1991 Donruss Original Ken Griffey Jr Error Card 3. By partnering with Kodak, Topps delivered beautiful full-color, borderless cards that featured high-quality images. Topps did a great job with its All-Star card design for its 1991 set. The card of Jones, an eight-time All-Sar and former Most Valuable Player, has become of one of the more sought after cards in the junk wax era particularly in . Rememberwhen Upper Deck released their debut set in 1989, they changed the hobby forever and forced Topps and other manufacturers to up their game. 1991 Nolan Ryan Topps Desert Shield #6 Buy on eBay One of the most underrated cards of all the Nolan Ryan baseball cards. That helps to explain some of the rarity of this set. After Jones, other big name stars present themselves. Originally, Topps listed his slugging percentage for the 1987 as618(missing the decimal point) on the back of the card. Most expensive baseball cards in history. The Legacy of Bowman Baseball Cards. Counting down the most valuable baseball card sets from the late 1990s using the highest recent sale in any grade 9 or below from any grading company (PSA, B. Read our methodology . Still are. 1989 Ken Griffey Jr Topps Card 3. #163 I have about 30 box or 1991 tops baseball cards. Anson Whaley is a contributor to Sports Collectors Daily and has been an avid pre-war and vintage card collector for more than 20 years. The look of the card was utterly simplistic gray cardboard; a uniform-matching color border; the teams nickname in the bottom right; a Topps 40 Years of Baseball logo in the top left but it still somehow resonates with collectors to this day. Investing in cards involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. Aside from batting .325, well above his career average of .276, Ripken also set career highs in home runs (34), RBI (114), OBP (.374), slugging percentage (.566), OPS (.940), OPS+ (162), and total bases (368). How many exist today, really, is anybodys guess. List by Card #, You own: 0 / 850 items That was the headline topping an article written by John Leptich for the Chicago Tribune in October 1990, during the first viewings of the new 1991 Topps set. And there are only a couple worth over $300-$10,000. The big draw is the first-year players. Card Number: #302. That fact probably helps drive the graded card market, too, as having the PSA or BGS stamp gives you at least some assurance you have the real thing. 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. When it comes to the most valuable baseball cards of the 1990s, only the Frank Thomas error exceeds it. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at the list: 1991 Topps #360 Emmitt Smith Estimated PSA 10 Value: $100 After making his rookie cardboard debut in the 1990 Topps football set, the company included Emmitt Smith in their "Super Rookies" subset the following year. Was he originally slated to be the first card in the set but Topps decided to go with Dave Stewart at some point instead? Your Account has been confirmed and activated successfully. However, while some of them made their way overseas, there are reports of others remaining here in the states. 25 Most Valuable Baseball Cards 2000: Price List 1. 1991 Topps Jason Giambi Team USA Rookie Baseball Card. )-78 including all ABA players and football from 1968-1981. You can easily distinguish them from the base cards by the Desert Shield logo on the front of the cards. A bar runs along the bottom of the card has both the player name and position. 21 Surprisingly Cheap: Tony Gwynn 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn was arguably the best pure hitter of his era or perhaps any other. But, Ryan wasn't the only one to dress up so nicely as Dave Stewart put on a tuxedo for his card as well. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2022 by Old Sports Cards, LLC. The only box set I ever purchased. To pay homage to that longevity, they added a 40th Anniversary logo on the cards and that is found in addition to the Desert Shield stamp. If you do not receive the verification code within 60 Seconds, we will send you the activation link again. The price guide can be accessed in the top menu of this page. Consider his 1987 season, for example, when he hit 49 home runs, drove in 118 runs and boasted a slugging percentage of .618. That said, prices for graded cards will increase the price in a hurry. 1991 Topps. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. My brother and I must have gotten tired of opening them, and moved on to something new. This PSA article, in part, details several types of counterfeit Desert Shield cards with fake foil stamps. A completely unopened wax box of 36 packs was sold in December 2020 by Heritage for $30,000. An earlier Sports Collectors Daily article with a first-hand account from a soldier in the Middle East mentions cards being thrown away and even burned as part of fires. When I watched Griffey playing during the 1990's, it almost seemed a certainty he would one day be the all-time leader in home runs. Derek Jeter 2000 Topps Gallery Exhibits 3. His 368 total bases were actually tops in MLB that year. 2000 Topps Traded Miguel Cabrera 2. 2022 Topps Chrome Baseball, Sonic Base Cards Are Different. Still, there were and are plenty of these dudes available, which dampens their value often less than $50 for PSA 10 copies, and south from there. Ripken was simply on fire during the 1991 season and there was nothing that he couldn't do. Topps also used the horizontal layout a technique it still uses in flagship today to produce striking portrait cards such as Roger Clemens propped up against the Fenway Park scoreboard. Its like they found old cards in a warehouse and held an auction.. I have basketball sets from 1969(? Im familiar with all the cards shown. And to date Ive only pulled a single vintage card, a 1968 common!. Baseball; Sets; 1991; Overview; 1991 Topps. Many of the rookies come from the Draft Picks subset, the best of which is Chipper Jones. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at the list: 1991 Bowman #183 Jeff Bagwell Rookie Card Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $225 When the Boston Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash on January 5, 1920, they completed the worst trade in baseball history. Due to poor sales of the. But make no mistake in 1991, these were not terribly easy cards to find. Well past his prime but still pitching at a high level in 1991, it was anyone's guess at how long his career would eventually last. This has a produced a legion of 91 variation collectors who have been unearthing differences in the set for the past decade, years after it was issued. 1991 Stadium Club George Brett (#159) Brett was more than a decade removed from his 1980 peak, and just a couple years out from retirement when this card was issued. But, for a guy with a .338 career batting average and eight batting titles to his name, he and the rest of baseball had been used to a much higher standard of batting wizardry. One of the most important rookie cards of the 1990's, this card is routinely in high demand. From Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Honus Wagner to Los Angeles Angels standout Mike Trout, here are nine iconic cards of star players that were sold or auctioned for significant sums: 1. You can email him at [emailprotected] or find him on Twitter @PreWarCards. I have lots of cards from baseball, hockey, basketball, and football. Its that last cardboard set, tying son to father to grandfather. Click on any card to see more graded card prices, historic prices, and past sales. Rating: 7.1 (153 votes) . Be careful if you pursue these babies, though, and watch out for telltale signs like . The cards are exactly the same as the normal Topps cards, except for the presence of a gold foil Desert Shield emblem stamped on card fronts. 2. INSTANT WIN, each pack proclaimed in the bottom right corner. Among the more well-known and difficult variations to discover include the Doug Drabek card (a white inner border rather than a black one), the Dennis Oil Can Boyd card (hand under the flag on the Topps 40th anniversary logo) and the highly sought Mark Whiten card variation, in which Whitens hand gripping the bat handle overlaps the white outer edge of the card. There were only around 6,500 of the Desert Shield versions produced for each player making them very limited and on top of that, you can imagine how few survived war-time conditions in top condition. There are clearly two, distinct, packaging types for two different market destinations and with each, specific variations are found. 1 set on the PSA registry with an amazing 759 of 792 cards graded a PSA 10 sold at auction for over $106,000. Baseball Cards. The funny thing was, he would waste almost no time breaking his own recordwhen he threw hisseventh and final no-hitter against Toronto on May 1, 1991. During his 1990 campaign, Henderson led all of MLB with a .439 OBP, 1.016 OPS, 189 OPS+ and 119 runs scored. Of those submitted, eleven graded gem mint 10, 797 mint 9, and 1,460 near-mint to mint 8. Back then, we were always clamoring for limited print runs, premium (white) card stock, and clear photography. How high can these cards rise? Other cards that come from the same set that are also worth a mention include Mark Whiten and Don Mattingly. #10 1962 Topps Joe Torre (RC) #218 PSA 10 sold for $15,344 1962 Topps Joe Torre rookie card on eBay Tom Brady 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket /100 BGS 9/10 ($3,800,000) CardLadder. Thanks for this article I have something to share with my 2 boys now. There were only a handful of cards worth more that $50 during this time. Through 1989, when they produced 25,000 Tiffany sets, Topps actually released print run numbers publicly. Theres a link to the price guide at the top of this page. 1989 Steve Avery Signed Topps Rookie Card 10 Bo Jackson #600 Then, theres the Chipper Jones card, with graded examples usually running close to $1,000 or more. Track your collection for free. In practice, you can probably find even PSA gems for less than these prices on eBay or at shows. Additionally, unopened product is sometimes found. I always loved how Topps displayed Ryan on this card. And, the numbers indeed show it as his slugging percentage and OPS plummeted to .383 and .714, respectively. What is the value of that card? I have this box set too. I dont know what to do with them all . Here are the top deals on boxes currently listed on eBay. The number of sets continued to expand that year and each one printed their pictures on lighter, whiter stock. And can you believe that the Desert Shield version of this card can sell for thousands of dollars? It may be shocking but it's trueonly 31 examples of this card have been graded in PSA 10 condition as of this writing so collectors are willing to pay up big-time to own one. There is plenty of room for all the game's top stars. All rights reserved. By utilizing Kodak technology, Topps delivered an incredible product that firmly put them as a serious competitor in the premium segment of the hobby. Other superstars like Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken, Frank Thomas, and Greg Maddux can be yours for peanuts or less most of the time. However, a case can be made for the '68 Topps card; we'll cover that in the next item. Click on any card to see more graded card prices, historic prices, and past sales. Because of the sets high profile among other cards from the 1990s, there have been plenty of counterfeits to hit the market over the years. The 1991 Topps set debuted just as America was engaging in the first Gulf War. I have a small printing plate of the of the Ken Griffey Jr. card,have no idea if is real.Please send comment.Sincere Thanks,Mary B. I dont specifically remember hearing of any 1991 printing plates that made it into the hobby, but its possible, given the Topps Archives sales several years back. Long red box 40th anniversary. Like the 1991 Donruss, Fleer, Topps, Ultra, and Upper Deck sets, large print runs saturated the market with these cards, driving down their values. How much are YOUR cards worth? Like so many kids of my generation, I was pretty hooked on cards by late 1990, said Dylan Charles, a collector on the West Coast. To put things into perspective, Mattingly led the Majors in 1986 with a .573 slugging percentage and .967 OPS. When 1991 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards first hit the market, it was clear what Topps was attempting to do: offer a premium set to compete with Upper Deck. #1. 1993 SP Derek Jeter Rookie Card #279 #2. But Charles, and others, have opened that much 91 Topps for another reason, one that continues to make the set as collectible as anything issued by Topps today. That meant several never really made their way into the circulation of collectors. Ryan was 43 years, 4 months and 11 days old when he threw that record-breaking no-hitter (his sixth) against Oakland on June 11, 1990. This 91 Topps sold for $47 around Thanksgiving 2021 and moved again for roughly $60 near Valentines Day 2022. Who knew that the young man stoically staring at you in this picture would become a 468-homer-hitting, MVP-winning Hall of Famer? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. It requires a lot of work, especially if you want to collect the more nuanced and questionable varieties.. But hobbyists know its value, as this gem mint card consistently sells between $80 and $100. A pair of thin frames are also around the photo. In the opposite corner, Topps trumpets its 40th Anniversary, a 792-card salute to its reign as the preeminent bubble gum card company in the world. Some of the game's greats had more than one season that could be considered the greatest of their careers.