89 Upper Deck Griffeys- Economists?

[Matthew80]

There are 45,000+ 1989 Upper Deck Griffeys with a grade of 8 or higher, yet the 8s are difficult to buy under $20. Never mind the raw and BGS cards...

What gives?

[Smanzari]

Supply and demand (demand outweighs suplly in this instance)! It's also the "card of our childhood" for millenials like myself!

[bnorth]

He is left off all the steroid lists. So no steroid allegations means his UD card still sells for a decent price.

[Rich Klein]

Thus the value will always (at least for 30-40 years) be more than what the real value should be. No biggie, if you don't want the card at a level you think is too high, don't buy said card.

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

If you listen carefully, you can still hear the UD presses banging out sheets of this card.

[ALR-bishop]

Those are Christmas Rack pack sealers you are hearing Arthur

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Those are Christmas Rack pack sealers you are hearing Arthur

LOL, It is both. At least the Xmas rack sealers where not making the cards. Not only did UD make insane amounts of extra Griffey cards they also made extra sets of SP Hockey sets, counterfeited Yu Gi Oh cards and lets not forget all the fake autos they put in there SP Legendary Cuts product.

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Those are Christmas Rack pack sealers you are hearing Arthur

Tis the season. Someone just listed a bunch of those on ebay this week, I think they were hockey cards.

[7nohitter]

For some reason I cannot bring myself to drop even $20 on this card...It's a beauty and I understand its significance. Still, seems like anything more than $15 is too much...

[ALR-bishop]

I have never seen mine. I do have a still sealed factory set. I did go out and get all the set variations. Because I did not know which one I had in the set, I got both versions and have them in holders banded to the box . It is the only Upper Deck set I have

[jp1216]

'89 UD will always be a special set. The Griffey (being card #1) will always command a nice premium. Iconic card for the time. Supply vs. Demand is correct. One of my favorites - but still wish I had sold my PSA 10 in 1998. Prices on eBay were around $3000 believe it or not....

[Matthew80]

Is it a seemingly endless line of buyers for the card, or is it a few dozen hoarders?

I wonder how many people have at least 10 copies of PSA 8 or higher. With 45k out there in circulation, I find it hard to believe there are so many collectors out there are willing to pay $20 to get (or refusing to take $20 to let go of) a decent PSA-graded Griffey.

Just seems strange a card so prevalent can still demand $20+ (or much more for 9s and 10s).

[the 'stache]

When I returned to the hobby, and found out about graded cards, the Griffey was the first one I bought. Why? Because it is the iconic card of my generation. The kid was the closest thing to Willie Mays in my lifetime. He could do it all, and he's as popular now as he has ever been. Other "heroes" have fallen off the map because of PED Rumors. Griffey Jr is the rare exception.

Our dads had the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. We have the '89 Upper Deck Griffey. 50 years from now, long after he's been inducted into Cooperstown, this card will still be in high demand. So while the supply of decently graded cards (PSA 8s) are plentiful, the higher graded cards will command a premium.

I'm very happy with my 9.

[Julz24]

I know a guy at work who does not collect baseball cards. But he does have an 89 Upper Deck Griffey that he won't soon part with. My buddy grew up in San Bernardino, and as a kid in the late 1980's his Dad took him to see the Spirit play every Thirsty Thursday. He saw Griffey play at least a dozen games and fell in love with "The Kid" back when he really was just a kid.

When I first told him I was a baseball card collector and my favorite player was Junior, he immediately told me about his UD rookie card. I guess his Mom still has the card at her house and he is hoping to get it and bring it home to his apartment before something happens to it. I asked him what other Griffey cards he has and he said none, just the Upper Deck rookie card.

That card really is the defining baseball card of the modern collecting generation. It might not be the golden ticket that we all thought it would be - but its still an OG rookie card of a future HOF. It's one of the few modern cards known by non-collectors, and it played a key part in changing the hobby forever. I've even got a few copies myself...

[Rich Klein]

#1 card in a key set from an era where everyone collected. Everyone wanted that card, great picture, etc. 1989 Upper Deck WAS the set in 1989 and even though today there are plenty that was real hot then thus everyone wanted that card.

Hey, if you are patient you will find that card at your price, but it is the 1980's version of the most iconic card. If Don Mattingly had ended up with an HOF career the 1984 Donruss card would be right up there with the Griffey. Certain cards just have an aura about them and those are two of them.

Rich

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Hey, if you are patient you will find that card at your price, but it is the 1980's version of the most iconic card. If Don Mattingly had ended up with an HOF career the 1984 Donruss card would be right up there with the Griffey. Certain cards just have an aura about them and those are two of them.

Rich

There's a few like that. If it weren't for controversies, steroids, injury and other assorted downfalls. Griffey, despite his injury issues, seems to be the last man standing from the 80's, well he rickey and cal(in terms of iconic, or once iconic, cards that somewhat held their ground).

Off the top of my head, these are probably the only ones that I would've considered Iconic a one point or another.

1980 Topps Hendeson
1982 Topps Traded Ripken
1983 Topps Traded Strawberry
1984 Donruss Mattingly(The Joe Carter is still a favorite, but I don't think ever reached iconic status at it's peak)
1984 Fleer Update Clemens and Gooden(note:I never considered the pucket card iconic, I think a lot of his value is attached to the set I'm also not 100% positive that the gooden was ever really iconic.)
1985 Topps McGwire
1986 Donruss Canseco
1987 Fleer Bonds(1986 issues possibly)
1987 Classic Green Bo Jackson
1989 UD Griffey

I agree that the Griffey was probably the only one to be popular even outside the hobby. Possibly the McGwire.

The 90's had a smaller bunch
1990 Leaf Thomas and Sosa
1991 Desert Shield Chipper(despite the scarcity of the set carrying most of the value)
not sure, but I think the 1992 traded Garciaparra was once a HUGE card.
1992 Bowman Ramirez, probably Rivera too.
1992 Fleer Update Piazza
1993 SP Jeter
1994 SP A Rod
1995 Bowman's best Vlad(Possibly Andruw Jones)

there were a few others that probably got close, or could've, but by the time the players peaked, the card market was already in a downfall. I don't think the current state of the hobby will ever again accomodate another "standard" card reaching iconic status.

Honestly, since '95, I don't think there's been many "iconic" type standard cards produced, with exception of maybe the '01 Bowman Chrome Pujols. but even that has the insert type stigma, being autographed and a refractor.

[WillBBC]

Vlad had a run in the early 2000s that carried his 95 Bowman's Best rookie to Griffey like numbers. Raw mint copies were pulling upwards of $150 with 10s selling for upwards of a thousand. The Refractors were pulling ridiculous amounts of money regardless of centering or print lines.

You can get slabbed gems for about 65 bucks now. It's crazy. I remember selling a PSA 9 Bowman (not even Bowman's Best) for 200 way back when. It's hard to believe how inexpensive they are now.

Now the Bowman's Best rookie is about 10 bucks raw with Refractors still getting decent coin but nowhere near where they were a decade ago.

I think the only truly iconic card of the 90s, 20-30 years from now, will be the '93 SP Jeter rookie. ARod's already taken such a huge dip and Rivera--despite all his greatness--his cards didn't really pull much of anything until the last few years. I'm really, really curious as to what they'll sell for a few years from now.

Who knows. Different generations buy and collect different things so...we'll see what happens.

[buymycards]

Remember when you could get $80 for a PSA 8 Griffey? I once got $70 for a PSA 8 McGwire RC.

Rick

[Rich Klein]

I was in a friends store in NJ while visiting my dad and he sold 3 Big Mac 85T RC's for $300 each while I was there. And that was not a show off for the Beckett guy, those were real sales as I asked the people why they were buying those cards.

[RobertGT]

There may be 45K in PSA 8 or better in existence, but how many of those are available to buy at any one time, and how many of those are forever buried in personal collections? I just did an ebay search for "1989 upper deck #1 griffey psa" and I got 94 hits.

As has been stated, Griffey is still extremely popular (one of the few with no PED black marks) and very collectible, so think of the thousands and thousands of Griffey fans vs. 94 hits on eBay. It's easy to see why his RC still commands $20.

To me, $20 is nothing to pay for one of the hobby's classic modern cards, even if there are a ton of them out there.

[Matthew80]

Originally Posted by RobertGT

There may be 45K in PSA 8 or better in existence, but how many of those are available to buy at any one time, and how many of those are forever buried in personal collections? I just did an ebay search for "1989 upper deck #1 griffey psa" and I got 94 hits.

As has been stated, Griffey is still extremely popular (one of the few with no PED black marks) and very collectible, so think of the thousands and thousands of Griffey fans vs. 94 hits on eBay. It's easy to see why his RC still commands $20.

To me, $20 is nothing to pay for one of the hobby's classic modern cards, even if there are a ton of them out there.

Good point.

Incidentally, $20 isn't too much for me.

[7nohitter]

Thanks to this thread, just bought my first one...raw...$16.50

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Thanks to this thread, just bought my first one...raw...$16.50

Lol so did I..raw 17 u got a better deal haha


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[pawpawdiv9]

Just so happened to see this thread on Griffey..
It seems like 2 yrs ago, I brought up my 'broder' cards of 89.
They were unlicensed cards that were being sold.
Here are some pics on what i am talking about:

[HOF Auto Rookies]

This is THE modern day Mantle '52, I am honored to buy one for $20. It may never go up, but will ALWAYS have it's history and significance. It helped save the hobby along with the '01 Pujols BC


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