Most desirable baseball 1980's rookie cards.... opinions?

Baez578

Since the 80's marks the unofficial start of the steroid era, most cards of this decade have little to no value these days. (Bonds, McGuire, canseco, Clemens, etc)
So, it made me wonder, what are some solid rookies that are worth investing into now for future value?

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Maddux , Gwynn, Puckett, and Ripken.

What do you guys think?

orioles93

Henderson, Ripken, Gwynn, Sandberg, boggs, mattingly, Puckett, Clemens, McGwire (US OLY), maddux, Griffey

edited to add griffey, forgot about him

ydapd

Griffey Jr. - 89 Bowman Tiffany
Larkin - 87 Fleer Glossy or 87 Topps Tiffany
Alomar - 88 Score traded Glossy
Biggio - 88 Fleer and Score update/rookies Glossy(s)

ThoseBackPages

Rickey Henderson - Only One Rookie Card. VERY rare in todays era.

NVbaseball

The decreased demand from drugs has very little to do with value of baseball cards compared to the extreme supply available from those years

If I had any idea of what was worth investing in, I would have already earned $100 million

RookieWax

Any top 1980s rookie list should have Randy Johnson at or near the top. In fact, he is probably the best left-handed pitcher in MLB history and among the top 5 overall pitchers off all-time. With over 300 wins and second on the all-time strikeout list (and accomplishing all of that during an era when opposing hitters were juiced up) he is without a doubt one of the greatest ever. Some of his tougher to find 1989 issues are very under-priced. I think some of that is due to collectors taking stories about him being unapproachable the wrong way. Johnson is a shy and private person who gave an incredible amount to charities and even set up some of his own - and he never called attention to any of it...so people really never knew about it. Do a little bit of research on it and you might be surprised.

MintMoondog

<< <i>Henderson, Ripken, Gwynn, Sandberg, boggs, mattingly, Puckett, Clemens, McGwire (US OLY), maddux >>



Good list, I would concur with adding R. Johnson and deleting the two steroid frauds.
IMO Henderson is the king of 80 rookies. That guy was an original both as a player and a person. The greatest lead-off hitter of all time.

ClockworkAngel

1981 Topps or Topps Traded Tim Raines is a good one who should be in the HOF, but isn't

1984 Donruss Joe Carter is one of my favorites.

Scottiec2288

Maybe 80s football would be better-Montana, Rice,Elway, Marino, Young ect..

digicat

Some of these names are already pretty hot and valuable. I wonder who the sleeper hits are going to be?

In the past few years, non-HoFer megastars like Darryl Strawberry and Bo Jackson got a lot of hobby dollars thrown at their rookie cards in PSA 10. Who's next?

Howard Johnson? Not a HoFer, but was a MLB megastar for a few years. His PSA 10 rookies are <$25.

MiniDuff

Someone forgive me for questioning the dead, but...

It amazes me that Puckett seems to get a free pass from roid suspicion. He had four home runs in his first 1,250 ABs, including none in his first 600. Then he exploded for 31. He also had anger issues. Not saying he juiced, no way to ever know, just surprises me he never gets mentioned either.

MiniDuff

On topic, I think Bo Jackson might have the biggest upside of the decade. Mythical talent and look at his 88 topps fb for evidence.

Beck6

Puckett was ripped too

Under the Radar guys

Dwight Gooden
Bret Saberhagan
Eric Davis
Mark Grace (Really a 90's guy)
Kirk Gibson

thenavarro

For standard issues, 1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett autographed by far. I've had several four figure offers for mine and haven't accepted one yet. I've been absolutely astounded at the number of people chasing that card. Of all my signed rookies, that one is the most requested.

(don't know about future appreciation value though, just like low pop cards, if several happen to pop up, that doesn't help in the long term)

Mike

mygotta

If I were to put them in a top 10, I would say:

1) 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
2) 1982 Topps Cal Ripken Traded
3) 1987 Donruss (or Leaf) Greg Maddux
4) 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr
5) 1984 Fleer Kirby Puckett
6) 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn
7) 1984 Fleer Roger Clemens
8) 1985 Topps Mark McGwire
9) 1987 Fleer Greg Maddux
10) 1987 Fleer Barry Bonds

Baez578

<< <i>Any top 1980s rookie list should have Randy Johnson at or near the top. In fact, he is probably the best left-handed pitcher in MLB history and among the top 5 overall pitchers off all-time. With over 300 wins and second on the all-time strikeout list (and accomplishing all of that during an era when opposing hitters were juiced up) he is without a doubt one of the greatest ever. Some of his tougher to find 1989 issues are very under-priced. I think some of that is due to collectors taking stories about him being unapproachable the wrong way. Johnson is a shy and private person who gave an incredible amount to charities and even set up some of his own - and he never called attention to any of it...so people really never knew about it. Do a little bit of research on it and you might be surprised. >>



Johnson is a great one. I forget he is technically 80's. I have a PSA 9 on his 89 score and his UD PSA 9 as well. Hopefully those will increase in demand.

mygotta

<< <i>

<< <i>Any top 1980s rookie list should have Randy Johnson at or near the top. In fact, he is probably the best left-handed pitcher in MLB history and among the top 5 overall pitchers off all-time. With over 300 wins and second on the all-time strikeout list (and accomplishing all of that during an era when opposing hitters were juiced up) he is without a doubt one of the greatest ever. Some of his tougher to find 1989 issues are very under-priced. I think some of that is due to collectors taking stories about him being unapproachable the wrong way. Johnson is a shy and private person who gave an incredible amount to charities and even set up some of his own - and he never called attention to any of it...so people really never knew about it. Do a little bit of research on it and you might be surprised. >>



Johnson is a great one. I forget he is technically 80's. I have a PSA 9 on his 89 score and his UD PSA 9 as well. Hopefully those will increase in demand. >>



Oh yes. I forgot to include him. He seems to be an underdog of the 89 set. I would actually replace him with Bonds, once the Hall voting comes up if Bonds has not made it in by then.

Big80s

I like any of the big Topps Tiffany rookies (in high grade), especially Puckett, Bo Jackson & Larkin.

mattinglymint23

84 donruss mattingly is a classic
Other threads here confirm it. Should be on the list.

Rudedawg

I will back what Navarro says on Puckett. I think that anything obscure, auto'd or PSA 10 of his has long term value. I have Puckett in some specialty sets of mine and I can't believe how fast and for what price some of his stuff goes for. I usually don't even have a chance once it goes up for BIN.

Henderson, Larkin, Griffey, Bo, Maddux, etc...... I would think are good bets over time. Basically make your best estimation on future HOF'ers who won't get snagged into the PED discussion. Larkin's RC card figures are a good indication of that, even though they are all in the junk era.

digicat

It seems like this thread has turned into "what's popular now" or something.

Do these cards really have more room to grow (beyond inflation) to qualify them as "investments"?

miwlvrn

Are you counting minor leagues and/or college issue, or just big leagues?

Foo3112

This is my list of desirable 80's cards. Im not going off price because then anyone can list the top 10 cards. This is just strictly my opinion and based off me being a child of the 80s' and remember desiring cards that I couldn't afford and now they may be worth next to nothing but they will always remain popular with collectors.

80 Topps - Rickey Henderson
82 Topps Traded - Cal Ripken Jr.
83 Topps - Boggs/Sandberg/Gwynn
83 Topps Traded - Darryl Strawberry
84 Donruss - Don Mattingly
84 Fleer Update - Clemens/Pucket/Gooden (Gooden PSA 10 sells for over $200 all day)
85 Topps - Mark McGwire
86 Donruss - Jose Canseco
89 Upperdeck - Ken Griffey Jr.

I would say that this list is as accurate its going to get on this thread and perfect for someone who wants to collect all the big 80's cards. Sure there are cards that are more valuable than some I listed but again, this its not all about money. These cards still remain popular with collectors today just as they did 20-30 years ago when they came out.

MintMoondog

<< <i>Someone forgive me for questioning the dead, but...

It amazes me that Puckett seems to get a free pass from roid suspicion. He had four home runs in his first 1,250 ABs, including none in his first 600. Then he exploded for 31. He also had anger issues. Not saying he juiced, no way to ever know, just surprises me he never gets mentioned either. >>



HAHA! Jim you continue to amaze me. I never put that together but thinking back I would have to agree - kinda like the Brady Anderson superman year. To be honest, there are VERY few cards I would shoot from this era as an investment because the supply is just too great - I do have several Henderson rookies in 9s.
My 1980s hoarding is limited to Yzerman rookies. This might be a lesson for 80s collectors. I bought one of the O'Peechee rookies in PSA10 when the pop was 3 (around 2004) and paid 3,000.00. In my mind I thought, how many of these can be floating around? Then it went to 5 around 2010 and I bought 2 more because the price was nice...now the pop last I checked was over 20 and I give up. I'm happy with my 3 which are framed - but multiply that scenario by 100 and welcome to the 80s world of baseball!!

handyman

If you include football.
I think montana is a great card in Mint condition.

calgarycollector

The 80's is what it was, as long we understand that, no harm.

For me 80's baseball needs the Bowman Tiffany Griffey.

And no one mentioned, but I would rather have the 83 Gwynn and Sandberg in OPC variants over the Topps. Check the POP report on those, still very low.

You also have a 89 OPC/Tiffany Randy Johnson. And the Smoltz Tiffany will become more appreciated over time.

Hallco

In a high grade and if it's sharp....81 Topps Kirk Gibson!

Baez578

Didn't think about the Gibson. That's a good card

RookieWax

People make inaccurate blanket assumptions and statements about "1980s" rookies as being too plentiful to ever gain in value. The truth is that there are plenty of rookies that are no more plentiful than 1970s or even 1960s Topps rookies in high grade. And when you factor in condition sensitivity and low populations in a PSA 10, there are several appealing and undervalued rookies of some of the greatest players of all-time that come from the 1980s.

mygotta

<< <i>This is my list of desirable 80's cards. Im not going off price because then anyone can list the top 10 cards. This is just strictly my opinion and based off me being a child of the 80s' and remember desiring cards that I couldn't afford and now they may be worth next to nothing but they will always remain popular with collectors.

80 Topps - Rickey Henderson
82 Topps Traded - Cal Ripken Jr.
83 Topps - Boggs/Sandberg/Gwynn
83 Topps Traded - Darryl Strawberry
84 Donruss - Don Mattingly
84 Fleer Update - Clemens/Pucket/Gooden (Gooden PSA 10 sells for over $200 all day)
85 Topps - Mark McGwire
86 Donruss - Jose Canseco
89 Upperdeck - Ken Griffey Jr.

I would say that this list is as accurate its going to get on this thread and perfect for someone who wants to collect all the big 80's cards. Sure there are cards that are more valuable than some I listed but again, this its not all about money. These cards still remain popular with collectors today just as they did 20-30 years ago when they came out. >>



But of course, those are for the most part, the most expensive cards of the 80's.

But aside from these, there are a number of good 80's rookies in the late 80's, even if there are an overwhelming amount. Larkin, Bonds, Jackson, Clark, McGwire (87), Canseco, Johnson, Biggio, Glavine, and a bunch of others I am not thinking of. They are not thousand dollar cards, but I think are worthwhile collectables as far as a solid rookie collection from the 80's.

Baez578

<< <i>This is my list of desirable 80's cards. Im not going off price because then anyone can list the top 10 cards. This is just strictly my opinion and based off me being a child of the 80s' and remember desiring cards that I couldn't afford and now they may be worth next to nothing but they will always remain popular with collectors.

80 Topps - Rickey Henderson
82 Topps Traded - Cal Ripken Jr.
83 Topps - Boggs/Sandberg/Gwynn
83 Topps Traded - Darryl Strawberry
84 Donruss - Don Mattingly
84 Fleer Update - Clemens/Pucket/Gooden (Gooden PSA 10 sells for over $200 all day)
85 Topps - Mark McGwire
86 Donruss - Jose Canseco
89 Upperdeck - Ken Griffey Jr.

I would say that this list is as accurate its going to get on this thread and perfect for someone who wants to collect all the big 80's cards. Sure there are cards that are more valuable than some I listed but again, this its not all about money. These cards still remain popular with collectors today just as they did 20-30 years ago when they came out. >>



I'm surprised to see canseco and McGuire on the list. If I were to pick a juice head from the 80's it would be bonds Tiffany rc

esquiresports

For me, in order, the most desirable cards (not the ones with the most upside necessarily, but are solid purchases):

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1983 Topps Tony Gwynn
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly
1987 Classic Travel Green Bo Jackson
1989 Fleer Glossy Ken Griffey Jr.
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken Jr.
1984 Topps Tiffany Don Mattingly
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany Bo Jackson
1988 Score Traded Glossy Craig Biggio

and can I throw in a non-rookie? 1989 Score Black & White Bo Jackson.

Yes, I'm a big Bo Jackson fan.

detroitlion20

i will agree that the 80's rookie cards are catching on and holding at a good rate. To me it is the players i grew up watching and that really got me in to collecting so they are more desirable to me, i mean don't get me wrong the Mantles and Aarons are nice but the 80s are more affordable. i would have to say my favorites are the 86 Topps Tiffany Traded Bo Jackson and the 1987 Classic travel Bo Jackson.