Five More Impossible Baseball Cards of the Junk Wax Era
My previous article looked at five impossible baseball cards of the Junk Wax Era:
- 1987 Topps Ricky Wright (SIGNED)
- 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy ERR
- 1990 Topps George H.W. Bush
- 1990 Topps Frank Thomas NNOF
- 1990 Upper Deck "Baseball Heroes" Reggie Jackson AUTO 44/2500
However, these five cards were hardly the only impossible cardboard of the era. In this next installment we look at five more Junk Wax treasures that continue to command top dollar more than 40 years later.
1990 Donruss Brian Downing Diamond Kings (SIGNED)
Brian Downing has not one but two Diamond Kings cards in the 1990 Donruss set: one where he bats lefty and the artist signature reads "zɘɿɘᑫ," and one where he bats righty and we see the familiar signature of Hobby icon Dick Perez.
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However, one signature you won't see on this card, backward or forward, is that of Brian Downing himself. That is, unless you get incredibly lucky. Though Downing, who is still alive at age 74, has plenty of other signed cards in the $10 to $20 range, his Diamond King is evidently one he's not a fan of signing. Adding to the card's premium is the large number of collectors hoping to amass complete runs of autographed Diamond Kings.
1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan PSA 10
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In 1989 it was Ken Griffey, Jr. In 1990, it was Ben McDonald and later Kevin Maas. Come 1991, collectors just kind of assumed the year's hottest baseball card would come from premium card maker Upper Deck. Of course, few imagined it would be a card of a basketball player!
Numbered "SP1," the card was randomly inserted into one out of every 72 packs in Upper Deck's low number series, making it about 35% less common than standard base cards from the set. While reasonably sharp copies of the card can be found quite easily today for under $20, fewer than 3000 of these cards have been landed the coveted grade of PSA 10. The result is that gem mint copies of the card routinely sell for $400 and up.
1991 Pacific Prototypes Rickey Henderson
In 1991 Pacific Trading Cards issued a small set of ten prototypes, highlighted by Rickey Henderson, Frank Thomas, and Dwight Gooden, and mimicking the design of their football card set. Reportedly only 20 of these sets were ever produced, making each of the cards almost impossibly rare. (That said, ambitious "Man of Steal" collectors may also want to nab the equally rare Spanish language version of the card.)
1991 Topps Desert Shield Chipper Jones
Even in Braves country, 1991 Topps Chipper Jones rookie cards may turn up in card show dollar bins. And why not! Only about a bazillion trillion of these cards were produced! Of course, that's if we're talking about the standard Topps offering.
Look below the #1 Draft Pick logo and if you see a second logo for Operation Desert Shield, you may have just struck gold. These cards, which were sent to troops serving in Iraq, are decidedly more scarce, with an estimated print run just north of 6,000. In PSA 10, the Desert Shield Jones is a $10,000 card, but even mid-grade versions of the card are quite pricey. Even a PSA 5, for example, has sold for more than $600.
1991 Donruss Legends Series Nolan Ryan
This last card is one I know well since I was among the lucky collectors to pull one back in 1991. What made this card (and the Elite and Signature Series cards) such amazing pulls is that they weren't even advertised. Unlike today where you open a pack hoping to get a massive hit, these were boxes and packs we opened having no idea an ultra-rare (by 1990s standards) Nolan Ryan or autographed Ryne Sandberg might be waiting inside. Literally, the packaging said nothing about any of these inserts. Of course it didn't take long for word of mouth to spread, even in those pre-internet days. While prices on these cards may be lower today than they were in 1991 when the Ryan card held grail status, they still rank among the top dollar cards of the era and kindle no shortage of nostalgia.
While this brings us to the end of this current Impossible Cards installment, the good news is there's plenty more still to come. Keep checking back at Collectibles on SI, and keep digging through those shoe boxes!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.