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Top 5 Most Valuable 1985 Topps Baseball Cards · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: Man, I am absolutely thrilled to have you here today
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  Speaker 1: because we are firing up the time machine to unpack
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  Speaker 1: what is arguably one of the most beloved baseball card
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  Speaker 1: sets ever printed. Go ahead and grab your favorite cap,
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  Speaker 1: settle in, because we're counting down the legendary nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 1: five Tops Baseball set. We're going to hit the top five,
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  Speaker 1: most iconic, most valuable, and frankly, just the most fascinating
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  Speaker 1: cards from this whole release, Drawing on some great insights
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  Speaker 1: from Sports illustrated collectibles and hobby historians, It's a countdown
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  Speaker 1: completely packed with towering homers, unhittable fastballs, and some truly
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  Speaker 1: unforgettable cardboard history.
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  Speaker 2: Let's get right into it. So why exactly is nineteen
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  Speaker 2: eighty five considered the golden age for a massive chunk
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  Speaker 2: of collectors. Nineteen eighty five is undeniably the era, and
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  Speaker 2: the evidence well, it's right there in the aesthetics. This
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  Speaker 2: set is famous for those vibrant, punchy, colorful borders and
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  Speaker 2: a checklist that is just absolutely stacked with Hall of Famers,
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  Speaker 2: future legends, and massive rookie stars. But hey, it's not
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  Speaker 2: just nostalgia driving the bus here decades later, the biggest
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  Speaker 2: stars from this set are still pulling serious attention from
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  Speaker 2: investors and hardcore fans alike. In pristine PSA ten condition,
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  Speaker 2: meaning the card is literally flawless, these little pieces of
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  Speaker 2: cardboard can easily reach well into the thousands of dollars.
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  Speaker 2: It's just this perfect storm of esthetics, history, and serious value.
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  Speaker 2: Starting off our countdown at number five, Eric Davis. Now,
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  Speaker 2: if you remember the Red Menace, you know Davis possessed
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  Speaker 2: this breathtaking combination of raw power and lightning speed. To
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  Speaker 2: really wrap your head around his impact, you just need
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  Speaker 2: to look at this number, one hundred and twenty one.
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  Speaker 2: Between nineteen eighty seven and nineteen ninety Davis absolutely blasted
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty one home runs. But he wasn't
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  Speaker 2: just a power guy, right. He drove in three hundred
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  Speaker 2: and eighty runs and was swiping bases at an elite,
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  Speaker 2: completely game changing rate. He was the literal definition of
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  Speaker 2: a five tool player who could just take over an
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  Speaker 2: entire baseball game single handedly, and that brings us to
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  Speaker 2: the ultimate what if story. This is exactly why collectors
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  Speaker 2: are still so captivated by him today. It's a tough
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  Speaker 2: pill to swallow, but severe injuries prevented Eric Davis from
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  Speaker 2: reaching his absolute peak potential. Even so, his nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 2: five Tops Rookie card remains a massive cornerstone of the set.
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  Speaker 2: When you find one in perfect PSA ten condition, you're
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  Speaker 2: easily looking at four figures. But what makes this card
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  Speaker 2: so special isn't just the price tag. It's the sheer
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  Speaker 2: possibility it represents. You look at it, you see a
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  Speaker 2: guy dripping with Hall of Fame talent, and you just
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  Speaker 2: can't help but wonder what might have happened if those
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  Speaker 2: injuries hadn't derailed him. Building on that exact same energy.
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  Speaker 2: Coming in at number four is Dwight Doc Gooden, I
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  Speaker 2: mean goodin burst onto the scene like a blazing comment.
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  Speaker 2: He locked up Rookie of the Year in eighty four,
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  Speaker 2: but his nineteen eighty five campaign that was something else Entirely.
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  Speaker 2: Historians generally agree it's one of the most dominant pitching
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  Speaker 2: seasons ever produced by a starter. He wrapped up that
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  Speaker 2: year with an unbelievable twenty four and four record and
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  Speaker 2: took home the National League scy Young Award with a
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  Speaker 2: staggering one point five to three Era let that sink
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  Speaker 2: in one point five to three. That number is practically
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  Speaker 2: incomprehensible in modern baseball, and his rookie card captures the
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  Speaker 2: exact beginning of that meteoric rise. It's actually really fascinating
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  Speaker 2: to compare the parallel arcs of our number five and
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  Speaker 2: number four spots. Both Davis and Goodin were these incredibly
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  Speaker 2: electrifying early phenoms, and for both of them, their ultimate
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  Speaker 2: career potentials were capped by external factors injuries for Davis,
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  Speaker 2: and of course, personal struggles later on for Gooden. But
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  Speaker 2: even with all that, Goodin still managed to secure two
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  Speaker 2: World Series rings and left behind a truly unforgettable legacy
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  Speaker 2: because it represents one of the most exciting young stars
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  Speaker 2: the game has ever seen. DOCS nineteen eighty five tops
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  Speaker 2: card is still one of the most recognizable and heavily
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  Speaker 2: chased cards of the entire decade. All right, moving right
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  Speaker 2: along to number three, Kirby Pucket, the smiling superstar from Minnesota. Man.
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  Speaker 1: Pucket was universally beloved for his boundless energy and just
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  Speaker 1: relentless hustle, and he absolutely had the hardware to back
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  Speaker 1: it up. We're talking a ten time All Star, six
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  Speaker 1: goal gloves in center field, six Silver Sluggers at the plate,
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  Speaker 1: and crucially, he he was the guy leading the Twins
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  Speaker 1: to two World Series championships in nineteen eighty seven and
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one. He didn't just play from Minnesota for
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  Speaker 1: a solid decade, he was the absolute face of baseball
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  Speaker 1: in that state. And honestly, collector's absolutely adore Pucket because
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  Speaker 1: he represents pure joy on cardboard. He's everything fans admire
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  Speaker 1: about the sport.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: He played hard, he always delivered in the clutch, and
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  Speaker 1: he did the whole thing with a massive smile on
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  Speaker 1: his face. Tragically, a severe eye condition ended his career
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  Speaker 1: way too soon, but his Hall of Fame legacy is
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  Speaker 1: set in stone. This rookie card is widely considered a
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  Speaker 1: true crown jewel of the set. It routinely commands incredibly
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  Speaker 1: strong prices in PSA ten and for a lot of
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  Speaker 1: hobbyists out there, this smiling portrait is the single most
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  Speaker 1: iconic piece of cardboard from the entire eighty five release.
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  Speaker 1: Coming in and number two, we're shifting back to the
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  Speaker 1: mound for the rocket Roger Clemens. This specific rookie card
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  Speaker 1: hit the scene right before he exploded into superstardom. Winning
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  Speaker 1: the MVP and the Cy Young just a year later,
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  Speaker 1: look over his mind beending twenty four year career. Practically
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  Speaker 1: no one dominated the game quite like Clemens did. Just
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  Speaker 1: look at these monumental numbers. Three hundred and fifty four
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  Speaker 1: career wins, six hundred and seventy two strikeouts, and a
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  Speaker 1: totally absurd seven Cy Young Awards. So the crucial takeaway
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  Speaker 1: for collectors here is this, Whether you love the guy
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  Speaker 1: or you're constantly debating his Hall of Fame credentials, today,
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  Speaker 1: you absolutely cannot deny his massive impact on baseball history. Now,
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  Speaker 1: over the years, collectors have sent tens of thousands of
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  Speaker 1: Clemens' rookies off to grading companies. But here's the catch.
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  Speaker 1: Because of all the common nineteen eighty centering issues and
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  Speaker 1: pesky print defects, true PSA tens, like the genuinely flawless ones,
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  Speaker 1: remain highly coveted and surprisingly hard to find. It is,
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  Speaker 1: without a doubt the definitive eighties pitcher card, and that
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  Speaker 1: brings us to the climax of the countdown, the undisputed
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  Speaker 1: number one Mark McGuire. Okay, so why does this card
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  Speaker 1: break the mold? Well, it holds a really special place
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  Speaker 1: in the hobby because it looks completely different, unlike the
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  Speaker 1: standard tops design they used for Klasmans. Pucket McGuire shows
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  Speaker 1: up here as part of the special nineteen eighty four
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  Speaker 1: US Olympic Baseball team subset. That means this card showcases
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  Speaker 1: the future slugger before he ever even stepped foot in
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  Speaker 1: a Major League game. Fast forward a bit and McGuire's
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  Speaker 1: smashing seventy home runs in that historic nineteen ninety eight season,
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  Speaker 1: igniting one of the most famous races in sports history,
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  Speaker 1: and because of that wild chase, collectors completely flooded the
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  Speaker 1: grading companies with this exact card. It became one of
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  Speaker 1: the most graded pieces of the era. Yet even with
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  Speaker 1: that massive population, finding the true perfect PSA ten is
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  Speaker 1: still incredibly rare, and that rarity drives some seriously impressive
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  Speaker 1: prices to this day. So when you put the whole
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  Speaker 1: picture together, for the vast majority of hobbyists out there,
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  Speaker 1: this is the undisputed king of nineteen eighty five. It
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  Speaker 1: defines the entire top set. It's colorful, it's deeply historic,
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  Speaker 1: it's visually iconic, and nearly forty years after someone pulled
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  Speaker 1: it from a wax pack, it still holds the throne.
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  Speaker 1: So there you have it, A quick explainer breaking down
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  Speaker 1: the top five absolute icons of the nineteen eighty five
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  Speaker 1: top set, Davis Gooden, Puckett, Clemens, and McGuire. It truly
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  Speaker 1: is one of the greatest releases we've ever seen, totally
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  Speaker 1: packed with Hall of famers and unforgettable memories for the hobby.
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  Speaker 1: But hey, now I want to turn the mic over
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  Speaker 1: to you. Do you agree with McGuire taking the number
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  Speaker 1: one spot or would you put Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens,
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  Speaker 1: or maybe even Doc Gooden at the top of your list?
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  Speaker 1: Take a second to think about what makes a card
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  Speaker 1: truly iconic to you. Keep learning, keep exploring the history
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  Speaker 1: of the game, and I will catch you in the
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  Speaker 1: next explainer.