What is the most important sports card of all-time?
TheGoonies1985
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I will go with the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth with only 10 examples known.
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I do not see the T206 Wagner as king of the hill anymore. Babe Ruth is the new champion as he should have always been.
1988 Donruss Jose Uribe
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Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
I would go with the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. In 2022...it sold for a record 12.6 million, almost everyone would like to own one, and his impact on card collecting is significant in that it has turned the hobby into an investment as well.
"What is the most important sports card of all-time?"
The way the question is phrased, I would have to agree with the 1952 Topps Mantle.
I know you said “almost everyone,” so I’m not arguing with you, but I would never want to own that card. I know I’m part of a tiny minority. If somehow one found its way to me, like via inheritance or something, I would sell it as quickly as I possibly could.
Yaz Master Set
#1 Gino Cappelletti master set
#1 John Hannah master set
Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
1986 Fleer Jordan RC - He’s the GOAT and will be for several future generations comprised of many people with personal attachments to him. Can’t say that about Ruth, Mantle, Wagner etc. and stars like Pele and Ali don’t have the requisite card to be in the running.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
T206 Honus Wagner
Honorable mention... 1966 Topps Bobby Orr
Modern- 2006 Ace Novak Djokovic - He will hold almost every Tennis record man or woman.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
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I thought about the Jordan card, but only for a brief millisecond. Considering that baseball cards tower over other sports cards, when considering the "most important sports card", it has to be a baseball card, in my humble opinion.
Yes, it absolutely has to be a baseball card.
One that I think needs to at least be in the conversation is the Upper Deck Reggie jackson autographs. It has directly led to what much of the hobby is today, chasing limited run inserts.
52 T #311
One way to evaluate this is to find what the "MARKET CAPITALIZATION" is for a given card...for example How much is the total graded in each grade times the value...For example # of 10's X Price plus # 9's X price + # 8's X price etc...this will give you the total spent on a player's specific card and might be considered important to collectors.... I Ran a Partial 1989 Upper Deck Griffey #1 example of market capitalization 4,104 10's @ $1500 = $6,156,000 plus 30,105 9's at $200 is 6,021,000 plus 39,402 8's at $75 is 2,955,150 and assume another $3 million for grades less than 8 gives you a market capitalization of around $18 million...do this for the 1952 mantle or 1986 Fleer Jordan and you begin to see the popularity or importance of the card based on total value in the collecting world...Just a numerical thought as to how to answer the question
I think there is a difference between "most important" and "most valuable"
as far as most important, If you asked 100 collectors what the 1914 Ruth looked like, I would imagine over half would have no idea. If you asked 100 collectors what an 89 griffey looks like, I bet over 90% would immediately know.
I think it is the Griffey. it is an accessible card that anyone can afford. it is INSTANTLY recognizable. It kicked off the huge hobby boom of the late 80s-early 90s. It was also integral in the early popularity of grading. I wouldnt be surprised if it was the most graded card of all time. While it is not that valuable, it is an iconic card. and important to the history of collecting.
the ruth is just valuable.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Very interesting premise. While your idea is perhaps best suited under some category of "most valuable", certainly a card's individual and overall value should be factored into the equation of most important.
In 1985 when you could pull a Dwight Gooden card from a new pack of cards and sell it for three to five times the price of the pack, and then for several dollars as that year went on, that was basically a new phenomenon. That same year was when Mattingly took off. It was right around then were the boom you refer to really began, where chasing rookie cards really vaulted into the stratosphere.
Then came Jose Canseco the next year and he was the most anticipated rookie card before he became a star, the first prospector card. Gooden and Mattingly werent' chase cards until they produced great years. Canseco was really the first speculative chase card. Then Canseco delivered right away and it was Canseco that took the hobby to the level it was, not Griffey.
Griffey had the speculative element to his cards because of Jose Canseco. The difference was Canseco delivered right away 30 HR seasons (and the iconic 40/40 season and MVP) whereas Griffey took five years before he had his first 30 HR season(which mattered most back then).
The Hobby boom of that era started before the Griffey UD came out. For instance, dealers couldn't get enough cases of 1987 Donruss(because of Canseco the year prior) and their supply wasn't enough to meet demand and many dealers were going to places like Toys R Us and buying out their stock and instantly selling it for a mark up. That was the boom right there.
The 1986 Donruss Rated Rookie Jose Canseco actually did what is being applied to the Upper Deck Griffey and what caused companies to mass produce cards and people to buy them hand over first in 1988-1991.
Griffey didn't even own 1989...the Billy Ripken FF card owned the 1989 cards when they came out. That was the chase card.
Griffey UD RC did become hugely popular as time grew, but kids now don't even know what that is, or who he is. I show kids a picture of that card and cover his name, they don't know who it is. If I uncover the name and ask what card it is, they don't know that either....and I do that experiment with college kids too and that card/player is not nearly as "known" as is being portrayed.
Then as for what the Hobby has grown into with the importance of pop numbers, there are simply too many Griffey UD cards around with well over a million of them around in sharp condition...there are so many of them that 10 grades have to be artificially suppressed.
As for the OP question, I don't think any single card was the most important card. The most recognized card/player would either be the '52 Mantle or the Goudey Ruth #144, and value has a huge importance of the card because that automatically attaches importance to it. So there is a combination of factors....many average collectors wouldn't even know what the Baltimore Ruth is, but if that card sets a record then that may change going forward.
Ruth is really the only(the most) universally recognizable player if you showed his picture to 12 year old kids, 25, 50, and 85 year old kids and women.
I will cast a vote for the T206 Honus Wagner card.
That set is one of the first major large national sets, the card is basically the first ‘limited release, modern insert, /150’ style card - intentional or unintentional - and the set is still very widely collected by collectors of all ages.
For what it’s worth, I don’t own even a single Tobacco card. But their existence truly paved the way for sports card collecting as we know it today and they are the reason that this thing we do is now past a century old as a hobby.
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
I thought about it before looking at comments and came between the T206 Wagner and 1952T Mantle.
I would go with Mantle because I believe that card has made collecting more popular than the Wagner card.
For modern collecting, I love the 52 Topps Mantle.
Live long, and prosper.
Your assessment that Canseco did it better at a younger age is based on homeruns?
At age 20 KGJ came in 19th in the MVP voting, at age 21 he came in 9th.
At age 20 Jose did not finish in the MVP voting. At age 21 he came in 20th.
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Canseco won ROY of year in his first year with 33 HR and 117 RBI and delivered on the speculation everyone had when they were already buying his card before he even did anything of significance in MLB.
The HR and RBI is what really excited fans back then. in his third year he won MVP and had a historic 40/40 year. Back then that is what excited collectors more hence why Canseco cards were so hot so quick.
And they were in the World Series in 1988 and 1989(victory).
Griffey wasn't "Griffey" right away. He finished third in ROY voting and had some good years early but they weren't exciting collectors yet to that degree that Canseco already had.
Never said Canseco had better years as that isn't what the subject is about. Many fans back then had no idea what OPS was or that hitting 30 HR playing CF meant more than someone playing RF etc,etc, etc...
What fans did DO was buy Canseco RC hand over fist when they could. What the card.companies did do was mass produce cards even more because of the speculative hype and him delivering causing their products to be so hot. Griffey followed that. He didn't create that.
Griffey didn't hit 30 HR until his fifth year and that is when he really began exciting everyone when he became the big HR threat and then Griffey really took off when he became a threat to 61.
I remember paying $100 for the 1986 Donruss Canseco rookie somewhere in the mid 1980's ALso remember paying good money for the 84 Donruss and Topps Mattingly around that time as well
@Cakes @Cakes
In the December 1989 Beckett Jose Canseco was $48. '89 UD Griffey was $10.
In October of 1990 Beckett Canseco was up to $125.
I don't know when Griffey caught up in price and won't spend any time figuring it out. I know it was well after 1990. Canseco RC was still fire up until 1998 with the Blue Jays when he was closing in on 500. When Jose fizzled quickly after that, it is prolly when Griffey caught him(of from some arbitrary grading stuff)
I just know it is complete nonsense to say Griffey ushered in the RC hype...not even close. There are several ahead of Griffey in just the five years prior to him.
Griffey may have been the first 'high premium big card' but, it was the Leaf Frank Thomas made just one year later that was King for most of the 90's for that distinction anyway.
Jose Canseco was the first big rookie when opening packs for the current year and he delivered and delivered big for his cards for a decade plus, and his popularity ushered in the ultra mass produced era because everyone wanted to hit on the 'next Canseco'.
The 1985 Topps USA Mark Mcgwire rookie ignited the 1998 national advent of PSA grading when he was chasing homeruns record with Sammy Sosa...I think PSA 9's at the national show that year were selling for like $300 or so..Can't remember what PSA 10's were but I do remember Mark Murphy showing me a freshly pulled cello graded 1967 Topps Tom Seaver PSA 10 and we both pointed out the rough cut on the card but hey it was like that directly from factory...very cool memories
1966 Topps Don Mossi
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McGwire rookie, the star that burned bright his rookie year, died with the downturn(and his bad years), and then took off to new heights in 1998.
That's the thing, the Griffey RC never reached the frenzy of these other cards from that era. When Griffey started taking off as a player that is when that era of cards were slumping from realizing they were overproduced and the strike was affecting those cards and the entire game as well so his cards never had that type of frenzy.
In terms of rookie chase cards, Canseco, Mattingly, Gooden, and McGwire were all ahead of of Griffey at their heights. They created the RC frenzy that we know of now.
Awesome memory you have Mr. Swell Robinson...your interpretation of your memories is what I find very valuable and fascinating...I was forgetting about ole Doc Gooden back in the day also Darryl Strawberry was "HOT" or played well then as well as others (will clark, chuck finley, John kruk etc)...Rookie cards are great 20/20 hindsight to think about...A player needs a few years (maybe like 3-4 ) in the Majors to truely determine if they will be HOF candidates...prolly 5-7 years of major league play is more indicative of their HOF potential...I remember people admiring Griffey's "NATURAL Sweet Bat Swing" which he was likely blessed with from genetics and correspondingly his father's tutelage...Rock on!
For me it's the Brett rookie. As a kid (when Brett was in his prime) it was the coolest thing to have, but I could never swing one.
now that I'm an adult (well into it, unfortunately) I have quite a few. Still love them as much as anything ever made.
Thank you.
Yes, Strawberry was a hair below that tier. New York had Gooden, Mattingly, and Strawberry!
1987 Donruss was the best for breaking boxes/packs from 1987-1989 and selling because every rookie that was in the 1986 traded/rookie sets(Bonds, Clark, etc). were in high demand for their 'regular' RC, plus the rated rookies of Bo Jackson, Palmeiro, McGwire, Maddux. Palmeiro was known due to his college exploits and the Cubs had just become Wrigleyville and a popular team at that time. Then Larkin, Cone, and later Kevin Brown.
Even Rated Rookies of crap prospects sold much more than commons and that was resulting from Canseco. It was a strong rookie class. People were speculating big time. I remember selling Ken Gerhart 1987 Donruss rated rookies and he was 26 years old at the time lol...yet people were speculating on his power.
Eric Davis RC caught fire for a while then too. His 1985 Donruss flew off the shelves for $25-$30 in around 1986/87.
Those cards may have lost a lot of value now but it was a fun era to collect and sell.