The Five Most Valuable Baseball Cards of the 1980s...At the Time!
If you collected baseball cards in the 1980s, two things are almost certainly true. One is that nearly all your best cards from back then are worth almost nothing today. The other is that you had an absolute blast collecting them regardless.
RELATED: Are My Old Baseball Cards Worth Anything?
Grab a price guide today or check the "Sold" listings on eBay, and you'll get a pretty good idea of what your top treasures from the decade are worth, but what fun is that? If you really want to relive the great times and memories of being a card collector in the 1980s, why not take a look at what your top cards were worth back then!
RELATED: The Five Impossible Cards of the Junk Wax Era
At the time, there was no more authoritative, trusted, and current source of card values than the Beckett Baseball Card Monthly, known simply as "the Beckett" to most collectors. Therefore, what better place to look then the final Beckett of the decade to relive the glory days of your 1980s card collection! Without further ado, here are the five most valuable baseball cards of the 1980s, according to the December 1989 issue of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly. (Note that the list only includes cards listed in the Beckett, hence does not include minor releases.)
1986 Donruss Jose Canseco
Checking in at number five is what at least for a time would have been considered the card of the decade. While the Jose Canseco Donruss Rated Rookie was valued north of $100 at its peak, it closed out the decade at "only" $48. Meanwhile, that some money could have bought you a super clean 1968 Topps Hank Aaron or Willie Mays with enough left over to buy 7-Eleven Slurpees for a week. Then again, did the Hammer or the Say Hey Kid ever go 40-40?
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly
Batting cleanup on the list of the decade's most valuable is the much coveted Donruss rookie card of the Hit Man. Though he had 1984 rookie cards with Topps and Fleer as well, the relative scarcity of Donruss that year positioned this card head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, demand for Donnie Baseball's Donruss rookie was so high at one point that counterfeits started flooding the market. As with the Canseco, the card's price went even higher at various points during the decade, but it still closed out at a very healthy $60, or right about the amount you might have paid at the time for a sharp-cornered 1964 Topps Sandy Koufax.
1984 Fleer Traded cards of Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens, and Dwight Gooden
At decade's end, the three most valuable cards of the 1980s all came from the same set: 1984 Fleer Update. Ultimately, this set reflected a perfect storm in the Hobby. On one hand, distribution of Fleer Update was extremely limited, meaning even the commons from this set ended up quite pricey. Additionally, the set coincided with the cardboard debuts of three of the decade's hottest young stars. And finally, at least as far as the Puckett card is concerned, Topps omitted the Twins outfielder from its own Traded set, meaning he was a Fleer exclusive. Now just how much were these cards worth, according to the December 1989 Beckett? How about a cool $250 combined: $90 for the Puckett, $85 for the Rocket, and $75 for Doc. Crazy to think that same cash could have nabbed you the iconic 1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese and $25 back in change!
Honorable Mentions
Just behind the five cards profiled here are the 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson ($40) and 1984 Donruss Darryl Strawberry ($35). In case you're wondering about the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr., rookie card, it was a heckuva bargain back then at only $10. As hard as it might be to believe, Junior wasn't even the highest priced card in the set. That honor, thanks to a $12 price tag, belonged to Jerome Walton of the Cubs!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.