Author: Brandon Andreasen

As if there could be any other card in this spot. The greatest sports card in history with the biggest myths and mysteries surrounding it. The card is worth millions if it’s in even passable condition. It is the card sports collectors dream about getting their hands on. Simply put, it is the most important, most iconic card in the history of collecting. We may never know exactly how many of this card exist, but we do know the number is small and isn’t likely to rise dramatically.
If you aren’t overly familiar with this card: this is the 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner card. It was released in packs of various brands of cigarettes, as most cards were in the day. Depending on the story you believe, either Wagner was very anti-smoking and demanded his card be pulled, or he wanted a cut of the royalties for using his image, and the card was pulled. Either way, it exists in much lower numbers than any other card in the set, and it’s a joke to even say this set is condition sensitive. The set is 110 years old. If a card from this set is found in one piece, it’s considered a success.
This card is the most iconic because it has the most crossover appeal. It gains headlines on television over it’s value whenever it goes to auction. It draws out the most high end collectors to try to get their hands on it. It exists as an almost mythological example of what collecting can be. It is, without a doubt, the most valuable and iconic card in baseball history.

Random Honus Wagner Fact: He is, and will most likely forever be, the only person in the history of Major League Baseball named Honus.

If you collect baseball cards, you know the credentials of this already. It sparked a hobby boom and was the reason card companies started doing higher end products. 1989 Upper Deck alone changed the collecting game, with it’s clean, minimalist look and high gloss stock. Griffey was well on his way to paving the path to being the best player of his generation. This card sparked such a frenzy that Upper Deck made the (ill fated) decision to continue producing new 1989 cards well after the print run should have dried up. They kept flooding the market with this card, and even then it didn’t seem to be enough. They reportedly continued making the 89 set well into 1990. This is what keeps this card at a lower price point than most on the list. Upper Deck released a card in the junk wax era, and then somehow over produced it.
This card might be single handedly responsible for modern collecting as we know it today.

Random Ken Griffey Jr. Fact: Many people blame going to Ohio for Griffey falling off production wise, and some numbers bare that out. He made ten consecutive All Star games before leaving for Cincinnati, and only made three in eight and a half seasons for the Reds. The truth is though, part of what made Griffey great was how hard he played on offense and defense, and his body started to catch up with him around that point. He only played 140 games in a season twice for the Reds, and during a three year stretch, played 70, 53, and 83 games for them.

Runner up to Johnny Bench in 1968, Jerry Koosman carved out a long and successful career as a major league pitcher. Across four teams in 19 seasons, he would end up with 222 wins. In 1976, Jerry was the runner up for the Cy Young award, and followed that up the next year by losing 20 games, tops in the league. But he isn’t why this card is here.
Nolan Ryan is one of the most endearing old school players in the history of the game. His career spanned nearly three decades and you can use his career to get to any era of baseball in less than six degrees of separation. he beat up Robin Ventura and threw seven no hitters. He pitched until he literally couldn’t throw anymore. This card is iconic because it came at a time when Topps was the only game in town. If you collected cards, you collected Topps or you collected nothing. This was a prospector card before people knew what that was. It’s a must have for any serious collection and continues to endure as one of the most iconic cards in the history of baseball.

Random Jerry Koosman Fact: Koosman would finish with 20 victories twice in his career. He was top six in terms of voting for the Cy Young each year. He didn’t make the All Star team in either season.

Considered by many to be the G.O.A.T. of baseball cards, the 52 Mantle is one of the most valuable cards of all time. Finding one in good condition is like writing yourself a check for a new house. Mantle was a beloved player in the biggest market, pushing sales up even further. The card is known among sports card circles as one of the holy grails of collecting. Only two cards have ever crossed the million dollar threshold. The card shown above is one of them. Borne in an era when condition wasn’t taken into as big of consideration, and before Topps had a strong foot hold in the collecting community, finding this card requires more luck than most will ever understand.

Random Mickey Mantle Fact: On three occasions, Mantle came in second place for the AL MVP award. In two of those cases, he lost to the same person, teammate and fellow outfielder Roger Maris.

If you want to quibble about it, Upper Deck tried this with hockey first. But this is an iconic baseball card ranking, and this card changed the future of all baseball cards. Upper Deck were the first to decide they could put a piece of game worn jersey onto a baseball card and build hype around it. Griffey was the best player in the world at this point. He was the player that everyone else based their games off of. Ken Griffey Jr. was one of the best players of his generation and his willingness to be apart of this series would cause a seismic shift in the baseball card industry.
Before this point, the chase cards were really just cards. This was the first card to make baseball collectors rethink their entire collecting philosophy.

Random Ken Griffey Jr Fact: Griffey would end up being the most famous player from Archbishop Moeller High School, but he was far from the only person to play MLB baseball. 14 players would see action in the majors. He wouldn’t even be the first player from this high school to make the Hall of Fame. Barry Larkin played at the same high school and made the HOF six years before Griffey.