Okay, folks, let’s talk about something that’s been on my mind lately – Ken Griffey Jr. cards. Now, I’ve been collecting these things since I was a kid, and I recently decided to dig into how much they’re actually worth these days. Here’s a rundown of what I did.
First off, I started by grabbing all my old Ken Griffey Jr. cards. I had them stashed away in boxes in the attic. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane, I gotta say. Some of these cards I hadn’t seen in years! Once I had them all laid out, I needed to figure out which ones were actually worth something.
I hit the internet and started researching. I found a bunch of different websites and forums where people were talking about this stuff. I mainly used a few websites that seemed pretty trustworthy. They had price guides and info on recent sales.
One thing I learned pretty quickly is that the condition of the card makes a huge difference. You got your “ungraded” cards, which are basically just raw, and then you got “graded” cards, which have been professionally assessed and given a score. The graded ones are usually worth a lot more, especially if they get a high grade like a 9 or 10.
I also discovered that certain cards are way more sought after than others. Like, everyone wants that 1989 Upper Deck #1 card. It’s like the holy grail of Ken Griffey Jr. rookies. Apparently, it’s got a really nice design and it’s a high-quality print. I checked mine, and it was in a decent condition but there is a scratch on the surface.
- 1989 Upper Deck #1: This is the big one. If you got this in good condition, you’re sitting on a little goldmine.
- 1989 Bowman Tiffany #220: Also a big deal, but not as much as the Upper Deck one. I found out that in perfect condition, these can go for like thirteen bucks. But, I don’t have this one sadly.
- 1989 Topps Traded Tiffany: Another good one, but less common.
So, I went through my cards one by one and compared them to what I found online. I had a few that were in pretty good shape, but most of them were just average. Based on the info, it looks like ungraded Ken Griffey Jr. cards go for around $50 on average. But some of them can go for thousands if they’re rare or in perfect condition. Graded ones are even crazier – some sell for almost $10,000! I mean, the average is lower, around $300, but still, that’s some serious money.
I even found a website that tracks these prices over time. For ungraded cards, they said the average is about $30, but if it’s graded a 7, it’s around $21, an 8 is $100, and a 9 is $277. It’s wild how much the grade affects the price!
After all that digging, I figured out that my collection isn’t going to make me rich, but it’s still pretty cool to see how much these things are worth. I decided to get a couple of my best cards graded, just to see what they come back as. I picked out a couple that looked like they were in the best condition and sent them off to a grading company.
I also did some reading about Ken Griffey Sr. Apparently, he’s worth around $5 million in 2023. That’s a lot of dough! He made it from his baseball career, endorsements, and some business stuff. And the whole sports card industry? It’s huge. In 2020, it was making over a billion dollars a year. The most expensive card ever sold was a Mickey Mantle card for $12.6 million! Can you believe that?
It’s been a fun little project, and I’m definitely going to keep an eye on the market. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll stumble upon a real gem. For now, I’m just happy to have a little piece of baseball history.
