Will Clark was a star first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1986 to 2000, spending the bulk of his career with the San Francisco Giants. Known as “Will the Thrill”, Clark was a five-time All-Star and won three Gold Glove Awards. He had a productive career and put up good numbers, finishing with a .303 batting average, 284 home runs, and 1,205 RBI across 15 seasons. Given his success and popularity playing for the Giants in the 1980s and 90s, Clark had many baseball cards produced during his playing days by the major card companies like Topps, Fleer, and Donruss. So are Will Clark cards worth collecting and do they hold value today?

To determine if Will Clark cards are worthwhile to collect, it’s important to look at both his on-field performance and fan popularity at the time the cards were produced, as well as current card collector demand and sales data. As a perennial All-Star for the Giants throughout most of his career, Clark was certainly one of the more notable players of the late 80s/early 90s period. He consistently produced at the plate year after year and helped lead the Giants to the National League West title multiple times. Clark was also a switch-hitting power hitter at a time when such players were less common. This made him quite intriguing and enjoyable for fans to watch. So when Topps, Fleer, and Donruss were producing cards during his playing days, Clark would certainly have been one of the featured players each year that collectors wanted cards of.

Knowing Clark’s playing reputation and that he had many common cards produced over the years, it seems collection demand for his standard rookie and base cards from the 1980s and 90s would be fairly strong among collectors today who enjoy players from that era. Simply because a player was well-known does not necessarily mean their common cards hold significant monetary value decades later. To determine the current market value, we must look at recent sales data. Upon researching auction sites like eBay, it appears Clark’s most basic common cards from flagship sets in the 1980s can usually still be found for under $5 in raw condition. Examples would include his 1986 Topps, 1987 Topps, or 1989 Fleer rookie cards. These are not expensive by any means.

There are some Will Clark cards that have maintained or increased in value due to their scarcity or significance within his career. His 1985 Topps Traded rookie card, which was quite difficult to find even in the 1980s due to only being available in a short factory set, consistently sells in the $30-50 range today. Perhaps his most notable specialized rookie is the coveted 1985 Fleer Update “Call-Up” parallel, which depicts Clark in a Giants uniform but was issued after his midseason debut. In high grade this card can reach several hundred dollars. Other scarce parallels like 1986 Fleer Sticker cards of Clark have also seen prices climb into the triple digits over the years.

Aside from rookie cards, Clark had several notable cards in the late 1980s that feature key moments in his career which command higher values. His 1987 Donruss Diamond Kings card shows him with both the 1986 and 1987 All-Star MVP awards, a great visual achievement. In top condition this card trades hands for $50-75. His 1989 Topps Traded card was one of the standouts from that high-series set, with a crisp photo and horizontal design preferred by collectors. Graded examples may sell for over $100. Clark also had popular rookie star cards in team and league sets like 1987 Leaf that can reach $25-40 depending on condition.

For the later 1990s years of Clark’s career with the Giants and Cardinals, his base card values drop off considerably from the heights of his All-Star seasons. One standout from this period that maintains strong demand is his 1994 Collector’s Choice Gold Medal parallel card, numbered to only 125 copies. Deemed one of the premier parallels from that revolutionary gold/silver/bronze parallel set, high grade examples of Clark’s card regularly hit four figures at auction. Likewise, any rare signed or memorabilia cards from the late 80s/90s Giants era that feature Clark also command significant premiums above typical issue prices.

While Will Clark’s basic common rookie cards and 1982-1989 base cards offer very affordable collecting options, there are also numerous scarce and significant Clark cards that deserve a place in any dedicated Giants or 1980s collecting portfolio. Examples like his 1985 Fleer Call-Up rookie, 1987 Diamond Kings, and 1994 Collector’s Choice Gold parallel consistently sell well above their issue prices today. Collectors seemingly still enjoy Clark’s career achievements and popularity from his Giants heyday. With consistently strong prices achieved for his elite rookies and parallels over the past decade online, it’s fair to say that the top Will Clark cards from the 1980s and early 90s have proven their lasting collectible value and staying power in the hobby.