What Are The Top 10 Most Iconic Baseball Cards Ever?

Brent G. · #1 08-15-2025, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rats60

Wagner, Plank and Lajoie are the only 3 musts. They are the foundation of the hobby and were iconic when the rest were commons. Mantle represents the Topps era and Griffey the modern era and definitely belong on the list.

What would be the 2nd most iconic card of the modern era? The '85 McGwire Olympic card is the only one I can think of that reached that level of popularity/pursuit.

gonzo · #2 08-15-2025, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent G.

What would be the 2nd most iconic card of the modern era? The '85 McGwire Olympic card is the only one I can think of that reached that level of popularity/pursuit.

1980 and later, these are the ones that come immediately to mind for me (in no particular order, after the top 2)

1989 UD Griffey Jr.
1985 Topps McGwire Olympic
1980 Topps Henderson
1984 Donruss Mattingly
1988 Donruss Gregg Jeffries
1989 Fleer Billy Ripken FF
1990 Topps Frank Thomas no name on front
The Score card with Bo Jackson wearing the shoulder pads
The Upper Deck baseball card of Michael Jordan

I would put Jeter, Pujols, Trout, and Ohtani rookies somewhere in there, but I don�t really know much about which of their options are the �best�.

Brent G. · #3 08-15-2025, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonzo

1980 and later, these are the ones that come immediately to mind for me (in no particular order, after the top 2)

1989 UD Griffey Jr.
1985 Topps McGwire Olympic
1980 Topps Henderson
1984 Donruss Mattingly
1988 Donruss Gregg Jeffries
1989 Fleer Billy Ripken FF
1990 Topps Frank Thomas no name on front
The Score card with Bo Jackson wearing the shoulder pads
The Upper Deck baseball card of Michael Jordan

I would put Jeter, Pujols, Trout, and Ohtani rookies somewhere in there, but I don�t really know much about which of their options are the �best�.

That's solid. The 1984 Traded/Update of Gooden was on fire in '84-'86 -- Clemens and Puckett got there over time, but that initial Doctor K frenzy was wild.

Eric72 · #4 08-15-2025, 01:25 PM

T206 Honus Wagner
T206 Eddie Plank
T206 Ty Cobb Red Portrait
1933 Goudey Babe Ruth 144
1933 Goudey Nap Lajoie
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
1963 Topps Pete Rose
1968 Topps Nolan Ryan
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr.

~~1993 SP Derek Jeter~~
1989 Fleer Billy Ripken FF

Brent G. · #5 08-16-2025, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonzo

1980 and later, these are the ones that come immediately to mind for me (in no particular order, after the top 2)

1989 UD Griffey Jr.
1985 Topps McGwire Olympic
1980 Topps Henderson
1984 Donruss Mattingly
1988 Donruss Gregg Jeffries
1989 Fleer Billy Ripken FF
1990 Topps Frank Thomas no name on front
The Score card with Bo Jackson wearing the shoulder pads
The Upper Deck baseball card of Michael Jordan

I would put Jeter, Pujols, Trout, and Ohtani rookies somewhere in there, but I don�t really know much about which of their options are the �best�.

We probably aren�t giving the Canseco Rated Rookie its due. That thing was hot as the sun after 40/40.

gonzo · #6 08-16-2025, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent G.

We probably aren�t giving the Canseco Rated Rookie its due. That thing was hot as the sun after 40/40.

Oh yeah, that Canseco, along with the Gooden, Clemens, and Puckett update/traded cards you mentioned earlier, were all huge. And the Ripken Traded and Valenzuela Traded before that.

Not nearly as significant to the hobby, but a fond memory from the time, is opening 1982 Donruss packs, hoping to get the San Diego Chicken card. There was even an offer/address to get it autographed!

BillyCoxDodgers3B · #7 08-16-2025, 09:29 AM

I'd definitely take the Frank Thomas NNO off any list. I feel like I hadn't even heard of it until a few years ago, or I found it so forgettable that it completely escaped me. Was it perhaps more regionally hot for a time? Thomas was and is still huge in the Midwest, so am wondering if it was more something like that.

I feel like I only saw one mention of the Billy FF card. That needs to be on there. That's one that many non-collectors would remember! If you had tried creating this list 35 years ago, I could see the whiteout and black box trying to vie for space on the list as well! It was that big a deal at the time. This card, in all its variations, seemed like it was was all the talk of the hobby and non-hobby world for a year or two. In a similar vein, I'm kinda glad nobody mentioned the Dale Murphy rev neg.

Brent G. · #8 08-16-2025, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

I'd definitely take the Frank Thomas NNO off any list. I feel like I hadn't even heard of it until a few years ago, or I found it so forgettable that it completely escaped me. Was it perhaps more regionally hot for a time? Thomas was and is still huge in the Midwest, so am wondering if it was more something like that.

I feel like I only saw one mention of the Billy FF card. That needs to be on there. That's one that many non-collectors would remember! If you had tried creating this list 35 years ago, I could see the whiteout and black box trying to vie for space on the list as well! It was that big a deal at the time. This card, in all its variations, seemed like it was was all the talk of the hobby and non-hobby world for a year or two. In a similar vein, I'm kinda glad nobody mentioned the Dale Murphy rev neg.

And this site introduced me to the Randy Johnson Marlboro -- like the Ripken, a bizarre correction history, but certainly not iconic. There is a 6-year-long thread with 520+ replies on here though.

packs · #9 08-16-2025, 12:19 PM

When I think of the iconic cards I think of all the cards I’d always see on the covers of price guides and the old almanacs you used to have to buy. They always seemed to find space for a T205 Matty.

Even in the movie The Accountant there’s a scene where he opens a safe and inside there’s a T205 Matty among a stack of cards and comics.

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