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Griffey Collector's Thread

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bedot

New member
Dec 4, 2011
150
0
This discussion is all about supply and demand. Also, some of those 90s releases were iconic in the modern card industry. For instance, his 1993 finest Refractor was the first of its kind. Those type of revolutionary products don't really exist anymore. The market will never return to what it was, so those old releases continue to hold some of the most valuable cards.

As far as today's autos, no they do not command near the premium of his 90s autos, but the designs by topps in my opinion are far and away better than any of his old autos. Just higher quality card stock as well. Again, not as rare but it makes Griffey fun to collect because I was 5-10 when I watched his greatness. I'm 24 now.

I feel I am the last of the Griffey collectors because yes kids now will watch Trout, McCutchen, etc...

Interesting topic though to discuss.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

ckurdelski

New member
Jul 4, 2012
58
0
Not sure if anyone buys this argument, but what about the economic conditions of the late 90's and the end of the .com bubble? The 90s were a time when it seemed like the sky was the limit, and everything was awesome. Companies were experimenting with radical and innovative offerings like never before. And I believe 1998 was the dollar peak of total sales in the card industry, if I remember correctly. As it turns out, this period coincides with the end of Griffey's prime years, before he got injured. A confluence of circumstances and they all point towards high valuations for the late 90s
 

goobmcnasty

Active member
Apr 4, 2014
1,583
13
I feel that 1990s Griffey is an example of a perfect storm.
1. Griffey was (arguably) the most popular player in the 90s, so he was included in 99% of the insert sets of that time period.
2. A lot of us grew up in the 90s watching Griffey dominate, but we could never afford his good stuff. Now we're 30ish, and we can. So we do.
3. His prime years were in a Seattle uniform, which is also the same time period that inserts were in their prime, both with set design, limited availability, etc. The pinnacle of his career coincided with the pinnacle of baseball card inserts.
4. When Griffey went to Cinci in 2000, his career began to decline, as did the quality of baseball card inserts. He/they were still good in the early 2000s, but nothing compared to the 90s.

Not sure if theres a point in here. I'm just kind of rambling and don't have the energy to go back and re-read what I just wrote.
 

murphy17

New member
Nov 28, 2010
223
0
I feel that 1990s Griffey is an example of a perfect storm.
1. Griffey was (arguably) the most popular player in the 90s, so he was included in 99% of the insert sets of that time period.
2. A lot of us grew up in the 90s watching Griffey dominate, but we could never afford his good stuff. Now we're 30ish, and we can. So we do.
3. His prime years were in a Seattle uniform, which is also the same time period that inserts were in their prime, both with set design, limited availability, etc. The pinnacle of his career coincided with the pinnacle of baseball card inserts.
4. When Griffey went to Cinci in 2000, his career began to decline, as did the quality of baseball card inserts. He/they were still good in the early 2000s, but nothing compared to the 90s.

Not sure if theres a point in here. I'm just kind of rambling and don't have the energy to go back and re-read what I just wrote.

Yep. It's a combination of all of that.
 

bisioml

Member
Nov 13, 2013
43
13
Can any of you Griffey guys tell me what I have here? Any info would be appreciated!

View attachment 46727
View attachment 46728

I can't really speak to the Reds Sample, but I'm assuming the story would be something very much like the one that pertains to your 97 Select Sample:

These particular samples are relatively common (although exact print run is unclear) given that they were distributed to every dealer and hobby shop to give them a preview of the new product they would be receiving in December of 1997. There is also an extremely rare or scarce version of the samples from this set that are from the 'select company' parallel. If you ever come across a Griffey or other Stars from the 90's, you have yourself some tough finds. I have only ever seen the Griffey one other time besides the one that I have!

Hope that helps and good luck with whatever you plan on doing with them!

Marco


I'll always be a 'Kid'...like THE 'KID'!
 

bigunitcards

Member
Sep 8, 2013
654
0
OKC, OK
1. Griffey was (arguably) the most popular player in the 90s, so he was included in 99% of the insert sets of that time period.

This has to be the #1 drawback to collecting guys who are not in the super-duper upper echelon of the hobby (Griffey, McGwire), you miss out on a lot of the best inserts of that decade. While it's nice to not have to fight 2 dozen crazy dudes with deep pockets for every card, I look through these threads & get jealous at some of these cards you guys get to go after. My guy was in some great sets like Crusade don't get me wrong, but Griffey was in ev-er-y-thing
 

tidel144

Member
Jan 30, 2014
416
3
This has to be the #1 drawback to collecting guys who are not in the super-duper upper echelon of the hobby (Griffey, McGwire), you miss out on a lot of the best inserts of that decade. While it's nice to not have to fight 2 dozen crazy dudes with deep pockets for every card, I look through these threads & get jealous at some of these cards you guys get to go after. My guy was in some great sets like Crusade don't get me wrong, but Griffey was in ev-er-y-thing

I agree. However, while Randy wasn't in every major insert set, at least you can chase his parallels, some of which are just as eye-appealing as the inserts.

Additionally, since you referenced Griffey being in "everything", I have to nitpick and personally complain: specifically, he wasn't in the '94 Flair Hot Numbers set, which was my favorite insert until I saw the '95 Leaf Statistical Standouts. Back in '94, I remember pulling a Mike Piazza out of a $6 pack - which was expensive for me at that young age - and thinking immediately about the Griffey; however, the dealer at the flea market quickly burst my bubble telling me Griffey wasn't included in the set, yet Ripken, Thomas, Piazza all were. I was legitimately mad, haha. Further, I was also jealous of Frank Thomas getting his own inserts in the Leaf products over the years, specifically his '95 Greatest Hits insert shaped like a CD, and his '97 Game-Used Collection /100 .

But I shouldn't be complaining too much; I just wish Upper Deck did something more eye-appealing/innovative like that with Griffey as their attempt with the '97 SP Griffey Heroes didn't do it for me.
 

Keyser Soze

New member
Nov 9, 2010
3,262
0
The Woodlands, TX
I just hit this in a PSA sub, wondering what you guys thought this would fetch in auction


http://www.psacard.com/Cert/23936564


It's this card, just now a PSA 10

Griffey99FlairShowcaseLegacyColl_zpsb1e08de5.jpg




I also hit this one, but know it's not as valuable as the other. Just as excited about it, though

http://www.psacard.com/Cert/23936567
 
Last edited:

tidel144

Member
Jan 30, 2014
416
3
Congrats on the Gem grade, Keyser! I think it would go for $400-$450. While PSA 10's bring higher premiums to some of his cards from this era, I think its minimal particular Legacy; however, other Legacies like the '97 Row 0 command significant premiums.

Sevlist: this card has surprisingly popped up for quite frequently over the past 6 months, given its extreme rarity. Sean is the expert on his 90s autos - what do you think [MENTION=5489]murphy17[/MENTION]?
 

goobmcnasty

Active member
Apr 4, 2014
1,583
13

Yeah I thought $1100 was a little low, especially since the buyer got $110 back in ebay bucks. The only other sales I have seen of these have been above $1500. The only reason why this isn't a $2500 card is there are several parallel variations of essentially the same card...
 

murphy17

New member
Nov 28, 2010
223
0
Congrats on the Gem grade, Keyser! I think it would go for $400-$450. While PSA 10's bring higher premiums to some of his cards from this era, I think its minimal particular Legacy; however, other Legacies like the '97 Row 0 command significant premiums.

Sevlist: this card has surprisingly popped up for quite frequently over the past 6 months, given its extreme rarity. Sean is the expert on his 90s autos - what do you think @murphy17?

Hey Guys. I was actually the second highest bidder on that one. I would have loved to own a third one of these, but I wasn't going to bid the normal price, especially since I just bought another one. Keep in mind it only takes two people to bid up something. If I wanted to add a few more hundred to it, who knows if the winning bidder would have matched that.

Other than the 1998 POA auto, this one is my favorite. I love this auto and how it has the three variations. It commemorates his time as a Mariner in the prime of Griffey's career, as well as the prime of card collecting as we know it. It's the perfect auto. I think it should be worth $2000 easy, but I'm a bit biased ;)

It also may not have been as high as normal because there have been a couple others over time that have been available. I had never seen this card available before, and three of them pop up for sale all within the same year. We may not see another one for a long time.

Does anybody know who won it?
 

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