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Iconic 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr Still a Home Run

What the Griffey Rookie has meant to the Hobby, and a HUGE Factory Set Deal that Just Collect Made

July 22, 2020

What is the most iconic baseball card from the last few decades? Instantly, you thought of the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card, didn’t you? The man with the sweetest swing in baseball is still fueling the baseball card industry today, with Junior rookie cards reaching unfathomable prices recently. Take a look at how insanely hot the ’89 UD rookie is now, as well as how you may be able to purchase one that has never seen the light of day!

Card Number One

Upper Deck was clearly onto something when scheming up their inaugural baseball card set; one of the greatest players in the history of the game was made card #1 before taking one single big-league at-bat.

When Upper Deck stepped onto the baseball card scene in 1989, the card leader in the clubhouse, Topps, usually placed a star player at card number one. Jackie Robinson in 1953, Ted Williams in 1954, Mike Trout and Derek Jeter have held the spot, and Nolan Ryan spent FOUR years sitting in first position; stars were first. There were plenty of stars that UD could have selected at card one – Jose Canseco started the 40-40 club a year prior, Kurt Gibson won the NL MVP and had one of the most memorable home runs ever in the World Series in ’88. UD luckily went with the better long-term pick and put a young Ken Griffey Jr. front and center of their very first baseball card set.

This blog is sponsored by JUST COLLECT where we specialize in buying vintage cards, autographs, and collections. If you have any of THESE cards, we'd love to chat! We're always interested in buying 1989 Upper Deck graded Griffey rookies.

High-End Product

Before super high-end products like National Treasures or Transcendent existed, your average baseball card pack was selling for 0.45 cents per pack. Topps was mostly using wax wrappers at that point, which unfortunately were easy to tamper with; you've seen packs opened, picked clean, and ironed up again, haven’t you? Upper Deck decided to package their cards in a tamper-proof, foil wrapper. Thick, sturdy, super-bright card stock was used to create the card, and a slick-looking hologram was placed on the back of the card. These fancy upgrades set you back a full $1.00 per pack! A bargain now, but when there were only a handful of products on the shelves, an extra .65 cents per pack was something else. 1989 Upper Deck became a high-end product, and there was Griffey Jr. in that #1 slot.

Griffey Leads the Hobby

Ken Griffey Jr did make it to the show in 1989, belting 16 homers as the age of 19. As you were opening packs, Griffey was proving his worth on the field, therefore making you a smart investor if you pulled The Kid from a $1.00 pack. Initially, you could get the JR card for $10; 10 X your investment! Before turning the age of 30, Griffey had hit 40 or more homers, won an MVP, and took home 10 Gold Glove awards. A complete star off the field, too, Griffey and his huge smile lit up TV cameras.

I recall going to a card show in Albany, NY. in 1997 and hearing a dealer almost reluctantly agreeing to buy the UD rookie for $100, telling the collector he thought Griffey would break Hank Aaron’s career home run record; he thought the card would be worth well North of a hundred bucks soon! Getting 100 X your investment back sounded like a good deal to me…the value continued, and continues to climb.

Impact on the Hobby Today

Much as the 1984 Topps Don Mattingly was a catalyst for baseball cards getting big again in the 1980’s, the 1989 Upper Deck Griffey propelled the entire hobby. Leaf began using the thick and glossy card stock in 1990. Topps started fully ditching the wax wrappers for plastic in 1991, and then released a high-end product in Stadium Club the same year. Topps began producing the Gold insert cards in 1992. All companies began to follow suit and took a page from the 89 UD set.

Upper Deck basically started the game-used materials business craze with the Game Jersey cards in 1997. While patch cards are almost a prerequisite for having a set today, UD first fashioned up putting a piece of Jr’s jersey on a card and inserted a patch card in 1:800 packs! Collectors ate up the "game jersey" cards. Even today, I’d still take the Rey Ordonez... Picture this: If Griffey failed, Upper Deck would have failed, there would be no Game Jersey set, and a product like National Treasures would not exist. NO RPA's! No Million-Dollar Lebron rookies!

1989 Upper Deck Griffey sparked the industry. UD nailed it with their first card, and we continue to see the evidence today.

The Value Today

Over thirty years later, the UD Griffey Rookie is still on FIRE – more so now than ever. Since the release, few, if any cards can stack up to the iconic image plastered on 1989 UD Card #1. With the Covid-19 pandemic, a few factors have really spiked values Jr’s rookie:

There have been few, if any live sports to watch or attend
You’re bored
MLB just aired Junior, a documentary on The Kid during these boring times
Baseball is BACK tomorrow; you WANT JR rookies

We saw values of the rookie card soar from $10 in 1989 to $100 in 1999. Where do we sit now in 2020? Look several recent eBay sales of a gem-mint, PSA 10 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr:

June 23^rd 2020: $1,225
June 21^st 2020: $1,177
June 20^th 2020: $1,125

If you were the smart investor from 1989, you just turned your $1.00 into over $1,000. Tallying 1,000 X your investment just rolls off the tongue nicely.

At the time of this article, over 74,000 UD rookie cards have been graded by PSA. Compare that to another GOAT’s rookie – only about 18,000 Michael Jordan Fleer rookies have ben graded by PSA. So many collectors have held the iconic UD rookie – if you’ve never owned one, how you like to?

Just Collect Purchased a HUGE 1989 Upper Deck Collection

Take a look at those beauties! Just Collect was fortunate enough to procure a SEALED CASE, as well as 13 additional factory sealed 1989 Upper Deck sets!

How would you like to own a brand new JR rookie? An entire set that has never seen the light of day! If you would like to buy a set from this collection, or the case, please reach out NOW, right here on the site, call (732) 828-2261, or send us an e-mail at info@justcollect.com. These WILL sell quickly!

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. We are also buying tickets and ticket stubs from sporting events, concerts, and other famous events such as Michael Jordan's NBA debut. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than using our website, too.

Shipping your collection

We will evaluate your cards for free. Once appraised, if you choose not to sell, we will return your cards at charge to you. With our FedEx account, we will ship your cards fully insured with 2-day shipping.

Travel to Us

If you can make the trip here - we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.

Come to convention

We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

Meet in New York City

We have another location in New York you can meet us at; read all the information here.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!

Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.

Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!