5 Must Own Quarterback Rookie Cards From the 1980s
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Football card sets of the 1980s that have stood the test of time in the sports card hobby are those that include an iconic quarterback’s rookie card on the checklist.
Those are the types of cards capable of elevating a star-studded set to legendary status, which is the case with the iconic gunslingers included in the 1984 Topps and 1989 Score sets. They’re the kinds of cards with enough staying power in the hobby to prevent the 1981 and 1987 Topps from being cast aside.
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There are five essential quarterback rookie cards from the 1980s that stand out from their peers because of what those players accomplished. They combined to win nine Super Bowls, claim five Super Bowl MVPs and four NFL MVP awards and appeared in 17 Super Bowls before their respective Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinements cemented their statuses as hobby mainstays.
Joe Montana, 1981 Topps (#216)
No quarterback is more identifiable with the 1980s than Montana, who was named the MVP of three of the San Francisco 49ers' four Super Bowl victories. The 1981 season was Montana’s third in the NFL, an appropriate season for Topps to produce his rookie card; his touchdown pass to Dwight Clark late in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game propelled the 49ers to their first Super Bowl.
The most recent PSA 10 (population of 115) Montana rookie card sold for $62,200 at auction on Jan. 3 (verified by Card Ladder). The price drops significantly to the PSA 9 (population of 2,217), which recently went for $2,645 in an eBay auction on Jan. 18, and the last PSA 8 (population of 10,008) sale was a $390 purchase on Fanatics Collect last Thursday.
John Elway, 1984 Topps (#63)
The No. 1 overall pick in the historic 1983 draft and a two-time Super Bowl champion, Elway led the Denver Broncos to three Super Bowls in the 1980s and was named NFL MVP in 1987. One of 12 future Hall of Fame selections with a rookie card in the 1984 Topps set, Elway’s most recent PSA 10 (population of 192) sold for $13,000 (an eBay best offer verified by Card Ladder) on Thursday.
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For collectors who don’t want to pay the premium for the PSA 10, Elway’s PSA 9 rookie card (population of 3,152) routinely sold online for less than $500 through the end of 2025, until recently (a Fanatics Collect auction on Jan. 18 saw the PSA 9 go for $660). PSA 8 (population of 11,889) copies of Elway’s rookie card have sold 13 times in 2026, 10 of which have been under $150 (two eBay auctions ended last Thursday with winning bids of $122.50 and $122.51, respectively).
Dan Marino, 1984 Topps (#123)
The production of Marino’s rookie card coincided with the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s 1984 season, which has stood the test of time as one of the most impressive single-season passing campaigns in NFL history. Marino became the first player in league history to record a 5,000-yard passing season (5,084) and threw for a then-NFL record 48 touchdowns en route to the 1984 NFL MVP award and the lone Super Bowl appearance of his decorated career.
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The first transaction of Marino’s PSA 10 rookie card (population of 421) in 2026 was Card Ladder-verified eBay sale of $5,100. According to Card Ladder, five verified online sales of Marino’s PSA 9 (population of 4,501) rookie card since Jan. 1 have ranged between $385 (an eBay auction on Jan. 11) to $426.77 (an eBay auction last Saturday), while two Card Ladder-verified PSA 8 (population of 15,578) sales last Saturday were for $108.50 and $105.50, respectively.
Jim Kelly, 1987 Topps (#362)
Kelly made his Topps debut in the company’s inaugural 1984 USFL (#36) release, which was available only as a 132-card factory set. Kelly debuted with the Buffalo Bills, who selected him in the first round of the 1983 draft, in 1986, resulting in his 1987 Topps rookie card standing the test of time as the key card in a set featuring the rookie cards of Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley (#125) and quarterbacks Randall Cunningham (#296) and Doug Flutie (#45).
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The last PSA 10-graded copy of Kelly’s rookie card, of which there are 456 on PSA’s population report, sold for $620 in a Jan. 15 eBay auction. Especially compared to fellow 1983 draftees Elway and Marino, Kelly’s PSA 9 (population of 2,263) and PSA 8 (population of 1,962) prices are affordable for collectors of all budgets, with recent sales of $63 and $30, respectively.
Troy Aikman, 1989 Score (#270)
Score’s inaugural football release is one of the most iconic sets of the sports card hobby’s junk wax era, with 11 future Hall of Fame players included on the checklist. Aikman is one of them, fulfilling the potential he brought to the NFL by going from the No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 draft by the Dallas Cowboys to a three-time Super Bowl champion and a Hall of Fame inductee.
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Even though the PSA 10 population of Aikman’s rookie card (1,916) is higher than any of the other four quarterbacks mentioned, six Card Ladder-verified sales of more than $600 in 2026 (the most recent sale was a $625 eBay best offer accepted on Thursday) illustrates the respect collectors have for key 1989 Score cards. Aikman’s PSA 9 (population of 8,356) rookie card has recently sold for around $50 (a $50 bid won an eBay auction on Jan. 18), while his PSA 8 (population of 7,392) rookies typically go for $20-$30 online.
-1f9b5aba42acf122a9de17edfe18f6ad.jpeg "Jeff Howe")
Jeff Howe is a sports writer with over two decades of professional experience contributing to ESPN.com, Rivals.com and the Sporting News, among other publications. He currently reports on the Texas Longhorns for “On Texas Football” after covering the Longhorns for 247Sports and CBS Sports. His hobby journey started when he was 6 years old, hanging out at his dad’s card shop and collecting cards alongside his two brothers.