The highest valued card from the 1989 Topps set is the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. Griffey Jr. went on to have an incredible Hall of Fame career and is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time. His rookie card is the most coveted card from the entire 1989 set. In top gem mint condition, a Griffey Jr. rookie sells for well over $1000 and possibly upwards of $2000 or more depending on the market. Even in just near mint to mint condition, this card still commands $400-700. The Griffey rookie is undeniably the blue chip card from ’89 Topps.
Another extremely valuable rookie card is the Darren Daulton card. As the catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies dynasty teams of the ’90s, Daulton was an important leader and player on those clubs. His career was cut short due to injuries so his rookie card is much more scarce than a player like Griffey who had longevity. High grade Daulton rookies sell for $300-500 normally. Similarly, the Bret Saberhagen rookie is also very sought after as he won two Cy Young awards early in his career. This card sells for $200-300 generally. Saberhagen unfortunately also had his career hampered by injuries.
Two other top rookie cards that hold value are the Bobby Witt and Gregg Jefferies cards. Both Witt and Jefferies had some successful major league seasons but did not completely live up to the hype of their prospect status. Still, their ’89 Topps rookies are valued at $150-250 each due to their former top prospect pedigree. Elsewhere in the set, the Nolan Ryan card has always been popular with collectors as he is generally considered one of the all-time greatest pitchers. A Ryan in top condition can reach $100-150prices. The Ozzie Smith and Kirby Puckett veteran cards also remain steady at $50-100 each.
In addition to star rookies and veterans, error cards and oddball parallel variations from the ’89 Topps set carry premium prices as well. One such example is card #771, the Alan Trammell printing plate proof. Due to an error in the printing process, several of these extremely rare “1/1” parallel Trammell proofs were accidentally issued directly to consumers in packs. In mint condition, the Trammell printing plate has sold at auction for nearly $5,000 before. Other rare insert variations like the “Home Run Kings” parallel cards have sold for over $1,000 individually as well.
Beyond just raw cards, complete sets are also highly valuable. In pristine mint condition, a 1989 Topps complete factory sealed base set has fetched over $12,000 at auction. Even an opened but near-complete-to-complete set in excellent assembled condition could bring $2,000-$3,500 based on recent sales. For intermediate and advanced collectors, high quality team/player sets of stars like Griffey, Ripken, Puckett and more are still prized acquisitions. Ultimately while not quite on par with vintage ‘50s/‘60s sets, the 1989 Topps issue remains a highly collectible and investment worthy part of the modern era. The rookie cards of future Hall of Famers like Griffey and veterans like Nolan Ryan ensure that many ‘89 Topps cards will hold great nostalgia and value for years to come.
The 1989 Topps baseball card set featured some of the most valuable modern era rookie cards ever including Ken Griffey Jr. The short printed errors and rare variations from the set also carry extremely high values. Complete or high grade team/player sets containing stars from ‘89 are very appealing to collectors. The vintage and star power within 1989 Topps makes it one of the most investment worthy issues from the tail end of the “Junk Wax” era of the 1980s and early ‘90s.
