The Most Expensive Ken Griffey Jr. Cards of All-Time

To start the list off, we have another iconic card in the hobby’s lore. This is The Kid’s first Donruss Rated Rookie, and it received a perfect 10 grade on the card and the autograph. While Griffey still signs in many modern high-end releases like Topps Dynasty and Panini Flawless, there is something special about getting ink on his iconic rookies. 

1993 was the first year of Topps Finest, a revolutionary optichrome trading card. Early Finest designs have held up very well throughout the hobby’s history, and many modern sets draw inspiration from them. This ‘93 Griffey refractor is visually striking and a must-have for any high-end 90s baseball collector. You can also notice the MBA sticker on the label, which distinguishes the stunner as one of the best-looking PSA 10s you will find. It sold for as high as $26,400 in May 2022.

The Kid would join the Reds for the 2000 MLB season, so this ‘99 Star Rubies insert is the last of an era. Much like the PMGs, this set is limited to just 50 copies and highly collected by hobbyists and fans alike. Many sets today draw inspiration from the Star Rubies’ wavy refractor pattern, making it a classic insert within the Hobby. This BGS 9-graded copy last sold for $26,400.

Next up, we have another fabled set from the late 90s, the EX-2001 Credentials. The acetate finish and bright neon colors were unheard of for cards when this set came out. It was fresh and innovative, becoming an immediate hit for sports card collectors. This Griffey received an astonishing 9.5 grade, which is nearly unheard of for an older acetate card. It last sold for $27,300 in November 2022.

The Molten Metal set is another one of those all-time inserts that are slowly becoming harder to find. This Griffey Fusion is both /50 and a PSA 10, making it very desired. This one sold just after the 2023 National, proving that the market for these rare pieces are stronger than ever. It reached a final sale price on eBay of over $30,000.

At #6, we have the one and only ungraded card on the list. The Crusade insert has become very popular across all major sports. This sample red refractor is from the first year of the medieval-inspired Crusade set, and it is limited to just 25 copies.  If a graded version were to surface, we could see this one jumping a few spots on our list in the years to come.

Many of these late 90s inserts are surfacing publicly for the first time in years, which gives collectors a new chance to acquire a grail. Case in point: this Credentials Now Griffey is numbered /17, and a Beckett 9.5 grade is very impressive grade. Consequently, it became a highly sought-after auction piece in June 2023, ending at just over $35,000. And we’d be remiss to not point out that trademarked follow-through pose that you see on this card.

Much like the ‘98 patch auto from earlier, this set features a clean game-worn patch and signature of the Swingman. A card like this reminds collectors of Griffey’s flawless penmanship, which may contribute to his consistent autographed market. This BGS 8.5 copy last sold for $42,000, so it will be intriguing to see if any higher-graded versions appear at auction anytime soon.

We referenced Jr.’s Star Rookie earlier; however, it’s not often that this card receives both a PSA 10 card and autograph grade. As we mentioned earlier, pack-issued autographs did not really exist in 1989. There is an intrinsic value to junk wax era cards that have been autographed and slabbed, which is evident in this stunner. Griffey’s Upper Deck ‘89 Auto has sold for as high as $55,000, and this is still a big chase for any high-end collector.

For us, this is one of the coolest baseball cards to ever exist. Two titans of America’s pastime. Two of the hobby’s most heralded players. Two on-card signatures. This is the highest-graded copy to ever sell at auction, reaching a sale price of $57,600.  We will never see a card like this produced again, so this remained a grail for many Mickey Mantle or Ken Griffey Jr. collectors. 

This card checks all the boxes. It’s gold, it’s numbered, it’s a PSA 10 and it features an action shot of one of the best to ever do it. A photo scan can only do so much, but holding one of these cards in person feels like you have a bar of solid gold in your hands. With only one Gem Mint 10 in the world, this stunner may have found its forever home during an August 2023 eBay auction. This marks the biggest sale for a PSA-graded Griffey Jr. card, ending at just under $60,000.

A PMG with one of the most influential players in sports on it will result in an iconic card. Given their design, these parallels are susceptible to wear and tear over time. Nevertheless, this 1998 copy still managed a BGS 9 grade and a sale price of $66,000, making it the biggest Griffey PMG sale of all time. With many high-end sales in 2023, rare Griffey inserts are becoming harder and harder to find.

To round this list off, we have one of The Kid’s first-ever patch autograph. Pack-issued inserts were not commonplace in the late 90s, and pulling one was no easy feat. Seeing this card maintained well with a BGS 8.5 grade and a perfect autograph grade is impressive in its own right. But this is a Griffey card that rarely appears at a Goldin or PWCC auction, so it’s no surprise that it stands atop our list with a final sale price of $84,000 in October 2022.