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1985 Topps Tiffany Mark McGwire PSA 10 GEM MINT (PWCC)

This is not my card ...although I wish I owned one. I know some people on here have tried looking for one so here is your chance. Me personally, I am not a fan of the rough cuts on this one but I think it's still interesting to see what this one ends up going for since they don't appear too often.

With 3 days left, this one is already at $2800. Ive included VCP to give you an idea that this should fetch probably in the 4K range due to its obscurity of rarely showing up in public auctions.

Tiffany PSA 10

Average Price: $2,300.00

9/2/15 eBay Best Offer $2,300.00
9/1/14 eBay 28 $2,025.00
6/24/12 eBay 45 $866.33
6/7/12 eBay 10 $731.78
5/20/12 SCP Auctions $1,252.80
5/6/12 eBay 25 $965.00

Comments

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,422 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Really surprising this card still realises such prices.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • SOMSOM Posts: 1,555 ✭✭✭
    I don't understand the high prices for McGwire's regular Topps card in PSA 10, either. It's more than ten times what Bonds' regular Topps rookies go for, and both players are linked to steroids.
  • billwaltonsbeardbillwaltonsbeard Posts: 3,748 ✭✭✭✭
    85 Topps McGwire was arguably the most iconic modern card for a couple of years.

    87 Topps Bonds was always considered his worst RC and even when he was on fire, it wasn't really popular.
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,655 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: billwaltonsbeard
    85 Topps McGwire was arguably the most iconic modern card for a couple of years.

    87 Topps Bonds was always considered his worst RC and even when he was on fire, it wasn't really popular.


    I agree, those Olympic Team cards are awesome.

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
  • That card is beautiful!
  • BaltimoreYankeeBaltimoreYankee Posts: 3,025 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Another reason for the price differential between 1985 McGwire and 1987 Topps Bonds is that while the 1985s are nowhere close to being scarce, the 1987s were produced in much more quantity.
    Daniel
  • I know 85 is actually pretty common year for baseball Topps cards to come by but if anyone has actually ever opened up a couple of wax boxes, getting centered cards from this year aint really as easy as it sounds. Especially on the biggest card in the set. You MAY pull two bigmacs if youre lucky and mine have always been OC in some way. Now imagining opening up a Tiffany set and your chance of pulling this 1 card perfectly centered. Good luck with that one. Thats why this card will continue to command even more.
  • ClockworkAngelClockworkAngel Posts: 1,994 ✭✭✭
    Were there less 1985 Tiffany sets produced than the others from the 1980's?
    The Clockwork Angel Collection...brought to you by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase
    TheClockworkAngelCollection
  • LarkinCollectorLarkinCollector Posts: 8,975 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: ClockworkAngel
    Were there less 1985 Tiffany sets produced than the others from the 1980's?

    IIRC, 87 was the peak for Tiffany production at around 75K sets and 85 was 35-40K.

    Edit: looks like I was way off in my recollection, 30K in 87, only 5K in 85 according to cardboard connection.
  • GoDodgersFanGoDodgersFan Posts: 1,391 ✭✭✭
    One of the most iconic cards from the 1980s and a gem mint tiffany one too. I can see 4k+ for this (I agree with Dnice).
  • ndleondleo Posts: 4,144 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The 1986 Tiffany Bonds PSA 10 is close to $1500, which I believe will be a record for this card.

    I raised this issue before, the 1987 Fleer Glossy Bonds PSA 10 pop is 440 vs 338 for the 1986 Tiffany PSA 10. I think the 10X premium for the Tiffany is too high or the 1987 Glossy is underpriced. I know there are probably pallets of 1987 Fleer BB Glossy sets in a warehouse somewhere, but with the current PSA standards, I wouldn't expect the pop to go much higher than 500. Centered copies are tough to find and should command a larger premium.

    Mike
  • DanBessetteDanBessette Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭
    I'll never own a McGwire or Bonds card.
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,655 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: DanBessette
    I'll never own a McGwire or Bonds card.


    If that comment is PED related then you probably need to add about 10 other star players from the 80's to that list.

    FYI Bonds never failed a drug test.

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
  • ndleondleo Posts: 4,144 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Cakes
    Originally posted by: DanBessette
    I'll never own a McGwire or Bonds card.


    If that comment is PED related then you probably need to add about 10 other star players from the 80's to that list.

    FYI Bonds never failed a drug test.



    Would David Ortiz be on that list? I am surprised he gets a pass for the failed test.
    Mike
  • David Ortiz I think will be the one who will break the mold and get into the Hall and then from there, guys like Clemens (who also never tested positive) will get a shot. Does Clemens belong? I would say so. There was no pitcher in the mid 80's and early 90's that was as dominant as the Rocket.

    I will always enjoy pulling Bonds and McGwire cards out of packs regardless.
  • ndleondleo Posts: 4,144 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Dnice
    David Ortiz I think will be the one who will break the mold and get into the Hall and then from there, guys like Clemens (who also never tested positive) will get a shot. Does Clemens belong? I would say so. There was no pitcher in the mid 80's and early 90's that was as dominant as the Rocket.

    I will always enjoy pulling Bonds and McGwire cards out of packs regardless.


    I agree. It will be hard for collectors from 1984 on to ignore the PED guys. There are basically 3 groups of stars with rookies from that era - Clean, Suspect, Proven. The shortest list by far is the Clean list.
    Mike
  • LarkinCollectorLarkinCollector Posts: 8,975 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: ndleo
    The shortest list by far is the Clean list.

    I'd be interested on thoughts of who's on the Clean list. I haven't heard any serious accusations against the following off the top of my head, but could be mistaken (and I'm sure there are quite a few others not included yet):
    Jeter, Larkin, Braves pitchers, Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson


  • FirstBeardFirstBeard Posts: 472 ✭✭✭
    You can add Rickey, Ripken, and Nolan to the list too.
  • LarkinCollectorLarkinCollector Posts: 8,975 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: FirstBeard
    You can add Rickey, Ripken, and Nolan to the list too.

    To which list?
  • DanBessetteDanBessette Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Cakes

    Originally posted by: DanBessette

    I'll never own a McGwire or Bonds card.




    If that comment is PED related then you probably need to add about 10 other star players from the 80's to that list.



    FYI Bonds never failed a drug test.







    Oh I've added them too. And I don't collect much after 1984 anyway, so it's mostly moot.
  • Nolan and Ripken would no doubt be clean. Rickey? I think he would fall more under the "suspect" for me. I mean he did play for the A's with Canseco and McGwire when that was going on so who knows. But Canseco called out a lot of people and if he called out BigMac, then I dont see why he wouldnt have also called out Rickey - especially since him and McGwire seemed close in the late 80's.
  • LarkinCollectorLarkinCollector Posts: 8,975 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Personally, I'd put Nolan in the suspect list as well, but I thought we were discussing post-84 rookies image
  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lance Armstrong passed 100's of tests and was doping the entire time. My boy Brock Lesnar finally got popped after 19 years. Could have been juicing the entire time.

    One guy was skinny, the other is a monster but both were doping. I bet there are plenty of guys who have been on something for a long time that didn't look like a steroid freak like McGwire or Sosa.

  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
    By the way. I opened one sealed set of the standard issue and the trading set in 2005 and the centering as I am sure most know was all over the place. My McGwire was 60/40 with a rough cut.

    There can't be too many of these left ungraded and sealed sets have moved up significantly since then.

    I purchased a 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany looking for a nice Bo and Bonds when they were in the low $200's a few years ago. A Bonds could be bought all day for $400 at the time in a PSA 10. Hindsight is 20/20 but boy were those cheap.

  • gregmo32gregmo32 Posts: 2,648 ✭✭✭
    The furthest date I can look back to is 2006, and the 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany Bonds PSA 10 sold as high as $2050 in 2007. But I know the card sold for significantly higher years before that, such as in 2001.

    If I remember correctly, for a brief time, even the 1986 Fleer Update Bonds PSA 10 was over a $5000 card.

    The Tiffany had to be in the high four figures at the time, but I will do some more research.
    I am buying and trading for RC's of Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Bob Cousy!
    Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
  • gregmo32gregmo32 Posts: 2,648 ✭✭✭
    And the "actual" list of PED using players would be far greater than the list of players who failed drug tests, or even the list of "suspected" players. This was an epidemic.

    To assume that any player is clean in that era is not the soundest policy, especially the superstars. Unfortunately, I would assume that means a lot of the "good guys" and some players who did not look like they were prepping for the cover of
    Muscle and Fitness would have been using PED, as well.
    I am buying and trading for RC's of Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Bob Cousy!
    Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I think I recall it was like 4k plus back in 2001 when an 89 Upper Deck Jr was 3k and the Tiffany McGwire was $7,500 to $10,000.

  • With prices like those, I am so glad I wasn’t purchasing graded cards back then. I would hate myself every single day if I had bought an 86 Fleer Update of Bonds for around 4-5K. This is exactly the reason why I personally choose not to invest real money into modern cards. I don’t care if they are having a great year. Me personally, I enjoy collecting the Hall Of Famers or the guys who have proven themselves and have stood the test of time and that are retired. To spend big money on Trout cards in just 100% pure insanity. The guy obviously has what looks like a great career ahead of him but then so did many other stars in the 80's and 90's and look how now - most of their cards can be had in 10's next to nothing.

    Not to get too off topic but cards with serial numbers and parallels and refractors and different colored borders are the biggest scam in the card collecting world. So we have the same card but now since yours is a "buyback" with a stamped number from 1-25 in silver, it’s worth more!? Really ..and why exactly? Oh because it just is. They only made 25 like the stamp says. Dude, you got scammed by the market. C'mon. Its marketing propaganda garbage. Sorry for that little rant but I see many collectors trying to obtain all the big stars in all the 800 varieties/colors that the manufacturer offers. Just give me 1 card from that player like the old days and I'll get it graded and hopefully I pull a 10 and if not, I'll buy one if I can afford it.
  • Love this card, glad to own a Fine 9!

    image
    Big Fan of: HOF Post War RC, Graded RCs
    WTB: PSA 1 - PSA 3 Centered, High Eye Appeal 1950's Mantle
  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,142 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: FirstBeard
    You can add Rickey, Ripken, and Nolan to the list too.


    You're kidding, right? Rickey and Nolan have both been accused many times.
  • It's a shame these guys don't get the positive publicity they deserve. Just think what the card would bring then!! I'm not a fan of Big Mac but can appreciate the records they set and man if you collected during the time he made the HR run this card was HOT and you saw it everywhere.
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,655 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: JJCTHE1
    It's a shame these guys don't get the positive publicity they deserve. Just think what the card would bring then!! I'm not a fan of Big Mac but can appreciate the records they set and man if you collected during the time he made the HR run this card was HOT and you saw it everywhere.


    Unfortunately you have some people like Dan Besette that just want to forget about the 80's & 90's players.

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
  • ndleondleo Posts: 4,144 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Cakes
    Originally posted by: JJCTHE1
    It's a shame these guys don't get the positive publicity they deserve. Just think what the card would bring then!! I'm not a fan of Big Mac but can appreciate the records they set and man if you collected during the time he made the HR run this card was HOT and you saw it everywhere.


    Unfortunately you have some people like Dan Besette that just want to forget about the 80's & 90's players.



    Bonds 2000-2004 stats still amaze me. I didn't follow baseball that closely at that time so I didn't know how great Bonds' numbers were. I remember Gammons or someone on Sportscenter comparing him to Ruth and Gehrig, but I couldn't believe those numbers were possible in the modern era.
    Mike
  • Gemyanks10Gemyanks10 Posts: 1,164 ✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Dnice
    With prices like those, I am so glad I wasn’t purchasing graded cards back then. I would hate myself every single day if I had bought an 86 Fleer Update of Bonds for around 4-5K. This is exactly the reason why I personally choose not to invest real money into modern cards. I don’t care if they are having a great year. Me personally, I enjoy collecting the Hall Of Famers or the guys who have proven themselves and have stood the test of time and that are retired. To spend big money on Trout cards in just 100% pure insanity. The guy obviously has what looks like a great career ahead of him but then so did many other stars in the 80's and 90's and look how now - most of their cards can be had in 10's next to nothing.

    Not to get too off topic but cards with serial numbers and parallels and refractors and different colored borders are the biggest scam in the card collecting world. So we have the same card but now since yours is a "buyback" with a stamped number from 1-25 in silver, it’s worth more!? Really ..and why exactly? Oh because it just is. They only made 25 like the stamp says. Dude, you got scammed by the market. C'mon. Its marketing propaganda garbage. Sorry for that little rant but I see many collectors trying to obtain all the big stars in all the 800 varieties/colors that the manufacturer offers. Just give me 1 card from that player like the old days and I'll get it graded and hopefully I pull a 10 and if not, I'll buy one if I can afford it.


    Marc, this is spot on and you pretty much put my thoughts into words as I was too lazy to respond lol. I'm all for people collecting what they like, but I feel that modern collecting has gone the way of playing "scratch tickets" trying to pull the big hit, or trying to collect the 2400 different variations of one card because one has a purple border instead of red and they made 3 less of the purple so it is worth way more! Hogwash...I'm glad I never got sucked into that. I collect up until 1994, but only because that was the last year real OPC baseball was made. I can remember insert mania setting in in the mid-90's and it was ridiculous.

    Anyhow, concerning McGwire and especially Clemens, they were huge when I was a kid and will never forget the childhood memories they gave me and for that, I will always collect them. Bonds as well. It's been said before, but Clemens and Bonds would have been HOF'ers no matter what they took. I get the same excitement pulling them out of a pack of 1989 Topps nowadays as I did in 1989 when I blew my allowance money on wax packs back then....I will always have an attachment to that era...childhood heroes.

    Always looking for OPC "tape intact" baseball wax boxes, and 1984 OPC baseball PSA 10's for my set. Please PM or email me if you have any available.
  • Nice investment card ...everyone wanted a 85 mgwire growing up
    And it's Tiffany!!
  • DanBessetteDanBessette Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Cakes

    Originally posted by: JJCTHE1

    It's a shame these guys don't get the positive publicity they deserve. Just think what the card would bring then!! I'm not a fan of Big Mac but can appreciate the records they set and man if you collected during the time he made the HR run this card was HOT and you saw it everywhere.




    Unfortunately you have some people like Dan Besette that just want to forget about the 80's & 90's players.







    1. My #1 collecting focus is an 80s player



    2. I never made any blanket statements about players from the 80s, 90s, or any other decade.



    3. Whatever happened to being free to collect what you like? You're free to collect juicers and I'm free to purge juicers from my collection, just like harvak is free to shoot for 30 trout variations and Marc and Jimmy are free to abhor modern color variations.



    Other than that, though, you accurately assessed me, what I think and what I said. Really spot on. Just don't let pesky things like facts, accuracy, reality or truth get in the way.


  • Sorry man I was just posting. I wasn't directing anything to you. Honestly timing is everything and the PED guys just played at the wrong time. It's a shame. Bottom line is they hit all those home runs. I don't care what they took, it happened. It's not like it was a magic bean that allowed bonds and Sosa to crank out all those home runs, it still took talent that no one else had. It is funny to see how bonds physical appearance changed from when he was a rook to being retired. He literally looks like a science project


    Originally posted by: DanBessette
    Originally posted by: Cakes
    Originally posted by: JJCTHE1
    It's a shame these guys don't get the positive publicity they deserve. Just think what the card would bring then!! I'm not a fan of Big Mac but can appreciate the records they set and man if you collected during the time he made the HR run this card was HOT and you saw it everywhere.


    Unfortunately you have some people like Dan Besette that just want to forget about the 80's & 90's players.



    1. My #1 player I collect is an 80s player
    2. I never made any blanket statements about players from the 80s, 90s, or any other decade.
    3. Whatever happened to being free to collect what you like? You're free to collect juicers and I'm free to purge juicers from my collection, just like harvak is free to shoot for 30 trout variations and Marc and Jimmy are free to abhor modern color variations.

    Other than that, though, you accurately assessed what I said. Just don't let pesky things like facts, accuracy, reality or truth get in the way.


  • DanBessetteDanBessette Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭
    JJC, no problem. you're not the one making things up and attributing them to my name. Your comment was fine, Cakes' was absurd. By the way, what's your first name, man?
  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,142 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: ndleo


    Bonds 2000-2004 stats still amaze me. I didn't follow baseball that closely at that time so I didn't know how great Bonds' numbers were. I remember Gammons or someone on Sportscenter comparing him to Ruth and Gehrig, but I couldn't believe those numbers were possible in the modern era.

    If you take steroids out of the equation, and simply look at on-field output/performance, nobody has ever hit better than Bonds did those 5 years. No one. And those 5 years were in a stretch of *13* straight seasons of 1.000+ OPS for Bonds. Unreal.

  • Wow $5600 for this one! Some people still love Big Mac...
  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
    26 bidders is impressive. I am almost positive this card could have been picked up for $1,500 a few years ago.
  • Well I certainly didn't see that coming. Wow
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