Rare Ken Griffey Jr. Card Sets Yet Another Record

It’s no secret that the Ken Griffey Jr. card market is hotter than ever in a hobby that has collectors more energized than they’ve been in years. Typically, the culprit when discussing a new Griffey record is his iconic 1989 Upper Deck rookie card, this time it’s a more niche card getting the attention.

More specifically, the 1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 9 hit an all-time high on March 4 when it sold for $47,000.

1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold Ken Griffey Jr. Card — https://www.ebay.com/itm/188113773917?nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

It’s not just a few hand-selected Griffey cards that collectors are chasing either. The Ken Griffey Jr. card market as a whole has seen remarkable growth in recent years. According to data from Card Ladder, Griffey’s overall card market has risen more than 75% over the past two years and an astonishing 584% over the past seven years. The chart below illustrates just how dominant Griffey’s card market has been.

Now with the Griffey market soaring the way it has, it’s by no means unreasonable to question whether it can continue at this pace. In fact, collectors looking in from the outside should probably be asking that question before jumping in. The answer, however, largely depends on the overall health of the hobby.

Over the last year, Ken Griffey Jr. has seen a 17.09% increase in his Card Market Index.

Check out some of his most popular cards that have gone up in Alt Value since then. pic.twitter.com/XRdGaYpgkz
— Alt (@altxyzofficial) May 25, 2025

If the card market continues to grow the way it has in recent years, it’s unlikely that Griffey’s market declines much given the consistent demand for his cards. As new waves of collectors continue entering the hobby, nostalgia tends to hit for Griffey in a way it does for very few players. However, if the broader market were to cool off, there’s no denying that his market, like any other, would likely take a hit. That said, with the amount of media attention and investment now flowing into the hobby as a whole, a major drop in Griffey’s card values seems unlikely, although it's important to recognize that in any market, outliers are always possible.