The Five Essential Baseball Cards of the 1980s
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The 1980s may have been the most significant and transformative decade in Hobby history. When the decade started, there was one major set, most collectors were kids, and card collections were largely regarded as items to toss once outgrown. By the end of the decade, there were five major sets, adults were everywhere, and card collections were treated as a serious part of one's retirement portfolio. With baseball cards at the absolute peak of their popularity, it seemed like EVERY card, or at least every rookie card, was essential. Today, of course, collectors know most of their "investments" from the decade failed to pan out long-term. Still, here are Five Essential Baseball Cards of the 1980s that have stood the test of time.
1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
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Leading off the Five Essentials list is the greatest leadoff man of all-time, Rickey Henderson. When his 1980 Topps card came out, the Hobby was in a very different place. To the extent packs had any "hits," they were cards of established stars like Johnny Bench and Willie Stargell rather than rookies and prospects. Even with the Man of Steal on pace to nab his first 100-steal season in 1980, this was a card most collectors could have picked up for a quarter. Today, of course, the card costs a bit more, with PSA 10 copies selling in the six figures!
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken, Jr.
By 1982, rookie cards were starting to carry the supersized premium collectors are accustomed to today, even as there was less definition in the Hobby as to what exactly constituted a rookie card. The result was that the 1982 Topps Traded Ripken, no longer regarded as a rookie card today, was often priced as high as $4 or $5 at a time when collectors could purchase the entire 132-card Topps Traded set for $8 or so. As crazy as the price may have seemed at the time, in retrospect it reflects one of the decade's greatest bargains.
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly
Unlike the two previous selections on the Essentials list, this is a card that has decreased in value considerably since its peak. Still, it makes the list for its absolutely scorching hot status throughout most of the decade. These days a PSA 7 will cost collectors about $50. Forty years ago, they might have had to trade their entire collections!
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr.
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Batting cleanup on the list of Essentials is the decade's most iconic card, the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr., rookie card. Though it might roil vintage collectors to admit it, this card of the Kid may well be one of the three most iconic baseball cards of all time! If you're looking for a single card to signify the birth of the Modern Hobby, here it is: card 1 in the 1989 Upper Deck set.
1989 Fleer Bill Ripken
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Capping off the list of Five Essentials is the quintet's second Ripken and first non-rookie card. As hard as it is to believe, at least among collectors who've advanced beyond a junior high school sense of humor, the F*ck Face Ripken was for a time the year's hottest card, even more coveted than the Griffey rookie. Curiously enough, exactly ten years earlier it was a rather pedestrian second baseman with a famous last name who had the year's hottest card.
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.