1991 Leaf Gold Rookies Mike Mussina PSA 10

DeutscherGeist

I did not see a thread on this card, so I am making this one. Before the HOF voting that eventually immortalized this wonderful pitcher, the card was about $125, now it can be obtained for less than $100. Considering this card is rarer than most contemporary cards and his HOF induction was a bit of a surprise, I thought the prices would be higher.

hyperchipper09

I really like that particular issue. Back in the day pulled the Mussina, Bagwell and Tim Costo(lol) out of packs. Have Bags and Mussina on my eventual buy list.

JoeBanzai

Demand often peaks before HOF induction as people think the prices will skyrocket when player gets in.

ReggieCleveland

1991 is still a little too late for the revolution right now. We're still working on 1986 & 1987. Its day will come though.

Arthur

craig44

Always enjoyed watching moose pitch

DeutscherGeist

JoeBanzai,

I understand what you mean, but that mostly applies to players who are expected to get in. Surprise inductions like Ted Simmons, Harold Baines, etc do garner major upswings in their cards. Perhaps Mussina was not too much of a surprise or his card can get an upswing later as ReggieCleveland suggests.

One other Yankees pitcher to keep an eye is David Cone. He has all the accolades except for eclipsing 200 wins. He was not a stat compiler but he does have a robust strikeout total that puts him among the elite of baseball. His rookie cards could be sleepers. His 1987 Topps Traded Tiffany in PSA 10 runs about $60, I bought that for far less a year ago or so, so some upswing happened recently. The supply is low right now and some people probably anticipate his induction, but not a lot. Once he gets in, people will need to buy his cards to complete their HOF collections.

Coarsegold

No offense but Cone is never getting into the HOF. There's a reason he only got 3.9% of the BBWAA vote and was one and done.

daltex

@Coarsegold said:
No offense but Cone is never getting into the HOF. There's a reason he only got 3.9% of the BBWAA vote and was one and done.

I agree on the merits of Cone's election, but recall that Simmons only got 3.7%.

RookieWax

With the Mussina rookie insert card to chase...I've felt the current price for those 1991 Leaf series 1 boxes is a bargain.

ReggieCleveland

@DeutscherGeist said:
His 1987 Topps Traded Tiffany in PSA 10 runs about $60, I bought that for far less a year ago or so, so some upswing happened recently. The supply is low right now and some people probably anticipate his induction, but not a lot.

This hasn't been due necessarily to interest in Cone as much as a resurgence in people looking for PSA 10s of period cards from this era. You can look at prices for everyone that was relevant back then and the demand has shot through the roof in the past year -- Matt Williams, McGriff, Cone, Surhoff, Burks, Seitzer, Grace, Jefferies, Sabo, Devon White, etc.

Cards I was buying for $12-$15 are suddenly $60 cards and the pop has only increased. I really wish I had just stuck with my project and filled in more holes.

Arthur

ndleo

@ReggieCleveland said:

@DeutscherGeist said:
His 1987 Topps Traded Tiffany in PSA 10 runs about $60, I bought that for far less a year ago or so, so some upswing happened recently. The supply is low right now and some people probably anticipate his induction, but not a lot.

This hasn't been due necessarily to interest in Cone as much as a resurgence in people looking for PSA 10s of period cards from this era. You can look at prices for everyone that was relevant back then and the demand has shot through the roof in the past year -- Matt Williams, McGriff, Cone, Surhoff, Burks, Seitzer, Grace, Jefferies, Sabo, Devon White, etc.

Cards I was buying for $12-$15 are suddenly $60 cards and the pop has only increased. I really wish I had just stuck with my project and filled in more holes.

Arthur

This is so true. I was buying up the PSA 10s of those 80's stars just to complete the RC run. Got bored after a while and now I wish I had finished it.

JoeBanzai

@DeutscherGeist said:
JoeBanzai,

I understand what you mean, but that mostly applies to players who are expected to get in. Surprise inductions like Ted Simmons, Harold Baines, etc do garner major upswings in their cards. Perhaps Mussina was not too much of a surprise or his card can get an upswing later as ReggieCleveland suggests.

Lots of speculation in the hobby; rookie cards go for insane prices even before the player has played a game in the minors, much less the Major Leagues, lots of people buy up cards of guys who have good a shot at the HOF early.

Baines was a surprise, but I don't think Mussina getting in was too surprising. Smart money buys a players cards even before they retire. The ones that wait for induction prolly waited too long.

ReggieCleveland

@JoeBanzai said:

@DeutscherGeist said:
JoeBanzai,

I understand what you mean, but that mostly applies to players who are expected to get in. Surprise inductions like Ted Simmons, Harold Baines, etc do garner major upswings in their cards. Perhaps Mussina was not too much of a surprise or his card can get an upswing later as ReggieCleveland suggests.

Lots of speculation in the hobby; rookie cards go for insane prices even before the player has played a game in the minors, much less the Major Leagues, lots of people buy up cards of guys who have good a shot at the HOF early.

Baines was a surprise, but I don't think Mussina getting in was too surprising. Smart money buys a players cards even before they retire. The ones that wait for induction prolly waited too long.

@JoeBanzai said:

@DeutscherGeist said:
JoeBanzai,

I understand what you mean, but that mostly applies to players who are expected to get in. Surprise inductions like Ted Simmons, Harold Baines, etc do garner major upswings in their cards. Perhaps Mussina was not too much of a surprise or his card can get an upswing later as ReggieCleveland suggests.

Lots of speculation in the hobby; rookie cards go for insane prices even before the player has played a game in the minors, much less the Major Leagues, lots of people buy up cards of guys who have good a shot at the HOF early.

Baines was a surprise, but I don't think Mussina getting in was too surprising. Smart money buys a players cards even before they retire. The ones that wait for induction prolly waited too long.

I agree with this but we still see bumps whenever someone gets voted in, without fail. I have to be honest, too, I'm one of those not-very-smart people. I've done the "I really wish I had gotten one of their rookies because now I really want one" dance before, it's not fun. But I've gotten smarter over time. Sold on the Baines and Lee Smith inductions for nice gains.

I think I'm at the point now where there's still so many cards that I want that it's still justifiable (at least in my own mind) to rip wax/sets looking for submittable cards. When you want PSA 10s of more than a dozen cards from one issue it can payoff nicely to rip.

Arthur

jeffcbay

This thread prompted me to pick up three super cheap Series 1 boxes to chase a minty Moose... MAN what an extremely boring box to rip LOL. I got the boxes for less than $10 each from my LCS, so I'm not upset about the price, but wow what a waste of cardboard. The best stars in Series 1 are Bonds and Henderson. Out of three boxes I only pulled two Mussina cards. Fortunately both are sharp and centered. You get about nine Gold cards per box, and I have what seems like a half dozen of every other Gold card, but only two of Moose. Figures

ReggieCleveland

The problem with the cards is the gold foil. Early-'90s cards with a lot of gold foil (ie. 1992 Upper Deck basketball, 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations, etc.) are just brutal to get 10s on because the gold foil is just a playground for scratching, chipping, and misapplication. The full-bleed doesn't help but, really, it's all the gold foil.

Arthur

DeutscherGeist

With so many 1980s cards skyrocketing, this one is still left behind. It may be a bargain to buy now as the 80s madness catches up with the early 90s. There are not so many gold series that were printed, but maybe some collectors favor the 1991 Fleer Ultra Update, which is also not a very high print card.

Prices are changing rapidly on those 80s cards, so checking current ebay sales is worthwhile and very telling. Mussina cards have not made a move yet.