Have you visited our store? Click here.June’s easily my favorite month of the year. The weather’s always amazing. This June was also a great month for 1990s unicorns. Here are the cards that made the 1990s Edition for the month of June 2018.
Nolan Ryan 1993 Finest Promo Refractors #107 BGS 9
Sold: June 13, 2018
# of Bids: 33
Final Price: $1,542.07
The list is introduced by the mythical Nolan Ryan 1993 Finest Promo Refractor. It’s too bad that almost every time I’ve seen this card on the auction block, the photo hasn’t shown the refractor shine. This is one of those cards I didn’t learn about until many years after its release.
That Nomar has a print run of just 2 copies. Let that sink in. This may be your only opportunity to ever see this card. Ever.
Cal Ripken Jr. 1998 Donruss Preferred Precious Metals #3 BGS 9.5
Sold: June 10, 2018
BIN/OBO (Offer Accepted)
Price: $900
The Greg Maddux 1998 Donruss Crusade Red has made an appearance on this list before but this is a different serial number making it a unique card from the previous sale. The sale price is close enough the the last sale. Even with the crap photo (which I had to touch up before adding it here), this particular Red commands attention.
I’m never surprised by the end prices on these 1998 Donruss Precious Metals. I really do love these cards. I’ve always found one key unique characteristic of these cards is their plastic outer frames. Way back when I first discovered these, I thought the plastic frame was an indicator of some form of illegitimacy. I quickly realized it’s done by design.
Frank Thomas 1997 Donruss Preferred Precious Metals #1
Sold: June 19, 2018
# of Bids: 14
Final Price: $860
The Frank Thomas 1997 Donruss Precious Metals is an incredibly rare card. I’m glad to have gotten my example when I did because the market’s really taken off on these. It’s always nice to see Frank Thomas get an invite.
The Derek Jeter 1997 SPx Grand Finale returned what I thought was a low final value. Of the slew of end prices for these cards I’ve witnessed, $800 and change seems like a bargain for a slabbed Jeter. Regardless, however, if your player’s in this set, you might wanna add the pursuit of that acquisition to the priorities list. These are climbing.
I’ve seen several examples of the Chipper Jones 1999 Fleer Brilliants 24-Karat Gold surface over the past few years. One seller wants $3k+, which is dream-state since these bring around $600-700+ auction style in the current market. The design on this parallel set was done exactly right; I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
It’s nice to see Jose Canseco make an appearance. I can remember selling a 1998 Donruss Crusade Red Canseco back in late 2010. The price has risen on this card. I’d imagine that’s gonna continue to be the going rate on the Reds. This isn’t news, however.
Ken Griffey Jr. 1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractors #27
Sold: June 13, 2018
# of Bids: 19
Final Price: $554
The design on the 1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractors floors me every time. Topps has tried to replicate this design on modern product but it’s nothing like it was in 1998. It took me years and years to find my Frank Thomas from this parallel set. Knowing how strong the Ken Griffey Jr. market is, I’m not surprised by the end price. It’s a reminder of how glad I am not to be PC’ing him anymore (I stopped collecting Griffey in ’98).
The list concludes with a 1998 Topps Stars Luminaries Gold Rainbow, which is a very rare appearance. This is my first time seeing the Piazza and I think the price was very fair. The insertion ratios on these Gold Rainbows is in the impossible odds stratosphere – 1:10,903.
I have a 1998 TOPPS STARS KEN GRIFFEY JR. LUMINARIES-GOLD RAINBOW(L1). It’s graded MINT 9 by PSA. Would you know it’s value? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
That’s a pretty big card. If I were to guess, in the current market I’d say somewhere in the 4-figure range would likely be at least close to accurate.