Baseball Card Market Report for May 9-15, 2024 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Checking in on the cards of the 1969 New York Mets

May 17, 2024

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Oh Captain! Ohtani!

You’ll notice a few familiar faces among the list of the most expensive baseball cards sold on eBay last week (bottom of post). Shohei Ohtani looks like his next diamond trick might be winning the Triple Crown, after all, and collectors tend to notice those types of things.

But not far behind Ohtani — and actually ahead of him, if the very top card is your criteria — is a name from what now seems like long, long ago. Yeah, Derek Jeter checks in with three big sales, including the card in the #1 slot.

All around those two guys we see signs of the times, embodied by names like Skenes, Roman, and Elly. But we also get a wishful-thinking run of Mike Trout cards, along with sightings of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, even Nolan Ryan.

And speaking of The Express, let’s see what’s happening in the world of…

Collecting the 1969 New York Mets

The 1969 New York Mets are one of the most iconic teams of all time, turning around the fortunes of a franchise that had been the National League’s doormat since its inception in 1962.

Those Mets shocked the world, first by winning the first-ever National League East title with a 100-62 record, then by sweeping the Braves in the National League Championship Series, then by taking down the 109-53 Orioles in five games in the World Series.

All these years later, the 1969 Mets still capture the imagination of fans and collectors everywhere. But…

How are the cards of the best players on that team faring in today’s market? Well, I decided to find out, using the same exercise we’ve worked through in recent weeks for other teams, starting with the old Brooklyn Dodgers. Read that piece for a refresher on our methods.

Here’s what I found for cards of the 1969 Mets…

1967 Topps Tom Seaver (#581) - PSA 8

WAR: 7.2
Value: $4475
Common Value: $35
Multiplier: 127.86

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1965 Topps Cleon Jones (#308) - PSA 8

WAR: 7
Value: $40
Common Value: $14
Multiplier: 2.86

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1965 Topps Tommie Agee (#166) - PSA 8

WAR: 5.2
Value: $14
Common Value: $14
Multiplier: 1

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1969 Topps Jerry Koosman (#90) - PSA 8

WAR: 4.9
Value: $34
Common Value: $13
Multiplier: 2.62

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1965 Topps Tug McGraw (#533) - PSA 8

WAR: 2.5
Value: $35
Common Value: $16
Multiplier: 2.19

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1964 Topps Jerry Grote (#226) - PSA 8

WAR: 2.5
Value: $14
Common Value: $14
Multiplier: 1

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1967 Topps Bud Harrelson (#306) - PSA 8

WAR: 2.2
Value: $14
Common Value: $14
Multiplier: 1

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1969 Topps Gary Gentry (#31) - PSA 8

WAR: 2.2
Value: $13
Common Value: $13
Multiplier: 1

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1965 Topps Art Shamsky (#398) - PSA 8

WAR: 1.9
Value: $16
Common Value: $16
Multiplier: 1

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1963 Topps Ron Taylor (#208) - PSA 8

WAR: 1.7
Value: $90
Common Value: $32
Multiplier: 2.81

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Maybe the most striking thing about all this is that, for the most part, the best players on the 1969 Mets weren’t superstars over the course of their careers, and only half or so played at a superstar level in 1969.

Also, you might note that neither the Koosman nor Taylor card listed above is actually a true rookie card. That’s because those players shared their RCs with bigger names (Nolan Ryan and Sam McDowell) who severely skew the card values.

Anyway, that first solo Taylor card actually carries a fairly hefty price tag compared to commons from the same series. Shamsky, too, but he also carries with him a still-strong fanbase among longtime Reds fans.

Anyway, the other players on this list pretty much line up like you might think they would, with Seaver in the stratosphere, Jones and Koosman well above common levels.

If there’s anything like a surprisingly low multiplier among these players, it belongs to McGraw and/or Agee. These are pretty legendary players among Mets fans — and Phillies fans, in Tugger’s case — so I actually expected bigger multipliers. Might be a good time to snatch up a copy of you’re already in the market for one, though you shouldn’t expect big returns on either.

Now, here are some cards that did deliver big returns for their former owners…

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for May 9-15, 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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