Baseball Card Market Report for November 10-16, 2022 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Traded cards in the Investment Corner

Nov 18, 2022

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Forgotten Rookie Card

Even after trolling ye olde dusty shoeboxes for a couple hundred years now, I’m always amazed at the surprises our hobby holds for us, just around the next bend.

And also, of all the stuff I forget even existed in between sightings.

Case in point — way down at the bottom of this post, in our list of the top eBay sales from last week, is a seldom-seen, “second” rookie card of one of the game’s greats.

It’s an awesome card, but one that I — yep! — usually forget about when I think of this dude’s RCs.

Which card is it? Which player?

I’m not going to spoil the surprise by telling you. I’m sure you can find it on your own.

And, after all, isn’t that hunt for treasure one of the hobby’s charms that we wouldn’t trade for a bag full of pogs or a pit teeming with Cabbage Patch Kids dolls?

Yep.

And, hey, speaking of “trade,” how’s about we head over and search for some …

Traded Cards in the Investment Corner

One of the joys of collecting during the 1980s was knowing that November brought one last chance to grab a few new baseball cards before winter set in for real and before the next year’s issues grabbed hobby headlines.

Indeed, Topps Traded, Fleer Update, and Donruss ‘The Rookies’ always made the Christmas list of avid collectors and were perfect stocking stuffers. So, I thought it might be fun to dredge up that old nostalgia for this month’s visit to the Investment Corner.

So …

We’re going to “fake” spend about $1000 on late-year cards from the past with an eye toward giving ourselves some room for future growth. And, as always, the price we “pay” will be the actual selling price for cards that recently changed hands on eBay.

Here’s what we came up with on our shopping spree:

(Note: The following sections contain affiliate linksto eBay listings for the cards being discussed.)

1984 Fleer Update Pete Rose (#U-102) - PSA 10 - $49.56

Pete Rose in an Expos uniform still looks all kinds of wrong to me, but this is a historic card. It features the all-time Hit King with team for whom he collected his 4000th hit, and it hails from the first Fleer Update set. Fifty bucks for a “perfect” copy seems like a bargain in this market, and this card will get a boost if Rose ever gets Hall of Fame consideration.

See listing (affiliate link)

1982 Topps Traded Ron Washigton Rookie Card (#124T) - PSA 10 - $29.95

This card barely raised a blip on the hobby radar for its first 30 years, but Washington’s success managing the Rangers a decade ago shone the light on it. He’s now built a reputation as one of the game’s most respected coaches and is always in the mix for whatever managerial job comes up. If Washington takes the helm of a team again, his rookie card could get a boost.

See listing (affiliate link)

1989 Topps Traded Ken Griffey Jr. (#41T) - PSA 10 - $106.50

You won’t find many bargains among Junior cards, but there’s also very little risk in sinking your dollars (especially faux ones) into The Kid’s issues. A perfect-10 copy of Griffey’s first Topps card is a long-term play.

See listing (affiliate link)

1986 Fleer Updates Sets (32) - $360

This is an intriguing buy that gives you 32 shots at pulling a perfect Barry Bonds rookie card (or a perfect Will Clark rookie card, for that matter). If one of them grades a 10, you’ve pretty much covered your whole cost of purchase, with plenty of room for appreciation of Bonds ever gets the call from the Hall.

See listing (affiliate link)

1976 Topps Traded Oscar Gamble (#74T) - PSA 9 - $99.99

Gamble won’t make the Hall of Fame, but his 1976 Topps Traded card is a hobby icon that just might deserve a plaque of its own. Instantly recognizable, it’s hard to imagine this classic sliding backwards in value to any great extent, at least relative to the market at large.

See listing (affiliate link)

1972 Topps Joe Morgan (#752) - PSA 8 - $122.5

The high-number series of the 1972 Topps set featured the company’s first ostensible foray into the traded-card business, with future Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Morgan joining the lineup. This was Morgan’s first Reds card, and it marked in a very tangible way the beginnings of the Big Red Machine club that would dominate so thoroughly in 1975 and 1976.

See listing (affiliate link)

1986 Donruss The Rookies Barry Bonds (#11) - PSA 10 - $181.60

Yeah, another Barry Bonds card, but one that’s more of a sure thing — you KNOW this one graded out at a “10.” Combine one of the greatest hitters of all time with the first issue of “The Rookies” and a perfect grade, and you have a ready-made blue-chip buy.

See listing (affiliate link)

1981 Topps Traded Joe Morgan (#801) - PSA 10 - $48.79

Yeah, another Joe Morgan card, too. This one marks another beginning — the first of Topps’ long run of issuing 132-card end-of-year Traded sets. What better way to buy into that bit of history than with a PSA 10 copy of a Hall of Famer?

See listing (affiliate link)

—

All told, then, we “spent” $998.79, which leaves us $1.21 to splurge on something. It’s 2022, so maybe a couple of grains of rice or a quarter of a paper towel.

We’ll see how these picks pan out a year from now.

First, though, let’s check in on some cards that are …

Still Waiting for the Call

Last November, we spent our fake grand on players who might someday make the Hall of Fame, even though they’ve been officially off the ballot for awhile.

Here was our lineup of buys 12 months ago …

1970 Topps Vida Blue (and Gene Tenace) (PSA 7)

Bought (11/2021): $54.35
Sold (11/2022): $63.00
Profit/Loss: $8.65 (16%)

1975 Topps Fred Lynn (PSA 8.5)

Bought (11/2021): $104.50
Sold (11/2022): $75.00
Profit/Loss: -$29.50 (-28.%)

1975 Topps Keith Hernandez (SGC 92 - 8.5)

Bought (11/2021): $115.00
Sold (11/2022): $100.00
Profit/Loss: -$15.00 (-13%)

1971 Topps Thurman Munson (PSA 6)

Bought (11/2021): $192.50
Sold (11/2022): $228.00
Profit/Loss: $35.50 (18%)

1977 Topps Dale Murphy (PSA 9)

Bought (11/2021): $316.00
Sold (11/2022): $300.00
Profit/Loss: -$16.00 (-5%)

1974 Topps Dave Parker (PSA 8)

Bought (11/2021): $146.01
Sold (11/2022): $150.00
Profit/Loss: $3.99 (3%)

1984 Topps Don Mattingly (PSA 9)

Bought (11/2021): $69.28
Sold (11/2022): $80.00
Profit/Loss: $10.72 (15%)
—

All in all, we spent $997.64 to “acquire” this portfolio in November of 2021 and “sold” it for $996 this November.

As a group, then, these cards held their own, with some winners (Thurman Munson) and some losers (Fred Lynn). Considering that any (or, technically, all) of these guys might still make it to the Hall of Fame someday, I think I’ll just sit on my fake buys for awhile longer.

And, speaking of Hall of Famers, you’ll find plenty of likely and actual Cooperstown denizens among our list of the …

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for November 10-16, 2022

(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
Most expensive hockey cards sold in the last 30 days

Now, on with the show …

Baseball Card Values Newsletter

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