Baseball Card Market Report for November 30-December 6, 2023 - Top eBay Sales post

PLUS -- Checking in on Dale Murphy baseball cards

Dec 08, 2023

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Let’s Play (Sell) Two (Three)!

When you take a gander at the list of the top-selling baseball cards on eBay from last week (bottom of post), you’ll see a continuation of a recent trend — Mickey Mantle and Shohei Ohtani lead the way in terms of the number of listings.

But just below the first two Mantles, there’s something you don’t see too often on lists like this — a 1971 Topps Gary Gentry! As is often the case with older cards, it’s all about condition scarcity.

This list also features a trio of Ernie Banks cards. As great as Banks was — inlcuding his back-to-back National League MVP awards in 1958 and 1959 — Mr. Cub seldom gets this kind of hobby love these days.

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And speaking of hobby love for a two-time MVP, let’s go …

Checking in on the Dale Murphy Market

This week on YouTube, we took a look at recent sales of Dale Murphy cards. You can check out that rundown right here, or just below.

Murphy is one of those guys who looked like a lock for the Hall of Fame during his peak in the 1980s but then fell off a cliff, performance-wise, in his 30s.

Even so, there are plenty of Murph fans and collectors out there, and plenty of them (and others), still think the two-time National League MVP belongs in Cooperstown.

So how does that translate to the card market?

To start answering that question, I dug into Murphy’s first seven base cards to see how much they sold for just before the pandemic and then how much they’re selling for this fall. As usual, I used the PSA Auction Prices Realized tool to find sales prices for cards in the most commonly graded condition.

Here is what I found:

1977 Topps Dale Murphy (#476) - PSA 8

2019 Value: $50
2023 Value: $75
Profit/loss: $25
% change: 50

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1978 Topps Dale Murphy (#708) - PSA 8

2019 Value: $25
2023 Value: $35
Profit/loss: $10
% change: 40

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1979 Topps Dale Murphy (#39) - PSA 8

2019 Value: $25
2023 Value: $35
Profit/loss: $10
% change: 40

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1978 Topps Dale Murphy (#274) - PSA 9

2019 Value: $20
2023 Value: $40
Profit/loss: $20
% change: 100

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1981 Donruss Dale Murphy (#437) - PSA 9

2019 Value: $15
2023 Value: $30
Profit/loss: $15
% change: 100

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1981 Fleer Dale Murphy (#243) - PSA 9

2019 Value: $10
2023 Value: $20
Profit/loss: $10
% change: 100

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1981 Topps Dale Murphy (#504) - PSA 9

2019 Value: $20
2023 Value: $45
Profit/loss: $25
% change: 125

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Overall, these Murphy cards saw an increase in selling price of about 70%, which is just a shade below what we found when we did this exercise for Kirby Puckett and Don Mattingly rookie cards.

Even though Puckett’s in the Hall, you could make the case that he was sort of a borderline candidate, certainly not miles ahead of Muph and the Hit Man when it comes to career accomplishments.

So maybe 70% is the standard bearer for the Hall/non-Hall barrier in the peri-pandemic era? Could be — could also be fodder for further study.

For now, here is some decidedly more high-rent fodder…

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for November 30-December 6, 2023

(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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