What is Ken Griffey Jr's rarest rookie card?

frankhardy

What is Ken Griffey Jr's rarest rookie card?

I have a couple of guesses, but I was wondering what the board thinks.

My guess is -

1989 Topps Heads Up

1989 Star Nova Promo (only 40 made).

Does he have a more rare rookie card than either of those?

CNote

I had the '88-'89 Nova Promo- got it on Ebay as part of an '88 Nova set. All of the set came back Miscut, the promo got a 10. Sold it for $195.

vladguerrero

i dont buy a print run of 40 on the nova

jacksoncoupage

<< <i>i dont buy a print run of 40 on the nova >>



Huh. So there's no convincing you that Star had a basketball-reprinting-only policy?

VintageCardLover

i dont know which one is the rarest, but they are STILL printing 89' Upper Decks lol

frankhardy

I'm not sure of the print run either on those Nova Promos. That's just what I read in the SCD Standard. I do know that there is only a pop 1 in any grade in the pop report. As many Griffey collectors there are, you would think there would be more than one of those graded if they were common. Just my 2 cents.

eagles33

i'm not a baseball collector but one of the few baseball cards i do own is the griffey upper deck. Isn't the bowman tiffany his most rare rookie?

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

Unsure on rarest and I dont have access to the pop report but from the centering I've seen on the 1989 Fleer Glossy, a PSA 10 has to be near the top.

I have a Bill Ripken BGS 9 (highest grade I've seen) and want one higher.
Bought a sealed set for cheap recently ($40 plus 2 '95 Fleer boxes for $40 shipped). It's only a matter of time before I crack it.

frankhardy

I've gotten a PSA 9 before. I opened 2 sets recently and they were bad o/c.

Underwraps

1988 Best San Bernardino Spirit the Platinum Edition. This is the rarest Griffey Jr card on the planet as of today.

PROMETHIUS88

The 1988 Best San Bernardino Spirit set was limited to 1500 numbered sets. Difficult in high grade due to the fact it was on the top of the bagged set and had black borders on the top half of the card. I had a deal worked out to sell my set a few years back for $500 but couldn't let it go. Think I would be lucky to get $200 for it today. Tough set none the less... although it was a minor league card and not a rookie.

PROMETHIUS88

Referring to the platinum series as well.

Underwraps

89 Bowman Tiffany would then have to be one of his rarest rookies. I think it has a print run of 6500

Prom, I think you would get much more than $200 for that set.

72skywalker

I still think his 89 Donruss. I have only seen a few of those in my travels. hahahah

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

<< <i>I still think his 89 Donruss. I have only seen a few of those in my travels. hahahah >>



Travel further you must.

frankhardy

Make fun of the 1989 Donruss if you feel like it, but have you ever tried getting a 10 on that card? It is much tougher than you would think because of the dark borders. According to the pop report, only 3% off all of them graded got 10's, and that's for a modern issue that is plentiful.

mtcards

I think the rare PSA 6 "perfectly centered" Upper Deck variation with the little surface wrinkle on the back is extremely rare. I have been fortunate enough to acquire TWO of these bad boys in recent years.

10001110101

in quality shape his Kenner Starting line up card is a tuffy.

BunchOBull

An '89 Heads Up sold on eBay a few weeks back for just over $100 BIN...left a lot of money on the table.

jackstraw

His Fleer Glossy is very hard to find centered but his hardest rookie to find is the
Bowman Tiffany that is perfectly centered. I have seen 2 and lost out on both. One was a BGS 9 about 6 months ago and I tried to go cheap
and he ended up getting an offer of 100 which I was willing to pay I just tried to get it cheaper. A raw one just ended about 3 or 4 weeks ago for
something around 165 which is high but for a tough card ? I see a few BGS 9.5's around but they are off just enough top to bottom .
Very tough card. I might put the 89 Upper Deck Blank Back in this discussion but not sure how they were obtained? The Star cards are hard to gauge.
The Nova Promo seems to be real tough as in I have not seen one for sale and I know its on a big Griffey collectors want list. If your into Star which I am
really not but some are nice looking cards that I like for novelty but really wouldn't spend a boat load of money on them. Just my 2¢.

metsfan

<< <i>Make fun of the 1989 Donruss if you feel like it, but have you ever tried getting a 10 on that card? It is much tougher than you would think because of the dark borders. According to the pop report, only 3% off all of them graded got 10's, and that's for a modern issue that is plentiful. >>




Those cards chip real easy, you really need a loupe to look at the corners closely on those.

italianstallionyankees

<< <i>i dont know which one is the rarest, but they are STILL printing 89' Upper Decks lol >>



That is sure true Mcwilliams is doing it right now to pay off his court costs! Lol

frankhardy

<< <i>

<< <i>Make fun of the 1989 Donruss if you feel like it, but have you ever tried getting a 10 on that card? It is much tougher than you would think because of the dark borders. According to the pop report, only 3% off all of them graded got 10's, and that's for a modern issue that is plentiful. >>




Those cards chip real easy, you really need a loupe to look at the corners closely on those. >>



You are absolutely right. I have a loupe. It is essential if you send cards in for grading. My percentage of 10's went up drastically after I got a loupe.

CNote

<< <i>in quality shape his Kenner Starting line up card is a tuffy. >>



The Kenner SLU's earliest release is 1990, so it's not a rookie by any means.

CNote

The Nova Promo if anyone is interested....again, I sold this a while back for a good profit:

sportscardtheory

I think his "rarest" pack-released TRUE RC is the Bowman.

craigger

if any of you want (38) of those hard PSA10's of 1989 Donruss #3 the Rookies, let me know by PM!

Brick

I think the rare PSA 6 "perfectly centered" Upper Deck variation with the little surface wrinkle on the back is extremely rare. I have been fortunate enough to acquire TWO of these bad boys in recent years.

I know what you mean. I had 2 89 UD Rookies. Years ago I inspected them carefully. I sent what I felt was the nicest to PSA. Came back 6. A couple months ago for the heck of it I sent the other one to SGC. Came back 8. I don't know why the 6 is a 6 but it will stay in that slab. No trying for the 6.5.