The 1990 baseball card season saw the rise of many young stars and future Hall of Famers who were just starting their careers. It is some of the rarer rookie and vintage cards from 1990 that have proven to be enormously valuable and sought after by serious collectors. Let’s take a look at some of the most expensive 1990 baseball cards that have traded hands for astronomical prices in recent years.
Perhaps the most legendary and valuable baseball card ever printed is the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card. Only around 60 authentic copies of this card are known to exist today in varying conditions. In 1990, a near-mint condition T206 Wagner would have been virtually priceless already, but it set a new record when a PSA NM-MT 8 copy sold for $640,000 at auction in 1991. Adjusted for inflation, that sale would be worth over $1.3 million in today’s dollars. Over the decades, as the population continued to grow but no new Wagners entered the market, its price only rose. In 2021, a PSA Gem Mint 9.5 T206 Wagner sold for an unprecedented $6.6 million, easily making it not only the most expensive card from 1990 but in card collecting history.
While the Honus Wagner stands alone at the very top, other pre-war tobacco cards from the same era as the T206 set have also cracked the million dollar threshold. In 1990, a PSA 5 Mint condition 1909-11 T206 Christy Mathewson in a holder sold for $108,000. Today high graded examples can sell for well over $1 million. Another legend, the 1913 Bass College Series Joe Jackson card, set a then-record price of $125,000 when one crossed the auction block in 1989. Thanks to his historical notoriety surrounding the Black Sox Scandal, mint Jacksons now sell for $700,000+.
The most valuable standard size modern issue cards come from the 1952 Topps set. In 1990, a virtually flawless PSA Gem Mint 10 Mickey Mantle was then traded privately for $50,000. A decade later its price had doubled when another Gem Mint 10 example sold publicly for $100,000. Today ungraded Mint 9 copies sell for $150,000-$200,000 raw, while a single graded PSA 10 1952 Topps Mantle in a holder just broke the $2.2 million mark. Other 1952 Topps legends like the Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Duke Snider have also recently sold in the $300,000-$400,000 range in top Gem Mint condition.
Moving into the higher population modern era sets, the biggest money cards from 1990 involved coveted rookies. The most iconic is certainly the 1952 Topps rookie card of Willie Mays. Known as the ‘Say Hey Kid’, his rookie exploded in value in the 1990s. One sold for $27,500 in 1992 and the prices have only gone up since. Today a well-centered Mint 9 trades for $125,000 while a single PSA 10 has reached $375,000 at auction. Another future Hall of Famer whose price trajectory closely mirrors Mays is Hank Aaron. His 1954 Topps rookie in top-grade now sells for $150,000-$200,000 in a holder as well.
Some true gem rookie cards from 1990 that have reached stratospheric prices today involve players who were just starting out but would go on to have Hall of Fame careers and legendary status. A perfect PSA 10 1990 Fleer Griffey Jr. rookie sold for $106,375 in 2012. By 2018 its value had grown to $358,227 when another sold. In 2021 yet another true Mint PSA 10 Griffey rookie reached $480,000 showing no signs of slowing down. The 1990 Topps Traded Ken Griffey Jr. rookie in a PSA 10 is also incredibly rare and valuable, selling for $346,000 in 2021.
Another megastar of the 1990s was Chipper Jones, who spent his entire 19 year career with the Atlanta Braves. His 1990 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects rookie in a PSA 10 recently sold for a stunning $350,000. His 1990 Topps rookie in the same perfect condition is also in excess of $250,000. Perhaps the real blockbuster from 1990 involving Jones was a PSA 9 of his ultra-rare 1990 Upper Deck hologram parallel card. This already legendary variation due to its unique hologram technology was newly discovered in a personal collection in 2021, underwent third-party authentication verification, and then became the highest price ever paid for a 1990 baseball card when it sold privately for a cool $486,000.
1990 saw the height of the “Junk Wax” era where production and print runs were at all-time highs. But when it comes to the most coveted vintage cards and certified gem rookie cards from true icons of the game who are likely Hall of Famers, 1990 has certainly produced its fair share of tremendously valuable collectibles. As the population of serious collectors continues to grow and new capital flows into the hobby, it’s very possible we could see cards from this season eventually challenge and surpass the million dollar thresholds if they attain perfect grades. With prices constantly reaching new heights, the most expensive 1990 baseball cards today may still be just the beginning.
