Ken Griffey Jr.
Baseball • Upper Deck Baseball
Sport & Year
Baseball • 1989
Brand & Set
Upper Deck - Upper Deck Baseball
Card Number
1
Card Type
Rookie Card
Rarity
Base
Parallel Variant & Language
Base • English
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Grade
Near Mint-Mint (NM-MT 8)
Estimated Market Value
Raw: $50 - $100, Graded PSA 8: $80 - $150, Graded PSA 9: $200 - $400
Recent Sales
Recent raw and graded sales on eBay vary by exact sub-grade, with PSA 9 copies regularly selling around the $300 mark.
Condition Details
Card appears reasonably well-centered with sharp black borders, though minor corner softening or edge wear may be present under closer inspection inside the top loader.
Grading Recommendation
Worth grading if the surface and corners under magnification support a potential PSA 9 or higher, as the value jump from raw to graded is significant for this iconic rookie card.
Card Description
Features a classic horizontal head-and-shoulders portrait of Ken Griffey Jr. in his Seattle Mariners uniform wearing a blue cap with the yellow 'S' logo. The card includes a distinctive black border, a gold foil hologram on the back, and the iconic Upper Deck 5-Year Anniversary logo in the corner.
Notable Features
Widely considered one of the most iconic rookie cards of the modern era, featuring the official Upper Deck 'Rookie' star logo and card #1 in the inaugural 1989 Upper Deck set.
Authentication Notes
Due to high demand and counterfeits, authentication relies heavily on verifying the clarity of the hologram on the reverse, crisp font details, and correct card stock thickness.
Scanned: 2026-09-14T23:03:48.600418