There’s additional lore attached to this early Topps release, though. He also projected a positive image in embracing his status as a role model and speaking up against fighting in hockey. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. Sure, it’s a classic card, attached to an all time great, which itself might make the card fetch into the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars at auction. So it is that even a middling copy can fetch thousands of dollars, and one in true mint condition can get up to six figures at auction. If it’s old, that’s also great. It’s a priceless artifact that serious hobbyist might spend a lifetime chasing. He even won the NWA World Championship from Lou Thesz on one occasion! Lemieux emerged in the right era, and in the right sport such that there isn’t a huge surplus of these cards around, particularly in tip-top condition. Accordingly, his rookie card is a valuable one. So, when he got his first official card release, it sparked excitement in even jaded collectors, who clamored to get a hold of his rookie cards as longer term investments. His rookie card depicts him with the Milwaukee Bucks, and went for $240,000 in 2017, before more than doubling in price less than a year later. As a result, the buzz around his career and his collectibles has fizzled. Fittingly, Gretzky’s rookie card is among the most sought after pieces of hockey memorabilia there is. His 1979 O-Pee-Chee rookie cards holds a record of its own, being the most valuable hockey card ever produced. This card also happens to be one of the most famous in the world. Why? Most people know Joe Namath because he propelled the New York Jets to what is arguably their most famous win, all the way back at Super Bowl III. For example, he played in 24 all-star games during his career. Such is the case for Joe Namath’s rookie card. The same thing that propelled the show Stranger Things to the top of the charts and straight to the hearts of millions across the country. Jeff Bagwell debuted as a star in MLB, and would go on to a fine career. Baseball; Key Card Sets; Top 100 Cards of the 80s by Mike Payne; Addison's 80s Set; UPDATED 2020. By 1995, the bloom was off the rose when it came to gathering and fiercely protecting cards as investments. Michael Chin is a writer based in Las Vegas, who specializes in covering pro wrestling and other forms of pop culture. And if you happen to have all three conditions reunited, then the card becomes more than a collector’s item. A perfect storm hit for the 1980-81 Topps card featuring Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Julius Erving, though. Not only did he generate excitement upon his move up to the pros, but he delivered on his potential as a three-time National League MVP and perennial All Star during his prime playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. Bagwell’s cards got a bump commensurate with not only his early buzz, but because the baseball card hobby was booming during that time. As reported by Bleacher Report, Topps thought it had overproduced relative to demand, and shipped cases upon cases of its 1952 release a trash barge. Pistol Pete Maravich was a brilliant basketball player whose career was cut short because of knees problems. Another baseball card from 1909, this one features Joe Doyle, who is not that big of a name compared to the other ones from the same series. His rookie card, produced a few years after he officially started playing in the NFL, is the most valuable football card ever sold. The problem is that there are still a lot of those cards available in the world. There was a time in the early 2010s when Johnny Manziel was looked at as one of the top prospects in all of football. Here are the most '90s … The card is valuable not only because of Ty Cobb’s legendary career, but also because of its rarity. Nolan Ryan shares his rookie card with Jerry Koosman, another pitcher, who went on to have a solid career of his own. Pete Maravich was an early legend of the NBA, particularly famous for tricks of ball handling and passing that were well ahead of their time. However, his career would never deliver on that promise and Russell wound up a bust who only played three seasons. Jerry West isn’t just an all time NBA great—he’s a figure so iconic that his silhouette remains in the official NBA logo. It can cost well into six figures when such a copy of the card surfaces. He was the first pick in the 1991 Draft and looked bound for glory with the New York Yankees. His rookie card’s value has plummeted, generally cited at around a $20 valuation these days. For his talent, longevity, and popularity, Nolan Ryan is one of the biggest legends in baseball history. I say “actual”, because another card released the following year is actually rarer and worth even more. Nowadays, particularly in great condition, the card can easily command a price in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ryan rookie cards in very good condition can cost a collector in the thousands of dollars. I want to see a top 100 for the 90s too... Posted at 5/9/2020 1:42 PM by caddison31. It was once owned by Wayne Gretzky himself. The Lakers star went on to distinguished career as an executive that kept him in the limelight long after his playing career was done. He was a popular player, so it’s no surprise that his 1955 rookie card is worth so much, selling for a cool 478,000 dollars in 2016. Top 80s Baseball Card Sets You can check out our rundown of the best specific cards of the 80s to grab a hint or two, but today we want to look at the sets as a whole; ranking the winners in terms of look and design, value offered, and of course, the players featured. Nostalgia. A mint condition copy can fetch close to $5,000 at auction. The flawed version, due to its rarity, is the one you want. Manziel’s personal life has caused all sorts of complications for his career on the field. Should you feel like it, there’s also a card from the previous year, where he is depicted playing for Baltimore, which was at the time a minor league team. The 10 Most Valuable '90s Baseball Cards That Might Be Lying In Your Attic 10 1990 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. #156. While injuries limited his accomplishments (and his chances of breaking some of Gretzky's records), he nonetheless remained a respected star across two decades. With an aesthetically pleasing release from before collectors were all that fastidious about protecting their cards, well preserved copies of West’s 1961-62 Fleer rookie card can draw easily into five figure valuations at auction. Thus arose a true scarcity, and the legend of one of the most iconic cards in history. He has followed WWE for over 30 years. With four Stanley Cups on his resume, and nine regular season MVP superlatives, his record is beyond reproach. Accordingly, the value of his baseball cards soared, particularly in that period when card collecting was riding high in the 90s. Where there was once a huge demand for his cards, they’re now difficult to move for any meaningful amount. It threatened to become one of the hottest baseball cards the hobby had ever seen. Researching for this article made me realize that card collectors are super complicated people. The ’90s were a classic era, and arguably the best time to be a fan of basketball aside from the modern-day. Unfortunately, injuries derailed Hardaway’s success, and the partnership with O’Neal only lasted so long before the big man went to Los Angeles. On top of the players depicted and its rookie card status, this set of Topps cards included perforations between each player that all but invited collectors to tear them apart and only keep their favorite players. However, PSA once rated one of his card a 9, and though it has never been sold, there has been offers of up to 115,000 dollars made on it. This product offering is the result of an EXCLUSIVE partnership between GTS Distribution and Sportscards.com. An auction in 2015 fetched 272,000 dollars. Thus, there are legitimately valuable cards coming out again, which may well be worthy long-term investments. His actual rookie card from 1951 is now worth 750,000 dollars. In the 1980-81 season, Topps was lucky enough to produce a rookie card which featured three players who would go on to legendary careers: Larry Bird, Julius Erving, and Magic Johnson. After six championships, he finally retired and instead played small roles in different movies. It is thus seen more as a promotional article instead of an actual card from a set. Printing baseball players on cards and then selling them is a very old business. While he didn’t bring Detroit into striking distance of a championship, he was nonetheless a versatile player and prolific scorer. The Nagurski rookie card is generally considered the highest valued card in football, with mint copies valued, according to Old Sports Cards, as high as $750,000 if a collector with deep pockets can even find one. However, for those collectors who gathered his rookie cards as investments, that gambit will probably never pay off. In particular, there was a transitional period from around the late 1970s to the mid 1990s when the community of collectors swelled, and the number of cards produced and sold nationally exploded. Thorough searches on auction sites and in news archives have led us to this list. The New York Jets All Star, and the Most Valuable Player from the third ever Super Bowl has a card befitting his iconic legacy. Derek Jeter is that rare rookie who made good on his promise. The colors pop, the photo is crystal clear,... 9 1990 Score Frank Thomas RC #663. It’s worth about 60 bucks now. A once bright prospect never actually wound up playing a single game of Major League ball. Last week, we did the '80s. Current Rank 1. While he kept at it in the prose or a deceptively long time—a total of 18 seasons—a part of why it was easy to miss the tail end of his career was that he spent the latter two thirds of it a shell of the promising star he’d once been. Frank Thomas, AKA The Big Hurt, is … He was known for his hitting abilities, but he was so much more than that. Even more tragically, Maravich passed away at the age of 40, due to a rare congenital heart condition. Unfortunately, Daigle would never live up to expectations, and though he was a competent enough player to stretch out his days in the NHL for over a decade, he was never a star. Mickey Mantle is one of the most famous names in baseball history, and the price of his collectible cards matches the man’s fame. To make matters worse, super premium releases highlighted by autographs and pieces of jersey being inserted in cards were gathering steam at this time. He enjoys gaming (obviously), hockey, poutine, and a bunch of other things he is less willing to talk about in public. This would usually hinder the card’s value, but Pete Rose is enough of a big name to carry it on his back. Because of his short time on the court, there isn’t a whole lot of memorabilia attached to his name, and whatever’s available usually fetches a high price. Jordan’s baseball career wound up shorter and largely forgettable beyond the historical footnote of it being his endeavor off the basketball court in his break between championship efforts. If his baseball prospects turned out similarly, might they curry similar favor as long term investments? Like so many players who came of age and moved up into the majors and the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ken Griffey Jr. was a superstar prospect whose rookie cards commanded a premium from collectors eager to see its value appreciate overtime. A rarity for a player from that era, Musial has two recognized rookie cards. Bronko Nagurski was a member of the inaugural class of the NFL Hall of Fame, and lives on as a legend of his sport. Three Assorted Vintage Baseball Card Sets from the 80's & 90's. One of baseball’s greatest hitters, Musial started playing during the same year as Yogi Berra. Thus a mint copy of it can solicit bids in the five figure range at auction. For the most part, the collections people have from the ’80s and ’90s are not strong because those cards were over-produced. They have not been sold but were evaluated at nearly 10 million dollars each. On occasion, there’s a perfect storm of an all time legend who debuted before cards were typically well preserved, and has a rookie card that was is particularly difficult to find in good condition. Rookie cards are famously worth more than other sad, regular cards. Before he was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lew Alcindor was one of the hottest prospects of 1969 in the NBA. Includes such manufacturers as Topps, Donruss, Fleer, Score, Upper Deck, plus many more. In pristine condition, the card can draw up to three hundred dollar bids at auction. Having played a video game bearing the guy’s name in the 90s, it’s weird to think that Nolan Ryan’s rookie card would be old enough to be worth as much as $612,359. If the card is rare, even better. According to Old Sports Cards the one known PSA 10 Gem Mint copy sold for over $600,000 at auction. Re:Dive - Everything You Need To Know About Rin, The New Character In The Focus Gacha, Deep Rock Galactic: Every Mission Type (And What They Require), 10 Incredible PS2 Games Turning 20 Years Old In 2021, Fallout: 10 Places That Would Be A Perfect Setting For Fallout 5, The First 10 Games Released On The PS2 (In Chronological Order). ), and that should make him everybody’s favourite player. A perfectly preserved McGwire rookie card can still draw hundreds of dollars, but it’s easy enough for a collector to get a less than pristine copy for well under a hundred bucks. Topps Tiffany baseball cards are by far some of the most valuable baseball cards from both the ’80s and the ’90s. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. The last time a near perfect copy of the card was sold, it was in 2015; the final price of the sale was 403,664 dollars, though it is now estimated that the card could fetch close to a million bucks. The auction got a lot of media coverage, since this is the most valuable basketball card in the hobby. What started as a relatively barren landscape with just one manufacturer (Topps) and one major set a year in 1980 ballooned to five card-makers and an almost countless array of issues by 1989. Even though Griffey was a legitimate star, the relative ease of accessing his cards has seen them lose clout over time. That one is still worth 358,500 dollars. Taylor seemed like a sure enough thing to be featured in the 1992 Topps Gold release, including particularly rare autographed copies of the card inserted into packs. Because the first print mentions him playing for the wrong New York team. The first baseball cards started getting printed in the late 19th century in America, the homeland of baseball. The one that sold for 100 grands was graded a perfect 10 by the Beckett Grading Service. Jackson never emerged as an all time great in either of the sports he pursued, though, and interest in his cards fizzled. One card was graded a 10 and sold for 142,836 dollars in 2012. Few pieces of memorabilia can compete with the Mickey Mantle rookie card when it comes to notoriety or sheer dollar value. So keep reading, and keep dreaming! What makes 1980s baseball cards so great? Though Gretzky started playing one year earlier in the World Hockey Association, before it was absorbed by the NHL, no cards were produced during his time there. Everyone likes to talk about the physicality of the game, as well as the dominance of a certain Chicago Bulls team led by Michael Jordan, but it’s not just nostalgia talking.. For the majority of these cards, the older they are, the higher the value. This is a beautiful baseball card. Cards depicting multiple players generally don’t draw as high of a value as those focused on a single athlete. Having started up in 1935, it’s fitting too that his rookie card would be difficult to track down, especially in any sort of well preserved state. Usually, if more than one player is pictured on a rookie card, it could theoretically lower its value, since the star could be surrounded by players who did not match their status. Basketball cards date back to 1910 and football cards date back to 1894. His basketball rookie cards became the stuff of hobby legend. That spark has mostly fizzled now, though, and a premium release like his 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensation card—particularly in less than pristine shape—is now accessible for under the ten dollar mark. https://dfarq.homeip.net/most-valuable-baseball-cards-of-the-1990s The most recent card on the list, McDavid’s Upper Deck rookie card, which includes a patch from one of his jerseys as well as his autograph, sold for $55,655 in 2018, up from $18,000 the year before. Upon his debut in the NBA, Grant Hill had all manner of buzz surrounding him. Canseco was popular and wildly successful, and in a popular era for collecting, his Donruss rookie card shot up in value upwards of $100, with every indication it would appreciate over time. Worse, he became linked to various substances, tarnishing his legacy. So the 1980 Topps set is historic because it was the last issue of Topps’ (original) monopoly. He was not only a perennial All Star, but ultimately led the Yankees to five World Series championships. Pete Rose is not in the baseball Hall of Fame, but he did make it into the WWE version in 2004. That’s why his 1963 card sold for 157,366 bucks in 2012. His rookie card is not so rare, but finding a good copy is hard. GPA with Top Pop Bonuses ... Definitely a fun set to work on! While a pristine copy of Griffey’s rookie card can still solicit bids in the hundreds of dollars at auction, collectors can obtain a more run of the mill edition in the neighborhood of a $10 price tag. George Mikan’s rookie card, from the 1948 Bowman set, is a valuable collectible. The problem is that while the supply has not increased, the number of collectors looking for these cards has,” says Adam Gray, a long time '90s basketball card collector. In 2002, The Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. If you're a devotee of '90s baseball cards, then your hero is probably Mike Oz. One of the most revered sports figures in Chicago’s history, Ernie Banks played his entire career with the Cubs. The allegedly cranky player was already five years into his career by the time he appeared on a baseball card in 1911. Today, fans can pick up his 1998 Leaf release in very good condition for under twenty bucks. We will use cumulative WAR (Baseball Reference's version) as a guiding force, but just as a guide: We want to capture a team's decade spiritually as much as statistically. At this point, many hobbyists are seeing McDavid’s card as an investment, hoping that his career is going to continue on its trajectory for the foreseeable future. I say “on the market”, but cards like these only rarely go on sale. 100%. The 1965 Topps NFL release came out on oversized cards that don’t fit typical protective cases or even sheets. One of the most desirable novelty cards of the early 1990s was Michael Jordan’s baseball rookie card.