When Clemens burst onto the national scene in 1986 with a 24-4 record for the American League champion Boston Red Sox, collectors scrambled to pull his 1985 rookie cards from the scrapheap. And it didn’t take long before we realized that the Rocket had also been featured in the limited 1984 Fleer Update set, sending prices on that baby spiraling upwards.

As Clemens flourished in Boston over the next decade, racking up three Cy Young Awards and zeroing in on 200 wins, it became a foregone conclusion that he’d end up in the Hall of Fame.

Ah, but baseball is fickle, and a few health issues, combined with the 1994-95 players’ strike started to make Roger look human, resulting in a couple of losing records.

Nothing that a February 1999 trade to the Toronto Blue Jays couldn’t fix, though, and Clemens reeled off four Cy Young seasons over the next eight summers split between Toronto, the New York Yankees, and the Houston Astros.

After softening during his “down” years, Clemens’ cards were on fire again and, by the time steroid whispers began to swirl in the 2000s, Roger’s cardboard was once again among the hobby elite.

Those rumors did swirl, though, and they’ve never really stopped, resulting in a tarnished reputation that has worked against Clemens in his bid for Cooperstown enshrinement.

Over the last two decades, as Clemens wrapped up his career and then watched his Hall of Fame candidacy stall, his cards have stagnated to a large degree, as well.

But the final record shows this was one of the game’s greatest pitchers ever, with a solid HOF case even before that late-career run. Whether he’ll ever make the leap into baseball’s hall of immortals is debatable, but one thing’s for sure …

Even with all the controversy swirling around him, these Roger Clemens rookie cards helped build the hobby in the 1980s, and they remain cardboard classics today.

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1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens (#U-27)

When word broke in 1984 that Fleer would issue an update set that fall, no one was really sure what to expect.

Though collectors had welcomed the newcomer when they broke Topps’ monopoly in 1981 (on the heels of a 1980 antitrust lawsuit), Fleer hadn’t exactly supplanted the old gum company as The Real One. And, with Topps having issued Traded sets since 1981, some old-timers were already decrying the overabundance of choices.

Could the market really bear another year-end set?

Like I said, no one was sure … including Fleer. But they had already missed out on the year-end hype surrounding Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982) and Darryl Strawberry (1983), and they weren’t about to miss out on the phenom of phenoms — Dwight Gooden.

So the Philadelphia gum maker made their set, but in limited quantities. How limited?

Estimates vary — and you can find opinions in forums and on sites all over the place — but the consensus seems to point to tens of thousands of sets rather than the millions of each base running around in the world.

As it turned out, the hobby was ready for Fleer Updates, and collectors (and dealers and investors/speculators) scooped up the sets pretty quickly as Christmas approached. Gooden and perceived scarcity drove the initial push, and prices escalated quickly.

That Pete Rose card showing Charlie Hustle with the Montreal Expos didn’t hurt things, either. And, when Bret Saberhagen broke out for the Kansas City Royals in 1985, there was no turning back for this set and Fleer Update in general.

A big season by Kirby Puckett in 1986 made the 1984 Fleer Update even more desirable, but it was Clemens’ explosive, all-time great campaign that really lit the money machine when it came to this set … especially considering that Topps skipped Roger in its 1984 Traded issue.

By the end of the decade, the 1984 Fleer Update set was deep into three-figure territory and threatened to add another zero before hard times befell Sabes, Dr. K, Rose, and Clemens.

Today, all the major players in this issue have their places in history more or less established, with Puckett in the Hall of Fame and the others falling short (so far, at least).

As it turns out, though, plenty of other eventual HOFers made appearances in this set, from Tom Seaver to Dennis Eckersley to Tony Perez to Phil Niekro … not to mention other big names like Dave Parker, Dusty Baker, and Darrell Evans.

But even with all that star power, and even with all his warts, it’s Clemens who still sits at the top of the 1984 Fleer Update heap here in the 2020s.

In August of 2022, the PSA Sports Market Report (SMR) Price Guide has the Clemens rookie card (or extended rookie card — XRC) at $425 in PSA 9 and north of $2000 in perfect 10 condition. (Pricing information for cards that follow also culled from the PSA SMR).

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1985 Donruss Roger Clemens (#273)

Donruss made a big leap forward in card and photo quality in 1984, and an even bigger leap in hobby perception thanks to reduced print runs (from 1983 levels).

Those factors helped to add fuel to the fire that Don Mattingly lit during that Olympic summer when he came out of nowhere to lead the American League in hitting, shooting his 1984 Donruss rookie card right over the moon.

Big D capitalized on that momentum in 1985 by unleashing a stylish black-border design that was an immediate love-hate affair for collectors. Enough of us chose “love” to set rookie cards of Eric Davis, Gooden, Saberhagen, and others on an immediate upward price trend.

That combined tableau established Donruss as the elite brand of the year and set the stage for Rocket to explode a year later.

Indeed, as Clemens climbed to prominence in 1986, so did his Donruss rookie card, and it quickly became THE base card to own if you wanted a piece of the Rocket.

Today, the 1985 Donruss Roger Clemens rookie card sells for about $65 in graded MT condition, and more than $400 when slabbed as GEM.

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1985 Fleer Roger Clemens (#155)

Now, obviously, this was not Fleer’s first card of Clemens, but it is his Fleer rookie card — generally considered to be the first card of a player from a given manufacturer that was widely available through retail outlets.

Semantics, yes, but it gets us another look at a young Rocket, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Like their Donruss counterparts, Fleer tried something sort of different in 1985, opting for gray borders that were similar to their 1983 issue, but with a touch less brown.

Overall, the set was solid but not spectacular, and the same pretty much applies to this Clemens RC — it features an intense headshot of the fireballer in a set that wasn’t terribly overproduced and, in fact, has shown itself over the years to be somewhat scarcer than the Topps and Donruss sets from the same year.

The result, more than 35 years on, is a rookie card that sells for $70 or so in PSA 9 condition and around $800 in PSA 10.

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1985 Leaf Roger Clemens (#99)

The 1985 Leaf issue was a 264-card set produced by Donruss for sale in the Canadian market. Photos are the same as in the base Donruss set, and the design is the same except for the addition of a leaf (get it?) next to the Donruss logo on card fronts and some French text on card backs.

Though the checklist was much smaller than that of the base Donruss set (at 660 cards), Donruss and Leaf managed to include a Clemens rookie card in their joint effort.

Not surprisingly, these cards are fairly scarce relative to other 1985 Clemens cards, bumping prices up to around $125 (PSA 9) and $2000 (PSA 10) for top graded specimens.

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1985 Topps Roger Clemens (#181)

The old standby, Topps produced a very solid, very Topps-y set in 1985 — big (792 cards), mushy brown cardstock, subsets and special cards, and plenty of room for rookies.

One of those rookies was, of course, Roger Clemens.

And, while this card may have never had the pizzazz of the Donruss or the scarcity of the 1984 Fleer Update (or even 1985 Fleer or Leaf), it’s been consistently popular for decades.

Today, the 1985 Topps Roger Clemens rookie card sells for around $75 in graded mint condition, while GEM copies can bring $950 or more.

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1985 Topps Tiffany Roger Clemens (#181)

If you’re looking for a Topps Clemens RC that does deliver some snazziness and a little more financial firepower, you might want to take a gander at the ’85 Topps Tiffany version.

The Topps Tiffany cards were identical to the base issue, except they were printed on blazing white cardstock and shellacked with a shiny lacquer that would make Rudolph’s Shiny New Year dull with envy.

With just 5000 of each piece produced, the 1985 Topps Tiffany cards were about as close to “rare” as any issue from the 1980s ever got, and Clemens is priced accordingly — expect to pay $700 or more for a PSA 9 copy, or $13,000+ for a card in PSA 10.

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Three, four, ten, a hundred?

Whatever your answer, you just might be right!

See, while the quasi-official answer is “six” (see the PSA Set Registry Rookie Checklist for Griffey), the truth is, there were at least 50 different cards issued featuring the Mariners’ young phenom in 1989. And, given that’s the year his Big Six hit collections across the lands, the rest of those dozens have to count for something … right?

Right.

We’re not going to run through ever one of those first-year Juniors here, but we are going to take on the most important ones, as determined by hobby history and the “weight” assigned to each card in the Griffey Master Set listing from PSA.

So, if you’re ready for some monumental cardboard — cardboard befitting of a hobby Mt. Rushmore — let’s dive into the best of the best among Ken Griffey, Jr., rookie cards!

(Prices as of June 2022, as culled from the PSA Auction Prices Realized tool.)

1989 Baseball Cards Magazine Repli-Cards Ken Griffey Jr. (#63)

If you missed out on the old Baseball Cards Magazine, well … you really missed out.

In the late 1980s, BBCM would come up with a theme in January and then issue cards all year long that fit the theme. That usually meant six cards per issue, inserted as two three-card panels in the middle of the magazine.

In 1989, Krause Publications rolled back to a 1959 Topps design for their replicards, and that run included several “rookie stars” cards, Junior among them.

Since these were issued in panels and jammed into the middle of a magazine that got mailed everywhere, the cards aren’t all that easy to find in decent condition.

If you find a Griffey that’s been nicely hand cut and can pull a MINT grade, expect to pay three figures to make it your own. A copy in PSA 10? That’ll run you a cool grand or more — probably a LOT more.

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1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. (#220)

The 1989 Bowman baseball cards didn’t quite live up to the excitement we (old collectors) had when Topps announced they were resurrecting their defunct competitor’s brand.

They were oversize, the backs were sort of strange with their team-by-team statistical splits, and there were just too many of them on the market.

But even that initial Bowman set was fairly loaded with rookie cards, including Brady Anderson, Gary Sheffield, John Smoltz, Jerome Walton, Rob Dibble, Chris Sabo, Sandy Alomar (Jr.) … and, naturally, Griffey.

And then, Topps upped the ante by issuing a “Tiffany” version of the set, just like they’d been doing with their base set for half a decade.

Featuring high-grade creamy card stock and a thick, glossy coating, Bowman Tiffany was limited to just 6000 complete sets. That may not sound so “limited” today, but it was like hen’s teeth in the late 1980s, and the Junior RC is the key to the set.

Expect to pay $1200-1500 for a PSA 9 copy, stretching well into five figures for a specimen in PSA 10.

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1989 Fleer Glossy Ken Griffey Jr. (#548)

Griffey made it into three base sets in 1989, and, while neither the Fleer nor Donruss card can hold a candle to the Upper Deck (see below) in terms of historical hobby significance, Fleer followed Topps’ lead by issuing a more limited “glossy” version of their mass-produced main set.

Some hobby estimates put the total print run at around 30,000 complete sets, which again is a ton by today’s standards but miniscule for the original boom years.

And, of course, the Griffey RC leads the whole hit parade in the “desirable card” department.

Today, this is about a $300 card in PSA 9, with the price tag ballooning into the $3500-4000 range for perfect “10”s.

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1989 Topps Traded Ken Griffey Jr. Tiffany (#41T)

Topps somehow missed out on including Junior in their base 1989 set, an oversight which no doubt helped amplify the impact of UD even more.

But leaving out Griffey from the start also eventually led to a pretty great looking 1989 Topps Traded card that has become a classic in its own right.

And, when you add the Tiffany treatment to the thing, with an estimated print run of about 15,000 sets, you get a pretty sweet (and hot/simmering) old hunk of cardboard.

Expect to pay $500 or more for a copy in PSA 9 condition, and onward toward four grand for a PSA 10.

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1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. (#1)

Upper Deck had a perfect read on the market they were entering in 1989. In particular, collectors were clamoring for:

• High-quality photos
• Thick, premium card stock
• Some sort of assurance that the cards they were buying were authentic
• Limited print runs
• Rookies

So, UD took that research and gave us:

• High-quality photos on card fronts and backs
• Thick, premium card stock
• Holograms and “tamper-proof” Mylar packs
• A high price, which seemed to imply limited print runs
• The rookie card of all rookie cards at card #1

Making the Griffey rookie card the first card of the first-ever Upper Deck set virtually guaranteed the company would get off to a rousing start. And, with any cooperation from young Griffey on the field, the card could just become legendary.

As it turned out, Junior did just about all you could have ever imagine he might have on the field, and so did his UD rookie card.

Today, this is a $200-300 card in PSA 9, easily topping two grand in PSA 10. It’s not really scarce, either — just a stone-cold hobby icon.

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1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey (#259)

One of the really neat things about Griffey’s career is that he began playing in the major leagues while his dad was still there, back “home” for the Cincinnati Reds.

Eventually, Senior would join Junior in Seattle, and they would uncork some magic baseball moments there in the Emerald City, just like fathers and sons have been doing on ballfields across the land for more than a century now.

Topps took a moment of their own to capitalize on some of that magic right away, including this Griffey-Griffey, father-son combo with a TV motif — shades of 1955 Bowman — in their Bowman reboot.

Today, the Tiffany version of that double-duty card is about an $40-50 buy in PSA 9, stretching north of $200 for copies in slabbed GEM-MT condition.

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1989 Mother’s Cookies Ken Griffey Jr. Arms Folded (#1)

Mother’s Cookies issued at least four different Junior cards in 1989, in both single and panel form.

This one is numbered #1, so it gets the call here. Doesn’t hurt that we get an exuberant smile from “The Kid” who was known for his overall enthusiasm for the game, top to bottom.

Not quite in the same class as Upper Deck or the Tiffany/Glossy cards from a price perspective, the Mother’s cards excel in presenting affordable first-year options for collectors who want to snag some great early Griffeys without breaking the bank.

This one checks in around $40in PSA 9 condition, or $200+ in PSA 10.

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1988 Star Ken Griffey Jr. Silver Edition (1-9 cards on list) (#3)

Like Mother’s, Star issued several Griffey cards in 1989 … and in 1988.

This card is one of at least nine Juniors that carry the 1988 tag, representing the year before Griffey made his actual big league debut (on April 3, 1989).

As the series name implies, these “Silver Series” cards were adorned with silver-foil print that gave them a little extra pizzazz.

Though not many of these (technically) pre-rookie cards have been graded, they remain pretty affordable all these years later.

Expect price tags in the $50-60 range for PSA 9 copies, and about $100 more for PSA 10s.

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1988-89 Star Nova Edition Ken Griffey Jr. Career Stats (#118)

The 1988-89 Star Nova edition offered up another ten Griffey cards, with each one featuring a different theme (career stats, season 1, season 2, etc.).

Like the Silver Edition, these aren’t all that plentiful, especially in graded form, and they also tip the scales a little heavier than their 1988 counterparts.

Expect prices north of $150 for PSA 9 copies, with 10s pretty much nonexistent.

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1989 Classic Travel Ken Griffey Jr Update I (#131)

The first Classic card of Griffey came in their first update of 1989, appropriately titled Classic Travel Update I.

While the photo looks like it’s from DMV Photo Shoot Day at the ballpark, the colorful borders and (very) basic text give the thing a pretty vintage, era-specific feel.

Not really scarce in any sense of the word, this is nevertheless a first-year Griffey, and one that brings about $25 in PSA 9 (up to $100 or so in PSA 10).

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1989 Score Traded Ken Griffey Jr. (#100T)

Like Topps, Score missed out on Griffey in its base 1989 set and, who knows — if they had slotted Junior at #1, maybe they wouldn’t have lost so much ground to upstart Upper Deck that first summer.

As things stand, Score made things righter in the fall with their traded set, including Griffey at #100T on a card that’s bright and action-packed, leaving us with a great looking, affordable, and largely forgotten RC of a legend.

Today, the 1989 Score Traded Griffey sells for about $25 in PSA 9 and $200+ in PSA 10.

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1989 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. (#33)

Donruss not only had the foresight (?) to include Griffey in their base set, they also made him a Rated Rookie.

Seems like a no-brainer looking back, and it did even at the time, really, considering the hype surrounding Griffey.

Still, Donruss, ahem, scored where Topps and Score failed, so that’s bonus points for old Big D.

Alas, this base card has logged behind its glitzy counterparts in value over the years, but that just means it’s an affordable (if way overproduced) hobby classic.

Expect prices in the $25-35 for PSA 9 copies, and $300-400 for slabbed specimens in perfect GEM-MT condition.

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Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card Value

Of course, one of the biggest questions collectors have when it comes to Junior (as with most other players) is … how much are his cards worth.

And, while we included much of that info in the discussion above, sometimes it’s helpful to have pricing information pulled together in one place.

Here, then, is a quick rundown of Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card values for copies in PSA 10 condition:

• 1989 Mother’s Cookies Ken Griffey Jr. Arms Folded (#1) — $200

• 1989 Classic Travel Ken Griffey Jr Update I (#131) — $100

• 1988 Star Ken Griffey Jr. Silver Edition (1-9 cards on list) (#3) — $100

• 1989 Score Traded Ken Griffey Jr. (#100T) — $200

• 1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Father and Son (#259) — $200

• 1989 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. (#33) — $400

• 1988-89 Star Nova Edition Ken Griffey Jr. Career Stats (#118) — $500+

• 1989 Baseball Cards Magazine Repli-Cards Ken Griffey Jr. (#63) — $1200+

• 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. (#1) — $2000

• 1989 Fleer Glossy Ken Griffey Jr. (#548) — $4000

• 1989 Topps Traded Ken Griffey Jr. Tiffany (#41T) — $4000

• 1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. (#220) — $10,000+

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There’s good reason for that, too — by almost any measure, Jeter was one of the most successful players of all time, beginning with his 1995 American League Rookie of the Year Award, continuing on through five World Series titles with the New York Yankees, and culminating with his Hall of Fame election in 2020 (and Cooperstown enshrinement in 2021).

Along the way, Jeter amassed 3465 hits (sixth all-time), a .310 batting average, 14 All-Star selections, five Silver Slugger awards, and five Gold Gloves at shortstop.

So, yeah, his rookie cards, and most of his other cards, are collector favorites.

What follows are the eight most important Derek Jeter rookie cards, ranked by the “weight” assigned by PSA based on the grading and authentication they’ve done over the years.

Play ball!

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1993 SP Derek Jeter Foil (#279)

This, of course, is the Holy Grail of Jeter RCs and probably the most important card of the entire 1990s. Not only does this rookie feature arguably the most prominent member — and The Captain! — of a modern baseball dynasty, but it’s also tough to find in top condition.

Thanks, dark borders and foil coating!

Add in SP’s status as a key entry in the super-premium market by the manufacturer who got the whole high-end card ball rolling (Upper Deck), and you have a rookie card that stacks up with the greatest and most impactful of all time.

Even in PSA 8 condition, this one is hedging past $800 and toward a grand as 2021 enters its final stretch. Jump up to PSA 9, and you’re looking at a $10,000+ card.

And a copy in PSA 10?

Good luck finding that one … but if you do, make sure you have a cool half a million (or more!) in your back pocket if you want to walk away with the prize.

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1993 Stadium Club Derek Jeter Murphy (#117)

Topps foray into the super rich end of the market entered its third year with Stadium Club in 1993

And, while the passing decades have shown us that those early nineties SC issues weren’t really all that scarce, there were some nuances here and there that registered as something a bit more special.

That’s what we have here in this Jeter Draft Pick card that was part of the hobby-only “Murphy” issue in 1993. This 200-card set was issued in a molded-plastic replica of Jack Murphy Stadium, home of the 1992 All-Star Game.

Most importantly, we know how many of these things were printed, as Topps announced the production run at 128,000 sets. That’s a big gob but still about a third of the 1992 “Dome’ version (honoring the Toronto SkyDome).

So, while this Jeter rookie card isn’t exactly rare, at least we have a good idea of how many are running around out there.

Expect prices around $125 (PSA 8), $250 (PSA 9), and nearly $1000 (PSA 10).

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1993 Bowman Derek Jeter (#511)

By 1993, Topps had done a masterful job in moving their revived and revamped Bowman brand to the top(ps) of the heap when it came to rookie cards of hot young players.

And, with a simple design, improved photography, and a continued emphasis on packing as many RCs as possible onto the checklist, ’93 Bowman was popular with hobbyists right out of the gate (and the pack).

As a first-round pick of the Yanks, Jeter was a big pull from the beginning, and the stature of this card only climbed over the years as Mr. November built his legacy.

These days, Jeter’s Bowman RC sells for under $100 in PSA 9 but upwards of $600 in PSA 10.

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1993 Pinnacle Derek Jeter (#457)

If you made baseball cards in the 1990s, you had to get in on the premium-card rush, right?

Right.

So, in 1992, Score jumped in with its black-bordered Pinnacle set that featured anti-counterfeit bar codes on card backs that could be verified by viewing them with a Lenticular detection device — real Batman-level gadgetry, I tell you.

Pinnacle was back in 1993 with all the same bells and whistles, AND with a Derek Jeter rookie card … and with big production numbers.

Like always, though, the black borders make for condition sensitivity and render the Derek RC about a $1000 buy in PSA 10, dropping off fast to $100 or so in PSA 9.

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1993 Score Derek Jeter Draft Pick (#489)

Like most of its issues, 1993 Score featured good photography, a fairly clean design, and an overall ho-hum experience for collectors.

This Jeter Draft Pick card, though, doesn’t really fit with any of that, as it’s heavy on loud, bold, and gaudy design elements.

Still, as the first base Score card of The Captain, it checks in at about $45 in PSA 9 condition and more than $200 in PSA 10.

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1993 Select Derek Jeter (#360)

Nothing like a run of Score cards to make you feel like you’re living in the 1990s, so here we bring you the 1993 Score Select Jeter to complete our flush.

Positioned between Pinnacle and the base Score in terms of premium-ness, Select aimed to hit the middle ground and bring higher-grade cards to collectors without breaking the bank. The brand even pioneered its own printing process — Dufex!

Jeter got his own slice of the 405-card issue, checking in around $40 in PSA 9, with PSA 10 copies pulling down $300-500 (depending on the day and the wind patterns).

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1993 Topps Derek Jeter (#98)

Even though it’s “just” a base Topps card, this Jeter RC is one of the most recognizable hobby images of the entire 1990s.

Looking back and considering all the championships, it also seems fitting that Jeter is standing, dominant, over the diamond.

Expect prices to range from about $85 for PSA 9 copies, up to the $600 neighborhood for “perfect” GEM-MT slabbed specimens.

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1993 Upper Deck Derek Jeter (#449)

Issued just four years after the iconic Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card set Upper Deck on the path to hobby superstardom, this Jeter RC hails from the same general era, even if it pales in overall stature.

Still, this is a great shot of a young, soon-to-be legend donning the Yankees pinstripes on a sunny day. What could be better?

This is a $60 card in PSA 9, pushing towards $500 (or even beyond) in PSA 10.

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