Ken Griffey Jr. is still one of the most collectible names in the baseball card collecting hobby today; He’s an icon, who was at the forefront of many baseball card sets and collections in the 1990s.
Griffey Jr’s most valuable rookie card is his 1989 Bowman Tiffany card.
However, in my opinion, his best cards came later in his career, like his 1998 Upper Deck A Piece Of The Action 3, which features a signature and game jersey patch, and is his most expensive card of all time; I’ve covered all his top cards below.
His official rookie cards came in 1989, and some remain significant and important pieces of pop culture even today.
There are also his minor leagues cards from as far back as 1987, as well as many valuable and sought-after cards from later in his career, through the 90s and into the early 2000s.
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Quick Summary - Top Picks
The Best Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Cards
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card #1
The first card in Upper Deck’s debut set, it’s fair to say that this 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. card is one of the most iconic and recognizable baseball cards ever made – It’s a piece of pop culture history, and it’s Grifey Jr’s most well-known card.
Large supply means it’s not overly valuable, although the card in top grade will fetch a decent amount – But that doesn’t take away the allure and importance of the card. It’s a favorite of the baseball card hobby, and one of the most sought-after Griffey Jr. cards.
Compared with the overall graded population of this one, a small percentage achieve the top grade, so there is a big premium on the price of those.
Average price of a PSA 10: $1.6k-$1.8k
1989 Topps Traded Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card #41T
The 1989 Topps Traded Tiffany Griffey Jr. rookie card offers collectors a slightly better version of its regular Topps Traded counterpart, with its glossy finish.
The Topps brand helps make it a desirable Griffey Jr. rookie option, and in my opinion, it’s one of the best looking Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards.
Although it’s by no means rare, it has a print run that is less than most of Griffey’s rookie cards, and it’s one of the more valuable options.
Average price of a PSA 10: $1.8k-$2k
1989 Bowman Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card #220
Bowman’s 1989 baseball set was a first in over 30 years, and this Ken Griffey Jr. card was the cornerstone of it – It contributed largely to the set’s popularity.
As with pretty much every Griffey Jr. rookie card, this one also suffered from overproduction, and it’s not expensive to buy today
; There’s no shortage of copies in top grades, so it’s one of the cheaper Griffey Jr. rookies to buy.
Average price of a PSA 10: $250-$300
1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card #220
A special edition factory set 1989 Bowman Tiffany set was released, which includes this card that is virtually the same as the regular Bowman rookie, but with a glossy card stock.
The glossy finish adds a slightly more premium touch, and with only 6,000 of these printed, it’s a lot more expensive to buy than the regular Bowman rookie.
In the era that it’s from, this card can be considered rare, particularly in mint condition, so copies graded 10 by PSA, BGS or SGC, for example, sell for a big premium.
The factors I’ve mentioned help contribute to the reason that this is the most expensive Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.
Average price of a PSA 10: $8k-$10k
1989 Topps Heads Up Ken Griffey Jr. #5
This one is an unusual entry, which perhaps isn’t a traditional baseball card, but a highly
sought-after first year Griffey Jr. release; For many collectors it’s the key ‘card’ to have, but whether it can be considered an actual rookie card is open for debate.
It’s a die-cut Griffey Jr. head, which Topps released as a test issue, and it was issued in very small numbers, so when one does surface on the market today, they generally sell for big money.
A PSA graded 9 copy of it sold for as high as $4,652 in the past.
Average price of a PSA 10: N/A
1989 Fleer Glossy Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card #548
Fleer joined Topps in producing a more premium version of their base cards, as part of a factory set. The 1989 Fleer Glossy Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card looks the same as the regular Fleer card, but with the added glossy finish.
Like the Topps Tiffany card, the print run for this one is low for the era it was released.
The card was also prone to poor centering, so finding them in top condition today is tough, which helps make it one of the most valuable Griffey Jr. rookie cards.
Average price of a PSA 10: $3.6k-$3.8k
1989 SCD Baseball Pocket Price Guides Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card #3
The 1989 SCD Baseball Pocket Price Guides set was a small fifteen card checklist, and a design that had a close resemblance to the 1964 Topps Baseball set.
The Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card was by far the most valuable card from the set, and it holds decent value today.
Again, like many of his other rookies, it’s tough to find this one in top grades, so there’s a premium on those versions.
Average price of a PSA 10: $1.3k-$1.5k
The Best Ken Griffey Jr. Minor League Cards
1987 Bellingham Mariners Ken Griffey Jr. #15
The earliest official Ken Griffey Jr. baseball card, this card features ‘The Kid’ with the Bellingham Mariners.
Like most minor league cards, it has a basic design, and it’s reasonably priced, especially when you consider its significance.
Average price of a PSA 10: $450-$550
1988 California League All-Stars Ken Griffey Jr. #26
A card that represents Ken Griffey Jr. as a minor league all-star, he was one of fifty prospects in the 1988 California League All-Stars set.
The card’s dated design features an image of Griffey with the Spirit
, and it’s one of the most expensive Griffey Jr. minor league cards, which is partly because of its rarity in the highest grades.
Average price of a PSA 10: $2.4k-$2.6k
1988 San Bernardino Spirit Ken Griffey Jr. #1
The 1988 San Bernardino Spirit set resembled 1986 Topps Baseball with the card design, and Griffey Jr. was the standout name from the minor league team checklist.
This is the most valuable Griffey Jr. minor league card.
It’s one of the rarer Ken Griffey Jr. prospect cards, and there’s also a rarer Platinum version, which is slightly more expensive than the regular version; A PSA 10 copy of the Platinum card sold for $13,762 in 2021.
Average price of a PSA 10 (Regular Version): $4k-$4.5k
1988 Vermont Mariners ProCards Ken Griffey Jr.
The 1988 Vermont Mariners ProCards Ken Griffey Jr. card is his final official minor leagues card, featuring him with the Vermont Mariners.
While the regular set has a silver border, this separately issued promo Griffey Jr. card is unmissable with its vivid red border.
Average price of a PSA 10: $1k-$1.2k
Other Most Valuable Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball Cards
1993 Topps Finest Refractor Ken Griffey Jr. #110
While Refractors and parallels are commonplace in the baseball card hobby today, they weren’t when Topps issued this popular insert in 1993, with a very limited print run – Something that was also unusual in that era.
The regular Topps Finest Ken Griffey Jr. card holds decent value, but it has nothing on this Refractor, which sells for huge money, and is one of his most valuable cards ever.
Average price of a PSA 10: $13k-$15k
1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle/Ken Griffey Jr. Dual Autograph
Two baseball icons on the same card, with both autographs, made this 1994 Upper Deck card an instant hobby classic.
The highly-desirable dual auto card was limited to 1,000 copies, and still holds very high value these days.
A BGS 9.5 copy of the card sold for a huge $57,600 in 2022, which is one of the highest Ken Griffey Jr. card sale prices of all time.
Average price of a PSA 10: N/A (PSA 8: $9k-$10k)
1997 Donruss Preferred Precious Metals Ken Griffey Jr. Platinum #2
Limited to just 25 copies, the 1997 Donruss Preferred Precious Metals platinum card is a rare option, with a gram of actual fine platinum contained within the card.
The metal stock offers collectors something a bit different, but it’s not an easy one to get hold of.
Average price of a PSA 10: $2.8k-$3k
1997 E-X2000 A Cut Above Ken Griffey Jr. #2
The 1997 E-X2000 A Cut Above Ken Griffey Jr. card is an unusual, but awesome insert, which took die-cuts to the extreme.
The card is cut to resemble a saw blade, with shiny foil for a metallic look.
A Cut Above cards were inserted in 1:288 packs, which works out 1:12 boxes, so this Ken Griffey Jr. card is not only high-end, but also very rare, and even more rare in good condition.
Average price of a PSA 10: $4k-$5k
1997 Upper Deck Game Jersey Ken Griffey Jr. #GJ1
The 1997 Upper Deck Game Jersey set has the significance of being the first baseball insert set to include game-used jersey pieces.
Ken Griffey Jr. was one of just three players on the checklist, and the card commands high values today – They were rare at the time, and extremely tough to find these days.
Average price of a PSA 10: N/A (PSA 9: $4k-$5k)
1998 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Ken Griffey Jr. #161
The first Metal Universe set to feature baseball Precious Metal Gems cards, makes this 1998 card the definitive Ken Griffey Jr. PMG card to own.
The highly collectible Precious Metal Gems cards were limited to just 50 copies in this set, so this one makes for a premium Griffey card, which is very rare and hard to find, and expensive when one does surface.
A BGS 9 graded copy of this card sold for $66,000 in 2023, which makes it one of the most expensive Griffey Jr. baseball cards of all time.
Average price of a PSA 10: N/A
1998 Upper Deck A Piece Of The Action 3 Ken Griffey Jr. Auto Patch #KGS
One of my favorite Ken Griffey Jr. cards, and his most expensive baseball card ever, the 1998 Upper Deck A Piece Of The Action 3 cards were randomly inserted into third series packs.
Griffey Jr. was only one of a few players to have one of these high-end cards featuring a game jersey patch, but he was the only player to sign some of them.
There are 300 copies of the patch card, and only 24 with the on-card signature; The autographed version is rare and very desirable, which is why it’s Griffey Jr’s most expensive card ever, after a BGS 8.5 graded copy sold for $84,000, back in 2022.
Average price of a PSA 10: N/A
1998 Donruss Crusade Red Ken Griffey Jr. #39
The popular and colorful 1998 Donruss Crusade insert cards were released across multiple Donruss and Leaf brands in that year.
The cards were printed on a chromium stock, with a holographic foil finish and the regular base version came with 3 color variations, which had different print runs.
The serial-numbered color variations were Green (/250), Purple (/100) and Red (/25).
Ken Griffey Jr.’s elusive Red Donruss Crusade card is one of his most valuable cards ever; In 2023, a PSA 10 graded copy sold for $63,000.
Average price of a PSA 10: $60k-$65k
1999 Fleer Brilliants 24k Gold Ken Griffey Jr. #24
Another popular and valuable Ken Griffey Jr. card from the late 90s is this Fleer Brilliants 24k Gold parallel card, which features another colorful design.
Cards from this Fleer Brilliants set are printed on a styrene plastic stock, with a mirrored-style foil covering, and all base cards in the set had 3 parallel versions; The Blue parallel, Gold (serial-numbered to 99 copies) and the rarest, 24k Gold (serial-numbered to just 24 copies).
The 24k Gold version of this Griffey Jr. is where the big value is found, because of the rarity.
A PSA 10 copy of the elusive 24K Gold parallel sold for $59,000 in 2023.
Average price of a PSA 10: $40k-$45k
2004 Upper Deck A Piece Of History 500 Club Ken Griffey Jr. Bat Relic
Upper Deck’s A Piece of History 500 Club was an ongoing, cross-generational relic insert, running from 1999 to 2010 – One of the hobby’s top all-time insert sets.
The idea was that once a player hit 500 home runs, they would receive one of these inserts which featured a piece of game-used bat.
Griffey’s card was released in 2004 Upper Deck Etchings, and was limited to 350 copies for the regular bat version, and only 25 copies for an autographed bat version.
Average price of a PSA 10: $1k-$1.2k
When Was Ken Griffey Jr’s Rookie Season?
Ken Griffey Jr’s rookie season was the 1989 MLB season, with the Seattle Mariners.
What Is The Most Expensive Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card?
The most valuable and expensive Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card is the 1989 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. #220, the high value is partly due to a lower print run than many of his other rookie cards.
What Year Was Ken Griffey Jr’s First Baseball Card Released?
Ken Griffey Jr’s first official baseball card was released in the 1987 Bellingham Mariners set, featuring him at his first minor league team.
*Average sale prices based on PSA’s previous public sales data and Market Movers.
