The One Gregg Jefferies Card That Could Have Made You Rich!
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If you collected baseball cards in 1988, there's an excellent chance you didn't just chase Gregg Jefferies cards but in fact hoarded them. After all, the young Mets phenom not only batted .500 in his first season as a big leaguer (look it up!) but he spent the entire 1988 season well above .300 in decidedly more plate appearances, even showing a bit of pop as well.
As was nearly always the case in the late 1980s, collectors had quite a choice when it came to picking out their preferred Jefferies cardboard, though the only truly correct choice was to buy them all! Among the major brands, Gregg's rookie card could be found in the Donruss, Fleer, and Score sets but was notably missing from Hobby mainstay Topps. As a matter of fact, Jefferies didn't even crack the Topps Update set that year! (And yes, one can only assume someone was fired for the oversight)
Then again, rookie-mania was still relatively new in the late 1980s. While there was no Topps rookie for Jefferies by today's standards, a good number of collectors back then were happy to gobble up his much anticipated 1989 Topps card, which lacked true rookie card status but carried a designation at least some collectors valued even more: First Topps Card. This really was a thing back then, duly noted in the Beckett as FTC. Plus, who didn't love the 1989 Topps Future Star design?
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Of course, collectors today know all too well that these early Jefferies cards, whether from 1988 or 1989, didn't exactly live up to the hype. However feverishly they might have been planning their early retirements at the time, the truth is today that the man's cards are more or less commons, the sort of cards one might even deem overpriced in a hobby shop's dime box. What most collectors don't know is that there is at least one very notable exception, thanks to an off-the-radar "test issue" from Topps.
The 1989 Topps Double Header issue is not one many collectors remember. A bit gimmicky, the set featured various miniatures of top stars encapsulated in little plastic stands. The front of each card matched the player's standard 1989 Topps card, apart from size, while the back matched the player's Topps rookie card.
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Despite a star-studded checklist and a relatively low distribution--at least by junk wax standards--these cards are extremely affordable. Chances are, most players on the checklist will cost you more for shipping than for the cards themselves. As for Jefferies, he's not part of the set, at least not exactly.
In addition to the standard Double Headers, Topps released an extremely tough test issue featuring only Mets and Yankees. These cards were only sold in the New York area and only for a very limited time. These cards are so hard to find that the set still remains uncatalogued on Trading Card Database more than three decades after its release.
It is in this set's 24-card checklist that you'll find (or at least look for) Gregg Jefferies. At present, only the aptly named eBay seller KingOfOdd seems to carry the cards. As an indication of how tough this test issue can be, even commons like Rafael Santana and Randy Myers sell for $69 and $79 respectively. Or if an unopened box is more your style, be prepared to pony up a cool grand. As you might have guessed, it is in this set that you will find Gregg Jefferies.
This was 1989 and Topps HAD to put Gregg Jefferies in the set, especially after omitting the Hobby's hottest hitter the year before. Still, there was a problem. Remember, each card's reverse was supposed to show the player's rookie card. Uh oh. What if Topps forgot to give him one in 1988? What was Topps supposed to do? Go with Gregg's rookie card from archrival Fleer? Never! Simply double down by using the 1989 Topps Future Star card on the front and the back? Nope. The card was far too important for such short-cuts.
Topps went way outside the box and pulled in an image of Jefferies with the minor league Tidewater Tides, one that doesn't appear to have been used on any of the infielder's 1000+ other cards. Though KingOfOdd has this Jefferies priced as a common, we are still talking about a Gregg Jefferies card worth $69 or more. Compare that to the ones you were hoarding back in 1988 and 1989. True, these babies weren't easy to find, even in New York, in 1989, but they were definitely the Jefferies cards you should have been hoarding. Not only would a stash of 100 be worth about $7000 today but you wouldn't even need to get the cards slabbed. They already are!
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.