The 1980s marked the beginning of the baseball card craze; the hottest commodity being the rookie card. Players like Don Mattingly, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Gregg Jefferies and Ken Griffey Jr. became baseball’s version of “Blue Chip” stocks.
When Jose Canseco won the 1986 American League Rookie of the Year award, collectors flocked to baseball card stores and shows looking to buy up his rookie cards. Jose was the perfect storm of talent, marketability, and looks. He was the quintessential bad boy, an Adonis who could play baseball well. The media loved him and his notoriety on and off the field drove the prices of his cards up.
The most valuable of all the Canseco rookies was his1986 Donruss card. It started out at a few cents then soared to sixty dollars in a matter of months. Prices being paid for his rookies were unheard of especially since he hadn't even played a full season yet. His card soon eclipsed the hundred dollar mark in New York and it sold for much more in California.
The rookie card market continued to grow in 1987 when the A’s added another rookie phenom in Mark McGwire. He became the 1987 American League Rookie of the Year and set the Major League rookie home run record when he hit 49 home runs. The A’s now had back to back rookie of the years and Canseco and McGwire had been dubbed “The Bash Brothers.”
More fuel was added onto a white hot market when in 1988 Jose became the charter member of the 40/40 club by slamming 42 home runs and stealing 40 bases. The A’s had two of the hottest young players in the league and they were on the best team in baseball.
The boom was in full effect. Investors were now supplanting collectors and driving the prices of rookie cards into the stratosphere. Baseball cards were even finding their way into investment portfolios once the Wall Street gang joined the craze. Brokers began noticing that the cards their sons had been playing with, right in front of them, were worth more than some of the stocks they had in their own portfolios. I had “suits” coming in my store right from the train picking my brain and buying up rookies. They used a Wall Street approach to the industry. Some investors spread out their buying and bought up many different rookies of lesser value hoping that one would hit it big. Others spent more on a selected few blue chippers hoping quality over quantity would win out. The Sonic Boom was in effect.
Rookie cards from other players like Don Mattingly, Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Gregg Jefferies, and Ken Griffey Jr. were now being gobbled up. Baseball card shows were booming in the late 80s. Players were being paid a small fortune to appear at them and dealers were lining their show cases with rookie cards.
Gregg Jefferies was the NY Mets “Can’t Miss” prospect who was being touted as the next Ty Cobb. Just the hype that preceded Jefferies alone was enough to send investors into a tizzy buying up his rookies. I had a table at a big show in Manhattan across from Madison Square Garden and there was a dealer going around buying up every Gregg Jefferies card before the show opened. He bought thousands of Jefferies rookies and tried to corner the market at the show. The cards started off at $1.50 and by the end were selling for over $7.00.
In 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. was the hottest rookie card. Upper Deck realized the impact rookie cards had on the market and they hung their hat on Ken Griffey Jr. by making him the first card in their set. Upper Deck also sent a shot across the bow of the other card companies by creating a higher quality card. Through market research Upper Deck believed the industry could sustain a more expensive brand of cards if they offered the public better quality as well. So, they used a higher grade card stock and shot better pictures of the players with an artistic and more visually appealing type of photography. As an added attraction the cards had a counterfeit proof hologram on the back. Collectors went crazy for this product. The Griffey started selling for a few dollars right out of the pack. Upper Deck fundamentally changed the market forever.
In the early 90s things settled down a bit. Most collectors and investors got savvy and stopped chasing after players without any experience. They focused on the Jeter, A-Rod, and Piazza types. The height of the craze had come and gone. And millions of collectors and investors had stashed away their rookies hoping to one day cash them in for big bucks.
The strike shortened season of 1994 hurt the popularity of baseball and tore the hobby apart. The bubble finally popped. Stores closed, shows disappeared and for the first time in modern times the World Series wasn't even played. But the biggest blow was yet to come.
The steroid era ruined the reputations of Canseco and McGwire as well as sinking the value of their rookie cards. Now that seems trivial to what they went through but when you consider the tens of millions of dollars invested by collectors and investors in their rookie cards it’s sad. Other players like Gary Sheffield, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Raphael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa who put up mind blowing numbers and were shoe ins for the hall of fame now faced an uncertain future because their names are forever linked to steroids. But the one certainty is that the people who invested heavily in their rookies have been hurt.
However, the Ken Griffey Jrs’ and Don Mattingly’s of the baseball card world, who remained clean, are the saving grace of an era. Their rookie cards will always be valuable and they should see a modest increase in their rookies especially when they make the hall of fame. Unfortunately, today the Jefferies rookies are really considered commons and valued at under a dollar if they sell at all. He never became the next Ty Cobb.
Rookie cards will always be the key cards of any set. The Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie is arguably the most sought after rookie card ever made. The 1955 Topps set is not only one of the most beautiful sets ever made but its value continues to increase because of the quality of its rookies; Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, and Harmon Killebrew rookies continue to drive the set. Sets with a poor crop of rookies like the 1986 Topps set historically don’t move in value.
Over the last twenty years companies such as Bowman have reached deep into the minor leagues offering rookie cards of many players that never make it out of the minor leagues. They are still trying to capture lightning in a bottle. The days of companies waiting until a teams blue chipper is ready to make the big leagues are over. Everyone is hoping for that next Jose Canseco or better yet, the next Ken Griffey Jr.
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