Baseball Card Market Report for April 11-17, 2024 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Can "special" cards save commons?

Apr 19, 2024

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“Iconic Card” Leading Off

One look at the list of the most expensive baseball cards sold on eBay last week (see bottom of post) will tell you that a “iconic card” will always have a place in the hearts of collectors.

And how do we know that the #1 card on our list is, indeed, an “iconic card,” quotes and all? Well, because the seller tells us so right in the listing!

Actually, the seller is a bit more emphatic, insisting that the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth is an “ICONIC CARD.” And it’s actually hard to argue against that assertion, right? I mean, that Ruth certainly is a classic, and one that stands up well against all of today’s young guns with names like Ohtani, Holliday, Judge, and others.

Now for a few cards the may be a *bit* less iconic…

Are “Special” Common Cards Worth Any More?

We tend to spend most of our hobby time focused on stars and, sometimes, on commons — like when we’re trying to fill in a set or doing a deep-dive into old commons values.

But what happens when the worlds collide? When “common” players, or at least non-Hall of Famers, end up on special cards?

Are those special cards worth anything more than a common common?

To start getting at an answer, I pulled up ten “special” cards from the 1970s that featured non-Cooperstown guys — in-action, All-Star, league leaders, record-breakers, etc.

Then I used the card value multiplier method to see how far away from being commons each of them are in today’s market.

Here’s what I found:

1972 Topps Gene Michael In Action (#714) - PSA 8

Value: $12
Common Value: $11
Multiplier: 1.09

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1973 Topps Clay Carroll / Sparky Lyle - Leading Firemen (#68) - PSA 8

Value: $10
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 1

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1974 Topps Amos Otis/Cesar Cedeno - AS Center Fielders (#337) - PSA 8

Value: $4
Common Value: $4
Multiplier: 1

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1975 Topps Mike Marshall (#6) - PSA 8

Value: $20
Common Value: $15
Multiplier: 1.33

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1976 Topps Rennie Stennett (#6) - PSA 8

Value: $3
Common Value: $3
Multiplier: 1

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1976 Topps George Scott/John Mayberry/Fred Lynn (#196) - PSA 8

Value: $3
Common Value: $3
Multiplier: 1

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1977 Topps Nate Colbert Turn Back the Clock (#433) - PSA 8

Value: $10
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 1

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1977 Topps Jose Morales Record Breaker (#233) - PSA 8

Value: $10
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 1

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1978 Topps Sparky Lyle Record Breaker (#2) - PSA 9

Value: $4
Common Value: $4
Multiplier: 1

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1979 Topps John Stearns Record Breaker (#205) - PSA 9

Value: $5
Common Value: $5
Multiplier: 1

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—

As you can see, the “common” aspect of these cards trumps the “special” aspect in nearly every case. Only the Mike Marshall record-breaker and the Gene Michael in-action cards rise beyond the value of a common from the same series.

Does that mean these cards are bad investments? Well, all cards are bad investments inasmuch as they’re, you know, cardboard.

But compared to other cards, these common specials are just, well, common. Treat them like commons, and you should be OK. The upside is that all this means you should be able to grab hold of some nifty cards for relatively cheap cash outlays.

Now, here are some cards that will require significantly fatter stacks if you want to make them your own…

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for April 11-17, 2024

(Quick note — this list contains affiliate links to the original eBay listings.)

If you want to see updated 30-day market toppers anytime, we have a couple of resources over on WaxPackGods.com:

Most expensive baseball cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive football cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive basketball cards sold in the last 30 days

Now, on with the show …

Baseball Card Values Newsletter

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