Class of 2015's best cards

totallyradd

What would you consider to be this year's class best card?

These would be my picks, but I don't collect any of these guys so I don't really know (though Pedro is my favorite pitcher of all time):

Randy Johnson 1989 Fleer Marlboro Error
Pedro Martinez 1991 Upper Deck
John Smoltz 1989 Topps Tiffany
Craig Biggio 1988 Fleer Update

ThoseBackPages

Randy Johnson 1989 OPC
Pedro Martinez 1991 Upper Deck (only RC)
John Smoltz 1988 Fleer Update (Non Glossy)
Craig Biggio 1988 Score Traded Glossy

esquiresports

These would be my picks:

Randy Johnson 1989 Fleer Glossy
Pedro Martinez 1991 UD
John Smoltz 1988 Fleer Update Glossy
Craig Biggio 1988 Score Traded Glossy (I really like this card)

I guess I like glossy cards.

vintagefun

I'm probably in the minority, but I'm all about the 89UD for Randy.

91UD for Pedro
And probably the Fleer Updates for Biggio and Smoltz

jay0791

For psa purposed the cards are already on the future rc hof set

89 ud for r j

Goomba78

Randy Johnson 1989 Topps Tiffany
Pedro Martinez 1991 UD
John Smoltz 1988 Fleer Update Glossy
Craig Biggio 1988 Score Traded Glossy

PSASAP

I like the 1992 Leaf Gold Rookie Pedro card, even though it's technically not a rookie.

MinorLeaguer

For early Biggio cards, the 1988 Jones Photo Tuscon Toros Craig Biggio is tough to find in any condition. I only saw one on ebay in the last 5 years or so (complete set to boot) and was lucky to snag it on a BIN. It is not the 1988 CMC or 1988 Procards Tuscon Toros Biggio cards that can be found regularly on ebay. It looks along the lines of the Bob's Camera Richmond Braves type of photo card; the most collectible of those perhaps is the 1987 Bob's Camera Richmond Braves' Tom Glavine.

Only one 1988 Jones Photo Biggio ever graded by PSA, and they knocked it out of the park...getting a 10! Probably mine would grade in the 7 range.

Good luck hunting one down!

MinorLeaguer

For early Biggio cards, the 1988 Jones Photo Tuscon Toros Craig Biggio is tough to find in any condition. I only saw one on ebay in the last 5 years or so (complete set to boot) and was lucky to snag it on a BIN. It is not the 1988 CMC or 1988 Procards Tuscon Toros Biggio cards that can be found regularly on ebay. It looks along the lines of the Bob's Camera Richmond Braves type of photo card; the most collectible of those perhaps is the 1987 Bob's Camera Richmond Braves' Tom Glavine.

Only one 1988 Jones Photo Biggio ever graded by PSA, and they knocked it out of the park...getting a 10! Probably mine would grade in the 7 range.

Good luck hunting one down!

miwlvrn

<< <i>For early Biggio cards, the 1988 Jones Photo Tuscon Toros Craig Biggio is tough to find in any condition. I only saw one on ebay in the last 5 years or so (complete set to boot) and was lucky to snag it on a BIN. It is not the 1988 CMC or 1988 Procards Tuscon Toros Biggio cards that can be found regularly on ebay. It looks along the lines of the Bob's Camera Richmond Braves type of photo card; the most collectible of those perhaps is the 1987 Bob's Camera Richmond Braves' Tom Glavine.

Only one 1988 Jones Photo Biggio ever graded by PSA, and they knocked it out of the park...getting a 10! Probably mine would grade in the 7 range.

Good luck hunting one down! >>



I'm with you on the minor league cards. The 1988 CMC cards for Randy Johnson and Biggio are a lot tougher than the 1988 ProCards, due to the black borders and the card stock just seeming to be more susceptible to wear. The Randy Johnson in particular is tough because it is the top card in the team set bag and they almost always took a lot of corner abuse. The Biggio is at least tucked away in the middle and protected a bit by the other cards. Note, this is the regular CMC card for Johnson, not the AAA All-Star which is not as tough a set.

There are 3 times as many 1987 Donn Jennings graded for Johnson as there are the 1987 ProCards one, but there are about 2.5x as many 10's in the ProCards compared to the Jennings. Feels like the Jennings card must have a million copies. The ProCards isn't that hard to track down in nice shape.

Of course, the 1986 ProCards Smoltz and Randy Johnson are fun to own since they are the first cards of each, though I only recommend buying graded ones of these if you're not really up on them since there are tons of counterfeit 1986's out there for these guys, Maddux, and others. A 1987 ProCards Smoltz in a Gem Mint 10 is harder to get than a 1986 10.

Also, the casual buyer needs to watch out for getting the right Pedro when considering his minor league issues. Don't accidentally get Pedro A. Martinez when you don't mean to. Pedro's 1990 Sportpro is extremely plentiful and therefore not very expensive to get a 10. In terms of value, Pedro's highest card would be if you could pull a 10 in a 1991 Cal-League Bakersfield #32. There are some 10's for the Cal-League All-Stars #1 but not the Bakersfield. The pop report is wrong for these cards; there is no such thing as a 1991 Cal-League All-Stars #32 and all those graded and labeled as such are mech errors. They are the Bakersfield card. PSA made the same error with the Piazza cards too.

So, if we're talking best cards in terms of highest value in a Gem Mint 10 grade that are rookie or earlier, I think you can go with:

1988 Jones Photo Tuscon Toros Craig Biggio
1987 Procards Glens Falls Tigers 372 John Smoltz
1988 CMC Indianapolis Indians 1 Randy Johnson
1991 Cal League Bakersfield Dodgers 32 Pedro Martinez

miwlvrn

Strong price for this 1988 CMC PSA 10 Smoltz tonight at $208.49. Good indicator of how much higher than this one the 4 potential ones in my previous post (some are not available in 10 yet) would sell for.

CDsNuts

Pedro has a 1991 Classic Travel Update card (not a Minor League Card). It looks like crap but is much tougher condition-wise than the UD Final Edition.

MinorLeaguer

A bit overpriced but very timely: 1988 Jones Photo Biggio

Only 4 ever graded. A PSA 10, BGS 9 & two BGS 8.5