Baseball Card Market Report for April 25-May 1, 2024 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Checking in on the cards of the Big Red Machine

May 03, 2024

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Flights of Fancy

This week’s list of the most expensive baseball cards sold eBay last week (bottom of post) is a little, uh, all over the place. We lead off with Elly De La Cruz, transition into some complete sets (including 1986 Topps Tiffany!), and then finish up with a Hank Aaron rookie card.

Just goes to show you that baseball card collectors — even investors and speculators — have varied interests and drop their money across a wide range of issues and era.

That makes the hobby sound like a pretty fun place to be, if you ask me…and it is!

Another fun place to be, once upon a time?

Imagine, if you will, Riverfront Stadium in the mid-1970s…

Collecting the Big Red Machine

Last week, we checked in on the cards of the famed “Boys of Summer,” the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1940s and 1960s.

We can use that same general framework to run through some other famous teams, so I thought it might be fun to do that…starting with the Big Red Machine.

For this exercise, we’ll use the same basic methodology we used last week (read that piece for a refresher), but with a slight twist.

To wit, we picked our Dodgers lineup based on the specific players Roger Kahn focused on in his Boys of Summer book, but we don’t have that same sort of literary reference for the Reds.

Instead, we’ll take the top 10 WAR leaders from the 1975 Reds, listed by Baseball Reference.

Here’s what I found:

1965 Topps Joe Morgan (#16) - PSA 8

WAR: 11
Value: $1100
Common Value: $14
Multiplier: 78.57

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1968 Topps Johnny Bench (#247) - PSA 8

WAR: 6.6
Value: $1575
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 157.5

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1971 Topps George Foster (#276) - PSA 8

WAR: 4.8
Value: $80
Common Value: $12
Multiplier: 6.67

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1971 Topps Cesar Geronimo (#447) - PSA 8

WAR: 4.1
Value: $12
Common Value: $12
Multiplier: 1

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1963 Topps Pete Rose (#537) - PSA 8

WAR: 4.1
Value: $12500
Common Value: $22
Multiplier: 568.18

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1971 Topps Dave Concepcion (#14) - PSA 8

WAR: 3.9
Value: $270
Common Value: $12
Multiplier: 22.5

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1971 Topps Don Gullett (#124) - PSA 8

WAR: 3.5
Value: $12
Common Value: $12
Multiplier: 1

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1974 Topps Ken Griffey (#598) - PSA 8

WAR: 3.1
Value: $60
Common Value: $4
Multiplier: 15

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1965 Topps Tony Perez (#581) - PSA 8

WAR: 3.1
Value: $90
Common Value: $16
Multiplier: 5.63

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1968 Topps Gary Nolan (#196) - PSA 8

WAR: 2.9
Value: $10
Common Value: $10
Multiplier: 1

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—

The general pattern we saw last week with the Brooklyn Dodgers holds here: Hall of Famers have the biggest multipliers, followed by non-HOF superstars, followed by important cogs in the machine whose careers have faded from the limelight.

There are exceptions here, though.

For one thing, Pete Rose tops all comers here in terms of multipliers, and he’s also higher in that mark than any of the Dodgers. That probably speaks to the power of notoriety and controversy, but also the fact that the Rose rookie has been a hobby driver for more than 40 years.

For another thing, Tony Perez falls way short of the other HOFers here and among the Dodgers in terms of multipliers. Could be Doggy’s lack of eye-popping stats, the general toughness of high-number series (where his rookie card appears), or both.

Doubly interesting since the Perez rookie card is a short print.

The other guy that sort of jumps out here is Ken Griffey, with a multiplier way above Perez’s and George Foster’s. Senior was an All-Star player, of course, but you gotta figure his cards get a nice bump from his Kid’s later accomplishments.

And speaking of accomplishments, here are some cards that pulled off big things last week…

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for April 25-May 1, 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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