Baseball Card Market Report for June 6-12, 2024 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- How did 1989 Donruss weather the pandemic?

Jun 14, 2024

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The Burger King Edition

The top of the baseball market continues to deliver something special for fans and collectors of just about any age. Take a look at the top-selling cards on eBay from last week (bottom of post), and you’ll get roughly equal parts Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Witt (Jr.), Ohtani, Ruth, Cobb, Williams, etc.

About the only thing you won’t find?

Curiously, that would be any cards of today’s shiniest new hot items, who are making waves on the field but show up not at all on this week’s list (other than Witt, at least).

It’s a “have it your way” sort of market right now, for the most part.

Once upon a time, having it your way for most collectors included popping open some svelte new Donruss cards. So let’s check in on one of those long-ago “treasures.”

How Did 1989 Donruss Weather the Pandemic?

This week on YouTube, we took a look at the most expensive 1989 Donruss baseball cards to change hands on eBay recently. You can see that vid right here if you want.

As we did last week with 1990 Bowman, today we’re going to look at how 1989 Donruss baseball cards are selling today compared to how they were selling before the pandemic.

What follows, then, are comparisons of selling prices (per PSA Actual Prices Realized) for PSA 10 copies of the ten most “valuable” 1989 Donruss cards, from late in 2019 and from this spring (2024). Air quotes because these are still junk wax cards we’re talking about here.

Anyway, here’s what I found…

1989 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. (#33) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $225
2024 Value: $325
Profit/loss: $100
% change: 44

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1989 Donruss Randy Johnson (#42) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $35
2024 Value: $35
Profit/loss: $0
% change: 0

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1989 Donruss Curt Schilling (#635) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $45
2024 Value: $40
Profit/loss: -$5
% change: -11

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1989 Donruss Craig Biggio (#561) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $25
2024 Value: $20
Profit/loss: -$5
% change: -20

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1989 Donruss Gary Sheffield (#31) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $30
2024 Value: $30
Profit/loss: $0
% change: 0

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1989 Donruss John Smoltz (#642) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $15
2024 Value: $20
Profit/loss: $5
% change: 33

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1989 Donruss Nolan Ryan (#154) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $15
2024 Value: $45
Profit/loss: $30
% change: 200

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1989 Donruss Bo Jackson (#208) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $15
2024 Value: $50
Profit/loss: $35
% change: 233

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1989 Donruss Barry Bonds (#92) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $20
2024 Value: $20
Profit/loss: $0
% change: 0

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1989 Donruss Rickey Henderson (#245) - PSA 10

2019 Value: $15
2024 Value: $25
Profit/loss: $10
% change: 67

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—

As with 1990 Bowman last week, these numbers are a bit all over the place.

Two cards dropped in price, though the Schilling self-destruction makes his rookie card tumble less than surprising. And Biggio?

Just a guess, but maybe the drop is related to unmet expectations on the part of his son, Cavan. The younger Biggio’s prospect status peaked in 2019.

Otherwise, we see lots of flatlines, a couple of mid-level returns, and two big movers — Ryan and Jackson. Bo’s cards have been consistent hobby favorites since lockdown started, and plenty of them have seen big increases.

Overall, this group of cards is up 39% in the four-plus years of our little study. That’s lower than the 50% boost we saw with 1990 Bowman, but still an increase. Will they maintain that over the even longer haul?

Lots of factors will play into that, of course, including the direction of the overall market in the years to come.

If Bonds ever gets the call to the Hall of Fame, you have to figure all his cards will get some extra attention — and a price boost. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine Schilling card picking up steam again at this point, so maybe another player will replace him in this top ten.

In the meantime, it’s also hard to imagine any 1989 Donruss card appearing on a list like the rundown of…

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for June 6-12, 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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