He held the major league record for career saves from 1993 until 2006, when San Diego Padres relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman passed his final total of 478. You'll usually find them on lower-quality card stock or with rough, jagged cuts. Less than 200 of these "cards" ever passed through PSA's grading facilities, so they're quite rare. 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. Its a dude dressed like a chicken. Many consider this card not only to be the most iconic card of the 1980s but one of the most important in the hobby in general. Ask i may have it for sslr. No position player in the American League enjoyed a better all-around season as Rickey Henderson did in 1981. If one does surface for auction, expect prices over $2,300. 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. Which, Im sure, did not go over very well with mothers. One of Cal Ripken Jrs most valuable baseball cards from the 1980s is his 1982 Topps Traded rookie card. The young, bearded lefty poses in his White Sox uniform on his 1981 Topps rookie card, which has received a nice boost in price ever since his Hall of Fame induction. Which is a minimal amount. So they printed the cards with the words F**k Face. Bowman had not released a set since 1955 after they were bought out by their largest competitor, Topps. But, how difficult are they to find in PSA 10 condition? Due to the low print run of the letters in white variation, they are much more valuable than the copies with yellow text. 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 hype surrounding Ken Griffey Jr. turned out to be well-placed as the legendary slugger went on to a Hall of Fame career. So far, there have been just 22 submitted. 1981 Donruss wasnt littered with a lot of visually appealing cards. If youre a Barry Bonds collector or an 80s baseball card collector, O-Pee-Chee cards are the way to go. So, it's well over twenty times more difficult to find this card in a PSA 10 holder than it is his Topps rookie. If you scan through the 1982 Topps base set checklist, you'll quickly remember that Cal Ripken Jr. first appeared alongside Bob Bonner and Jeff Schneider as part of the "Baltimore Orioles Future Stars" card. Nobody seriously, nobody could have seen 305 wins and the Hall of Fame in his future. Donruss and Fleer would join the market in 1981 and that competition would help light the spark for the hobby craze of the 1980s. And, fortunately for the collecting world, Topps gave him a standalone rookie card when they included him in their 1982 Topps Traded set. Indeed, Grace went on to collect the most hits of any player during the Decade of the 1990s. Valenzuela appeared alongside Joe Perconte and Mike Scioscia in the base 1981 Topps set as the three "Dodgers Future Stars" on card #302. Using his fastball almost exclusively, he struck out the side, fanning Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Alvin Davis. 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. We love the '80s (and '90s) baseball cards: The top 15 sets of the era And, speaking of classics, this 1980 Topps Schmidt qualifies, forever tied to the start of a dominant decade that left no doubt he was among the all-time greats. Meanwhile, Fleers offering paired the future Bash Brother with pitcher Eric Plunk. The huge yellow lettering of the Pirates team name across the top paired with that awesome retro Pirates jersey and cap make this card really pop. Lets look at how many reside in a PSA case. 1980 Topps Card Prices | PSA & Ungraded Values - SportsCardsPro But this, the only RC of future Hall of Famer Raines pictured alone, is about as close as it gets. They were based in Passaic, New Jersey. 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. So, many collectors dont even know they exist. This is more than likely because the population is much smaller for the Bowman rookie. 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. A raw and un-graded Rickey Henderson rookie card in less-than-mint condition sells anywhere from $30 to $50. Lee Smith was primarily a relief pitcher during his 18-year career in the Major Leagues. My next move was to go diving through my cards to see if I had one. The most valuable baseball card from the 1980s is Rickey Hendersons 1980 Topps rookie card. But there is a snake in this picture. There were other significant cards when 1986 Topps Traded sets dropped Bo Jackson, Will Clark and Wally Joyner to name just a few but the companys first Canseco card did move the needle in the secondary market, even though Donruss and Fleer had included the youngster in their regular sets that year. However, due to market conditions, values fluctuate. Card values tanked and many collectors now refer to that part of the hobby as the "junk era." Another Barry Bonds rookie card comes in at number 6 on the list. High-grade versions of the future Hall of Famer and Oakland Athletic great's 1980 Topps card cost . Nobody wants to look goofy while trying to make the all-important first impression and all. 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. With only 371 found in gem mint condition, they are relatively rare and expensive. It certainly does. 1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1986 NFL Draft. Topps manufactured a striking Pete Rose card in 1980, featuring an intense close-up shot of the player's face. These sets were given to card shops as limited edition sets and not sold in stores. Topps decides not to follow through with the set and tells them to dispose of the cards. This is Lee Smiths most valuable rookie card and one of the more expensive baseball cards from the 80s. Rookie of the Year Mark McGwire. 25 Most Valuable 1989 Topps Baseball Cards. You know, for a time there, he really did kind of look like a human version of E.T. The white lettering with pink Two For the Title came from factory sets. Roger Clemens played for 24 seasons in the MLB and put up some monster stats during his career. 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. The Topps Traded set, however, has had a mind-blowing 46,835 submitted! The third of Donnie Baseballs three 1984 Rookie Cards from the major manufacturers of the time. Yeah, we know. PSA 9 examples have sold for upwards of $6,000. He deserves so much more than that. That kind of of success on that stage can get a card like this released later in the season noticed. Iconic card: 1980 Topps #482, which sold for $180,100 in February 2021. Lets take a look a the population report. 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. If the population stays this low, we can expect to see the value rise. This Topps RC may have been slightly overlooked upon its release, but took center stage as Hershiser pitched the Dodgers to the 1988 World Series title. Eric Davis was the choice of many collectors hoarding cards in the age of the era of stash-and-sell. As a rookie, he did not hit a homer. There are no shortage of buyers for this card. Also, the exclusive held by Topps ended in 1981, and brands like Fleer and Bowman began to produce official MLB cards again. Overall, he had a solid professional baseball career, but he didn't quite put up the kind of Hall of Fame resum needed for induction when he was first eligible in 2007. 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. He hit four the next year, then exploded with 83 round-trippers from 1986-88. There is a lot of speculation about how it hit the market with no definitive answers. Sure, Gwynn was one of the greatest hitters who ever played with 8 batting titles to his name, but why are collectors willing to pay so much for this card in top grade? 6. 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. 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. Mickey Mantle is a name known even to . 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. The one shown here is the Platinum version which has a gray border. The Wizards first Cardinals card helped drive Topps second Traded box set. In 1984, the young slugger put on a clinic that cemented his spot and won the hearts of Yankees fans the world over. I didn't know it at the time, but these errors only turned up in factory sets and all my Donruss Opening Day cards had been pulled from packs. With just 29 of the 1,000 Gwynn rookies submitted graded gem mint 10, finding one for auction will be complicated. 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. And you get a Griffey Jr. RC! which would have made fun viewing. Adjusting from the American League to the National League may have been the root cause for the drop-off. O-Pee-Chee complies and produces roughly 130 sheets containing 132 different players. This RC was on fire when pulled from 1988 Donruss packs.