topps Traded card. The same thing that had people rushing to see Ready Player One, or even, for some reason, wanting to relive the horror of It. 1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1986 NFL Draft. The photographer and the entire Fleer printing team did not miss this. Who cares if there are more copies printed to stretch around the world twice? The 1980s marked a period of rapid interest in baseball cards. With only 56 found in gem mint condition, they are challenging to find. This was one of the most popular Bonds RCs pulled from packs in 87. He would lend his bat to several teams, including the White Sox, Orioles, A's, Rangers, and Indians, as he bounced around quite a bit. He played for seven teams, but is best remembered as the glue of the back-to-back World Champion Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 93 when he batted a combined .347 over both Series. Of the 4,020 cards submitted to PSA, 35 were found in gem mint 10 conditions. But he flourished as a second baseman and was one of the better contact hitters of his era. 1989 Topps #530 Nolan Ryan. Bowman had not released a set since 1955 after they were bought out by their largest competitor, Topps. Surprisingly, over 7,000 Don Mattingly rookie cards have been submitted to PSA. Rather, its a card released during Juniors rookie season. There was a time when the world came together for one thing: finding Wade Boggs Topps RCs. Its easy to do, they said. Especially when compared to the 82 Ripken rookie mentioned above. After tallying 138 wins and 2,416 strikeouts over eight seasons with the California Angles, Nolan Ryan signed a $4.5 million four-year deal with the Houston Astros during the 1979 offseason. Lets look at the population report and see just how rare the Frank Thomas cards are. Big difference. This Dick Perez-produced art was card #1 of the very first offering of his famous Diamond Kings cards that populated so many Donruss sets. 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. Another thing that stands out is its deep checklist that is highlighted by rookie cards of Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs, and the second-year Cal Ripken Jr. Important: Judging condition and understanding the grading system will . 1980 Topps Baseball Cards 30 Most Valuable. With just 26 making the PSA 10 grade, they are scarce in said condition. Next on the list is the rookie card of fireballer and pitching icon,Roger Clemens. It certainly does. At the time, who could have known the highs and lows that would mark an amazing career on the field? In 1987, the Detroit Tigers were making one last attempt at a World Series appearance with the band that had gotten them a World Championship just three years before. The cards were designed and produced by Classic with a full license, and were well received, perhaps none more than this auburn shot of Bo with the baseball/football theme. 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. Thats an incredible difference in availability. Like, almost anything else. This is more than likely because the population is much smaller for the Bowman rookie. Seems like this was a good day. 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. With 29,032 cards in the PSA pop report, the 1982 Topps Ripken rookie card has one of the highest population reports of all 1980s baseball cards. Since it was located along the left side, you'll often find this card cut in such a way that throws off its left-to-right centering, which prevents it from achieving gem mint status. Therefore, the market has responded by boosting the price level of Gwynn's rookie in PSA 10 condition to the price levels you see here. Topps Tiffany cards have glossy surfaces on the front and white card stock on the back. The first of two Donruss cards on this list, this one features a headshot of the 1985 American League MVP, Don Mattingly. But, PSA 10 examples of this card can sell forsix figures. This can be attributed to several things. If youre a Barry Bonds collector or an 80s baseball card collector, O-Pee-Chee cards are the way to go. In 1984, the young slugger put on a clinic that cemented his spot and won the hearts of Yankees fans the world over. It made this card settle into an affordable range so that even when he was on top of the baseball world, kids could still afford this Barry Bonds Topps RC. And there are plenty of people who want it. So they printed the cards with the words F**k Face. That said, there's no questioning how talented Clemens really was as he was mowing down opposing batters right from the beginning of his career well before the PED scandal took place. A big-shot hitter for USA Baseball and at Mississippi State, Clark was a highly anticipated rookie coming into the 1986 season. Nice move by Donruss to recognize both on card #651 in the 1985 set. You were royalty. Youve come to the right place. Because he played for four different MLB teams, including the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros, hes a highly collectible player. One of the more difficult Mattingly rookie-year releases to find in Mint condition is this Nestle card, found on one of six different uncut sheets. I grew up in the 80s and chased many of these cards and ripped hundreds of packs in my days. For the true Bo Jackson collector, this card is a must-have for your collection. The 1984 American League batting championship race came down to the final game of the season, with Don Mattingly edging teammate Dave Winfield to win the title. After Docs record-breaking 1984 season, Topps opted for a non-pitching shot of the dominating righthander. 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. The second easiest is the black scribble, which has just over 600 submitted. Displaying Henderson trademark crouched batting stance, it'd be a nice card even if it wasn't extremely valuable. A first-time All-Star and fifth-place finisher in the AL's MVP race, Mattingly's time as the face of the Yankees was here. Even so lets just say the Braves won the trade. But the best thing that the 82 set had going for it was this very affordable Cal Ripken Jr. RC. Star Babe Ruths pre rookie card has an astronomical price tag with only ten copies in existence. And everybody paid good money for it two years later when McGwire was slugging his way to 49 home runs as a rookie. And you were living large. He also picked up his only Silver Slugger award and was named to his fifteenth All-Star game, seemingly on a surefire trajectory to the Hall of Fame at that point in his career. You see why people got tired of the drab borders and card images of this set. The third of Donnie Baseballs three 1984 Rookie Cards from the major manufacturers of the time. In any given year, an O-Pee-Chee card is usually distinguished from its Topps cousin because of the O-Pee-Chee trademark appearing on the front or back of the card. It was the be-spectacled Ron Kittle, who slugged home runs a very, very far distance and at a rate that caught fans and collectors attention. Before we get started, I just wanted to clarify a few "rules" that I used to generate this list. I remember being in that late-80s baseball card collecting frenzy, and seeing the majority of these cards. The availability of this set is much more limited than the regular issue Topps Traded set. This is probably a team-issued shot, and considering Jackson only played in 25 games that first season, there would have not been a lot of options at the print deadline. The entire 1988 season was memorable for Gibson as he picked up the only MVP and Silver Slugger awards of his career that year. 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. Topps printed player team names embedded in a four-tier golden comb effect that adds a subtle flair to the cards. Like the Bowman Tiffany product line mentioned above, the O-Pee-Chee cards were typically produced in far fewer quantities. The rarity of these cards is evident by how few of the Nolan Ryan cards have been submitted to PSA for grading. Despite his complicated legacy,Pete Rose cardsalso remain some of the most desirable in the hobby. If the population remains low, these could increase in value over time. Ask i may have it for sslr. Production seemed to multiply from 1984 numbers, and who could blame Donruss for not wanting to leave money on the table? Great choice, and everything works on this RC. What makes 1980s baseball cards so great? There is, however, a big market for older baseball cards and other sports cards (generally cards manufactured before 1980). Two Mattingly RCs in the first 11 cards on this list? But it was baseball in 1988, so buy it we did, mostly looking for the highly-touted Mets prospect who looked like the kid who sat near the back of your social studies class. So, despite the common misconception, some cards from that infamous hobby era still have value. But, value aside, I wanted to highlight it as it's impossible to talk about 1980s baseball cards without mentioning this card. Ken Griffey Jr. There wasnt a lot to get excited about when the 1987 Fleer Update sets arrived, outside of the first Fleer card of A.L. His 5,714 career strikeouts are an MLB record by a significant margin. Ungraded & graded values for all '80 Topps Baseball Cards. No position player in the American League enjoyed a better all-around season as Rickey Henderson did in 1981. Mint 9s sell for about $200 on average. Most Valuable Baseball Cards: 1970s Most Valuable Baseball Cards: 1980s Most Valuable Baseball Cards: 1990s Most Valuable Baseball Cards: 2000s Most Valuable Baseball: 1900s Joe Jackson, 1909 E90-1 American Caramel Joe Jackson's rookie card sold for $667,189 at auction in 2016. 1989 Topps Traded #110T Deion Sanders. That kind of of success on that stage can get a card like this released later in the season noticed. Nobody knew it at the time, but the presses ran day and night for 87 Topps Baseball. But 509 home runs and a National League batting title later, Sheffield stood on his own name. So, if you want a copy in gem mint condition, prepare to dish out over $800. Got thousands baseball football basketball ,and hockey . I remember several years ago you could find this card in a PSA 9 holder quite easily for $400 or so, which made it undervalued even back then. Along with those of Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg, the 1983 ToppsTony Gwynn rookie card is one of the most iconic baseball cards of the 1980s. I personally love 80s baseball cards and have some in my personal collection that are worth more than just the monetary value. Otherwise, if found in PSA 9 condition, it would have sold considerably less at around $90. So, keep your eyes open for the Frank Thomas and Bo Jackson Auburn Tigers Tiger Great cards. This set was printed by McDag Productions and features popular players at the time, including Bo Jackson and Frank Thomas. However, due to market conditions, values fluctuate. the more valuable the card. I considered picking up a mint 9 copy for less than $350. For an era of cards that many call junk wax, the 80s have some decent cards. This second-year card of Gwynn may be the best looking of any of his other releases over the years. For example, as of this writing, there are just under 700 examples of Gwynn's Topps rookie card that achieved PSA 10 grade status, while there are over 13,000 examples of Ken Griffey Jr.'s 1989 Topps Traded rookie graded in PSA 10 holders. Rookie Cards were so valuable to collectors in 1989, that if Oprah had been involved in baseball cards, she would have been saying to her studio guests, You get a Griffey Jr. RC! Most know that during the hobby craze of that era, rampant overproduction led to a bubble that eventually burst. 25 Most Valuable 1989 Topps Baseball Cards. Nice touch making Pete the leadoff hitter in the DK lineup. Making them one of his most valuable baseball cards from the 1980s. Making this example 1 of only 13 in existence. When examining the bottom left corner, youll find the O-Pee-Chee logo instead of the Topps. A whopping 12,188 of these Ripken rookies have been submitted to PSA. Look at Bo locked in. Need help buying or selling cards or have a general question about the hobby? This is, hands down, his best rookie card to date. Make no mistake, the thrill of finding this card in a regular or cello pack was huge. 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. Top 100 cards of the decade of 80s and not one of the king, Nolan Ryan? We should have been hoarding up Michael Jordan cards back then. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Apparently there were some concerns over Hatchers defensive abilities. This Topps card features Henderson in action in yellow and white Oakland Athletics uniform, with the bench blurred in the background.

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