After 60 years in the hobby, Topps helped celebrate their "Diamond Anniversary" by packing so much into their 2011 Topps baseball card set. Only 7 of the Ty Cobb cards have ever been submitted to PSA for grading which speaks to the rarity of them. His 1951 Bowman issue is his only recognized rookie card and along with the Mantle rookie is the key to the entire set. The 1954 Wilson Franks Ted Williams baseball card is one of if not the most important regional card ever produced. Prices are updated daily based upon 2021 Topps Chrome listings that sold on eBay and our marketplace. After signing a three-year, $38 million deal in the offseason to remain in Cincy, the 27-year-old first baseman busted out of the gates in a full sprint in 2011. Babe Ruth rookie cardsare also part of the 1916 M101-4 Sporting News set that is believed to have been printed shortly after the M101-5 set. Mays could hit, throw, field and run with the best of them. If so, then please fill out the form below and I'll be in touch right away. Surprisingly, many dont even consider him the best pitcher ever, though. The black borders are susceptible to showing wear and chipping but finding any card from the 19th century in high grade will undoubtedly be difficult anyways. 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle RC #3. 2022 Topps Baseball Rookie Cards Guide. But in 2011, the 37-year-old superstar hit just .272 with an uncharacteristic .645 OPS. As with any colored border, though, theyre susceptible to showing chipping and wear. Heritage Auctions sold a copy of this card graded in PSA 10 Gem Mint condition for a jaw-dropping $612,359 in August of 2016. 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner: $7.25 million 3. That was the most any Houston Astros rookie had ever driven in during one month as a rookie. Collectors find rookie cards are some of the most valuable baseball cards to collect from any player. Click on any card to see more graded card prices, historic prices, and past sales. Larry Doyle, a second baseman, played for the New York Giants of the NL at the time so most likely that is the reason for the mix-up. Though he may not have been MLB's hottest rookie in 1990, he certainly turned into one of the biggest superstars of his era. Halladay was great, giving up just one run on four hits in eight innings. And it can be tough to find in high grade, too. The card shows a young Ruth in a Boston Red Sox uniform before they traded him to the rival New York Yankees. Either 10 Turkey Red Cigarette coupons or 25 Old Mill or Fez Cigarette coupons would earn you one card. Distracting print lines usually hold this card back from higher grades, though. The number of chase cards available to collectors may have seemed overwhelming at the time but, in retrospect, it was great to see Topps offer so much variety. While not as pricey as the Yellow or Red Ruths of the same set, its still a very expensive card and a key member of the Ruth quartet. 1986 Topps Pete Rose Card 3. Prices are updated daily based upon 2022 Topps 1st Edition listings that sold on eBay and our marketplace. Estimates place the number of front/back combinations around 5,500 which led to this set being nicknamed The Monster.. This is the keyJackie Robinson baseball card you should add to your collection. All of them are on this list of most valuable baseball cards so that speaks to their importance and desirability. A record that is pretty safe to say will never be broken. M101-5 cards are more difficult to find than the M101-4 cards but pricing of the M101-4 version is also expected to realize around $1 million in PSA 8 condition. Altuve was hitting an incredible .423 at that point but eventually cooled to finish with a .276/.297/.357 slash line. And come the postseason, he was on another level, leading St. Louis from a 90-win Wild Card berth to a second World Series title in six years. Jackie Robinson, Mike Piazza, Hideo Nomo and, you guessed it, Fernando Valenzuela each took the league by storm as soon as they stepped on the field. In 11 playoff contests against the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, he slashed a blistering .314/.489/.771 with four home runs, 12 walks, four doubles, seven runs scored, ten RBIs, and two stolen bases. However, as mentioned earlier, the 1914 Cracker Jack cards were packaged directly inside the boxes so theyre usually more difficult to find in good condition. 2010 and 2011 were two of the most emotionally draining years of Chipper Jones' Hall of Fame career. Most Expensive 2021 Topps Chrome card list & price guide. Shortcuts: Most Expensive , Cheapest , List by Card # Over the first seven games of his MLB career, Altuve had at least one hit, tying him with Russ Johnson for the club record for most consecutive games with a hit to begin a career. There arent manySatchel Paige baseball cards in the hobby but this is a great looking card of the legendary pitcher. 25) 1987 Topps Wade Boggs (#150) Most collectors will tell you they prefer the eye appeal of his 1915 Cracker Jack card but his 1914 version is the more rare and valuable of the two. Cobb is pictured is his Detroit Tigers uniform leaning on his bat atop a multi-colored background. 2020 Topps card list & price guide. Mathewson won 30 or more games four different times in his storied career, attributing much of his success to a specialty pitch that was comparable to a screwball. Or, feel free to call/text me at 305-684-6680! Big names like Albert Pujols, Ichiro, David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, Miguel Cabrera and Clayton Kershaw help round out a solid checklist. Anson was arguably the biggest star of his era but unfortunately, there are very few cards from those days that show him as a player. It was a brutal way for the season to end for the 90-win Red Sox. So, if you can get your hands on one of these cards in high grade then you are looking at some big bucks. In the NLDS, the 102-win AL East champion Phillies faced a molten-hot St. Louis Cardinals squad that had fought back from a massive Wild Card deficit in September. The card is key for three main reasons: 1) 1952 was the first year Topps entered the sports card market so the set itself is wildly popular and even common cards in mint condition can fetch over $1,000. Considered one of the toughest post-war cards to collect, Leroy Satchel Paiges rookie card is a key to this set along with rookie cards of Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial. A record that is pretty safe to say will never be broken,Cy Youngtotaled an incredible 511 wins over his career. Two decades of pro ball were catching up to Ichiro. This card has been and will likely remain the most valuable baseball card for years to come. Considered the Holy Grail of all trading cards, the 1909 American Tobacco CompanyT206 Honus Wagner cardremains the symbol of trading card collecting today. The Iron Horseappears twice in the 1933 Goudey setwith card #s 92 and 160 to his credit. Although it features identical imagery as his 1914 Cracker Jack issue, most high-end examples of these two issues are of the 1915. Centering and chipping along the red bottom border are usually obstacles to achieving a higher grade. The Big Train is a true legend of the game and this card is a great tribute to him. The White Cap variation is considered to be the most difficult of the three Mathewson cards, but the Portrait is the most popular. The glossy coatings of these cards present a bit of an issue with cracking at times but they are nonetheless some terrific cards. It's still a very unusual-looking card but is one that many collectors dream of owning. The 1911 George Close Candy (E94) baseball card set may not be as popular as others of the pre-WWI era but it is still iconic in the hobby. Late into the 2022 season, Paul Goldschmidt had a legitimate chance at winning the Triple Crown. So, there you have it: the most expensivebaseball cardsthat youre ever likely to encounter. Posey was one of the biggest young names in the game at that point so seeing Topps issue multiple cards for him in this set should be no surprise. There are 11 different backside variations in total each with The George Close Co. printed on them. It is by far the most important of allHank Aaron baseball cards. The T206 set is special for many reasons but one of them is no doubt the numerous brand advertisements on the backs16 different backs in total. This is my favoriteSandy Koufax baseball cardand one of the best-looking cards of the 1950s in my opinion. Was it because Wagner wanted to be paid by the tobacco company to use his image? Caramel cards are usually more scarce than tobacco cards since they were sold to children rather than adults. The last of the legendary quartet of 1933 Goudey Ruth cards on our list is the #144 Full Body Ruth. This one was double-printed meaning there were more of them in circulation but its still surprisingly tougher to find in high grade than the #181 Green Ruth. In 2014, MLB instituted rules that prevented a runner from initiating "an avoidable collision" at home plate. The 1932 U.S. Caramel set is one of the most desirable and challenging prewar sets in the hobby. Because of its position on the print sheet and the fact that many kids wrapped rubber bands around their stacks of cards (this one on the top), finding Pafko centered and in good shape is very tough. Because Mantle was exclusively signed with Bowman in 1954 and 1955, you won't find him on any of Topps' cards in either of those two sets. Theyre undoubtedly very condition sensitive. The Astros had seen enough and quickly called up Altuve, bypassing AAA entirely, to make his first Major League at-bat on July 20, 2011, against the Washington Nationals. Read our methodology . This instantly recognizable card is easily one of Mathewsons most popular. Read our methodology. In PSA 4.5 grade, it is estimated this card would reel in over $1 million. Rizzo soon earned a reputation as a guy capable of smacking 30 home runs and driving in 100 runs to become a fan favorite at Wrigley. The find has since been dubbed The Lucky 7 find. PriceIt Game | Not many baseball cards possess as much elaborate and ornate decoration as those of the 1909 Ramly Cigarette T204 set. It was the first time since 1924 that a pitcher accomplished the feat in both leagues during the same season. That means there are also many fakes out there, so considerPSA grading services or other reputable third party graders before buying or selling one of these. Click on any card to see more graded card prices, historic prices, and past sales. The sale smashed the record for most valuable baseball card at the time, beating the then-highest sale of a Honus Wagner T206 White Border card at $3.1 million. This is the second most desirable card in the famed T206 set and the only pose of the HOF pitcher. In the postseason, Cabrera was predictably excellent. Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and Cy Young were also featured in the set but Cobbs issue is undoubtedly the most desired. Many in the hobby feel this card is overlooked in importance but what no one can deny is just how rare it is. So, to build this list, I only focused on the base cards from 2011 Topps and included some from 2011 Topps Update as well. Prices are updated daily based upon 2020 Topps listings that sold on eBay and our marketplace. The legendary Cap Anson appears on two different cards with the uniform version being the rarer of the two. Not many people outside of the baseball card hobby know who Joe Doyle is. Like Jose Altuve, J.D. The base set from Bowman holds little value. And while they are keys to the set and arguably the most popularLou Gehrig baseball cards, they are still overshadowed by the Ruth quartet. Possessing an explosive triple-digit fastball with electric movement, Chapman struggled to harness his high-octane stuff in his first full year with the Reds. Or, as most believe, was it because he didnt want to be involved in promoting tobacco use to children? Prices are updated daily based upon 2023 Topps listings that sold on eBay and our marketplace. Of all theWillie Mays baseball cards out there, this is his most important. Altuve dominated in the Minor Leagues and, by 2011, found himself slashing .361/.388/.569 with five home runs and 25 RBIs in 35 games for the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks. Between the Reggie and Rollie rookie cards, Bench and Ryan's second-year cards, the variations, the variety of stars and Hall of Famers, and Mantle's last card, there is just so much to appreciate. Click on any card to see more graded card prices, historic prices, and past sales. Like many 1952 Topps cards, this Mays issue is prone to tilt and centering problems. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer finished the year at 19-6 with a career-high 220 strikeouts and his best ERA since 1998 (2.35). It just goes to show that scarcity and condition can have just as much of an impact on the value of a card as the player who is on it. In early 1914, Jack Dunn of the minor league Baltimore Orioles signed Ruth to a professional baseball contract. Most Expensive 2022 Topps card list & price guide. With just one playoff appearance from 1988-2010 (2006), the Detroit Tigers' comedy of errors was a running punchline for two-plus decades. Any collector lucky enough to get his hands on Mathewsons card is sure to be ecstatic. However, he still put together a worthy encore to his 2010 breakthrough. As the reigning NL Central champs sputtered to a 79-83 record and failed to make the playoffs, Chapman worked out the kinks in his delivery in 53 relief appearances. Average ungraded base card value (excludes parallels) for 2020 Topps In one of the great stories about this card, a collector once purchased an unopened five-card pack of1952 Topps baseball cardsand pulled the only Pafko to ever be graded PSA Gem Mint 10. In true Jeter fashion, the Yankees shortstop went above and beyond the moment at hand. #4 Most Valuable Baseball Cards 2000s - Topps Finest For The Record #3B Ken Griffey Jr. Price for PSA 9 featured with Alex Rodriguez: $100 Price for PSA 10 Gem: $1,500 Player's History 13 times All-Star Ken is the son of Ken Griffey Sr, a famous baseball player and coach during his era. The most expensive 2022 Topps Heritage baseball cards feature the likes of Wander Franco, Shohei Ohtani, Julio Rodriguez, and even Nolan Ryan making an appearance. List by Card #, You own: 0 / 9496 items But, Joe Jackson is instantly recognizable on this card depicting him as a member of the Cleveland Naps minor league team, the New Orleans Pelicans. He ultimately fell short of the incredible feat but still finished the season batting .317 with 35 home runs and 115 RBIs. Need help buying or selling cards or have a general question about the hobby? With approximately 22 or less known to exist, all in low grades, the Ty Cobb back is the rarest of them all. However, as with any colored borders, the surrounding red borders of this card are susceptible to wear making it very condition sensitive. In 2016, seven copies of this card were miraculously found in an old paper bag. Not surprisingly, Cobbs card is the cornerstone and to the set. Most Expensive 2006 Topps card list & price guide. Prices are updated daily based upon 2022 Topps listings that sold on eBay and our marketplace. Mathews had a prolific career as a feared power hitter and spent many years alongside Hank Aaron to form one of the greatest home run hitting duos the game has ever seen. 1986 Barry Bonds Topps Traded Rookie Card 6. And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 15 most valuable. His career cut short by arthritis in his pitching arm, he went on to become the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972. Rookie Cards. Then they went 9-18 in the campaign's final month, losing out on a playoff spot by a game to St. Louis with a season-ending five-game losing streak. Mantle is easily one of the most widely collected players in the hobby. The question is: where do you start on this list? 2011 was the year that Ichiro finally looked mortal at the plate. It should come as no surprise that the rookie card of the greatest player who ever lived would be on this list. In high grade, this card can fetch big bucks. The most valuable baseball cards in the hobby can easily fetch six and seven figure price levels these days. Unlike the other example that features cartoons in the background, DiMaggio is shown all by himself atop a blank background. The error was quickly caught, though, so there arent many copies in existence. In addition to the Satchel Paige and Stan Musial rookie cards, Robinsons rookie is key to the set. A truly great baseball card of the legendary icon. The bright yellow background makes this card pop and the portrait of the young Big Train makes for an unforgettable baseball card. | Compare vs. Centering issues, as well as dark print blotches in the yellow background, are usually the two key issues of this card. Cobb was known as a ferocious competitor who was determined to be the best day in and day out. Only a finite number of them still exist and as likely as it is that baseball will remain a very popular sport, collectors will do anything to get their hands on them. So why would one of his cards be so expensive? The last card in the '75 Topps set, this Hank Aaron collectible won't ever be confused as the baseball legend's best-looking card. The young Florida native made 58 appearances out of the bullpen, finishing 17 games and saving eight. 1986 Topps Nolan Ryan Card 5. 1978 Topps Andre Dawson 72 PSA 10 Rookie Cup PSA 10 Image Credit: ebay While most of these newer A&G Topps cards were baseball players, you can also find other sports represented (wrestling, soccer, MMA, basketball, softball, beach volleyball, boxing, and car racing). And then, his season came to a screeching halt with a play that changed the game of baseball forever. Poor print quality and focus plague this short print card making high-grade copies nearly unachievable. He also loves to write about the hobby and has written for Beckett, Topps, SABR and of course, this website. Five Hall of Famers made their rookie card debut in the T206 set and Walter Johnson is one of them, a fact that makes this card even more interesting. Wagner, Ruth, Cobb, Mantle and Mays are just several of the baseball greats that reside on this list of cardboard rarities. 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle #135 #6. Interestingly, this card was not originally part of the 1933 Goudey set. The Tigers couldn't capitalize on Cabrera's otherworldly October and lost to the Rangers in the ALCS in six. Both of theDiMaggio cards in this set feature a caricature of the Yankee legend, the only difference between the two versions is that this one features small cartoons and information in the background while the other has a blank background. 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax #123 #9. Within a year, the Mariners would press reset on the whole thing and end the Ichiro era abruptly, trading their longtime face of the franchise to the New York Yankees for a pair of relievers. The set is one of if not the most condition sensitive of the early E class era. Interestingly, the same image is used on both cards. Because they were distributed in packages of hot dogs, its extremely difficult to find them in high grade. Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner also appear in this set but Jacksons card is easily the most important and most valuable card in the set. And with those five prime seasons back, he quite possibly couldve added enough home runs to his career 521 total to challenge Ruths record of 714 before Aaron did. This card is a prime example of an instance where neither being a star nor an error card can bring in big bucks. You could argue the imagery isn't the nicest in the hobby but it makes for an unforgettable card design. He also amassed less than 200 hits (184) and posted an OPS+ under 100 (86) for the first time in eleven MLB seasons. The E106 cards feature identical artwork on their fronts as the E90-1 and E92 caramel issues but differ by the advertising on their backs. In poor condition, this card would fetch hundreds of dollars but if youre lucky enough to land a copy in PSA 10 Gem Mint condition then youre talking big-time money. This pre-rookie card of Ruth is one of rarest cards in the hobby with 10 copies known to exist and can be found with either blue or red borders. Two hits shy heading into a July 9th home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeter took his spot as the 28th member of the 3,000-hit club with a 5-for-5 day now etched in Yankees lore. Identical in imagery to the 1933 Goudey #160 Lou Gehrig that you saw earlier on this list, this card does usually present whiter borders and lighter blue backgrounds than its #92 counterpart. Whether you can find one in high grade or not, though, its a superb card for any collector to own. 2) Being a high number card (cards 311 407 in the set) means that fewer Mickey Mantle rookie cards were printed than the average 1952 Topps baseball card in the first place. Johnson is considered by many to be the best pitcher of all time after turning in an amazing 12 seasons of 20 or more victories, including two with more than 30. Two great images of Banks are show atop a white border than can be notorious for showing print defects. And after striking out 145 times in 518 at-bats the year before, Ortiz K'd just 83 times in 525 at-bats in 2011. Although past his prime, he still achieved success in the Majors and was twice named an All-Star. Cobb turned in an absolute monster of a season in 1911 as he set career highs in batting (.420), hits (248), doubles (47), triples (24), RBI (127), runs (147) and slugging percentage (.621). Many collectors are happy to just be able to own one of these legendary cards in the first place, though. 2022 Topps Series 1 Wander Franco RC #215 VIEW ON EBAY Winner, winner chicken dinner. 1986 Topps Reggie Jackson Card 8. There is no doubt that this is one of Ty Cobbs most demanded and popular baseball cards. Nevertheless, the annual award for the best pitcher in the Majors does bear his name. The 1963 ToppsPete Rose rookie cardshows the all-time hit king along with Pedro Gonzalez, Ken McMullen, and Al Weis as one of 1963s most promising youngsters. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2022 by Old Sports Cards, LLC. And with cameras rolling from every angle, Jeter made sure to give HBO a show worth airing. Freeman finished second in the NLs Rookie of the Year balloting, slashing .282/.346/.448 with 21 home runs, 32 doubles, and 76 RBIs. Honus. Cabrera was consistently brilliant from start to finish in 2011, posting an MLB-best .344 batting average for his first of three-straight AL batting titles. George Close Candy cards are among the scarcer pre-WWI caramel issues and the Honus Wagner is one of the keys to the set. On the surface, the 1948 Leaf card with its use of color appears to be more attractive than the 1948 Bowman card. Its arguably the most visually pleasing and desirable of all the Ted Williams baseball cards in the hobby. Baseball Cards. To this day, there is no clear explanation for the rarity of this card, a card that is nearly as tough as the Honus Wagner from the same set. I like Posey's rookie cup card #198 from Series One better than this card that appeared in Series Two from an aesthetic standpoint.