Most significant or sought after postwar cards (besides Mantle)

[rsdill2]

Originally Posted by Hammerin'Hank

Why is the 84 Donruss Mattingly considered one of the most significant post war cards ever ? I'm just want to understand that perspective. Sure it was super significant from 1984 - 1990.............. just like Dale Murphy was from 1978 - 1990 but not so much any more. Unfortunately both players washed out in their early 30's. I guess the 84 Donruss set was kind of like the 89 Upperdeck set in that it raised the bar on card quality throughout the hobby but that seems more like a the significance of a set vs. the significant of 1 card.

The '84D Mattingly has certainly loss lots of its desirability but I think it is still very significant to the hobby. It established Donruss (and, indirectly, Fleer) as a viable competitor to Topps' monopoly which led to the explosion in the late 80s early 90s. It also didn't create, but certainly was one of the biggest influences on the explosion of the rookie card craze.

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

What about the period before the mainstream Topps cards were issued? You are ruling out all the sets prior to '52 ('52 Topps being their first main stream set).

Z Wheat

True. Quite frankly I know very little of cards issued between '45-'51 other than the '48-'49 Leaf set; however, I don't think any cards issued then are more desirable than the ones I listed.