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Best Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards

Ken Griffey Jr.'s key rookie card is the 1989 Upper Deck #1. Ken Griffey Jr. was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. The checklist below lists 9 rookie cards by card number, each row from a cited source.

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Rookie year 1989

No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners.

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Top 5 Ken Griffey Jr. cards

See all 9
  1. 1
    1989 Upper Deck #1on eBay

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  2. 2
    1989 Bowman #220on eBay

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  3. 3
    1989 Donruss #33on eBay

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  4. 4
    1989 Fleer #548on eBay

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  5. 5
    1989 Score Rookie & Traded #100Ton eBay

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Which Ken Griffey Jr. card is the real rookie card

Griffey debuted with Seattle in April 1989, and several licensed makers issued his rookie cards that year: Upper Deck #1 (the first card in Upper Deck's first set, with its anti-counterfeit hologram on the back), Bowman #220, Donruss #33, Fleer #548, Score Traded #100T and Topps Traded #41T. Topps did not give him a flagship base card until 1990, so his 1989 Topps rookie is the Traded set card. Tiffany (Topps, Bowman) and Glossy (Fleer) versions are higher-gloss parallels of the same card numbers. There was no RC logo in 1989; rookie status comes from the debut year.

Sources [1][2][3][4]

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Ken Griffey Jr.'s career, in brief

  • Played 22 seasons, 1989 to 2010, for the Seattle Mariners (1989 to 1999, 2009 to 2010), Cincinnati Reds (2000 to 2008) and Chicago White Sox (2008).
  • 630 career home runs and 2,781 hits.
  • 1997 American League MVP, 13 All-Star selections and 10 straight Gold Gloves (1990 to 1999).
  • Elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016 with 99.32 percent of the vote.

Career facts: [1]

Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card checklist

9 rookie cards with card numbers, each confirmed on the linked pages. Not every parallel is listed.

Graded Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards: PSA 10, BGS and CGC

A PSA 10 (Gem Mint) or BGS 9.5 is the top grade most collectors look for: sharp corners, clean edges, centered printing and an unmarked surface. A graded card and a raw one are different cards to look up. How the four graders compare and what grading costs.

  • 1989 Upper Deck #1: centering is the main grading problem; cards worse than 60/40 rarely grade above PSA 8 (source: oldsportscards.com).
  • 1989 Donruss #33: the borders show wear and chipping easily (source: oldsportscards.com).
  • 1989 Fleer Glossy #548: centering makes high grades hard to find (source: oldsportscards.com).

How PSA, CGC and Beckett grade

PSA

Top grades:
Gem Mint 10, then Mint 9 and NM-MT 8.
Half grades:
1.5 through 8.5 since February 2008; there is no PSA 9.5.

One overall grade on the label. Centering weighs heavily in it.

Source: Sports Collectors Digest on PSA's half grades

CGC

Top grades:
Pristine 10 (virtually flawless, 50/50 centering), then Gem Mint 10 and Mint+ 9.5.
Half grades:
Yes, from Fair 1.5 up to Mint+ 9.5.

Authentic (AU) for a genuine card that cannot take a number; Authentic Altered (AA) for one that was altered.

Source: CGC grading scale

Beckett (BGS)

Top grades:
Pristine 10; a Black Label Pristine 10 has a 10 in all four subgrades.
Half grades:
Yes, 1 to 10 in half points.

Four subgrades on the label: centering, corners, edges and surface.

Source: Beckett grading

Grading scales as each grader describes them, checked Oct 16, 2026.

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Ken Griffey Jr. card questions

What is Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie card?

Ken Griffey Jr.'s first licensed base rookie card is the 1989 Upper Deck #1. Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie season was 1989.

What year is Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie card?

Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie season was 1989, so the rookie cards carry that year.

How many rookie cards does Ken Griffey Jr. have?

Our checklist lists 9 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards with card numbers, each from a cited source. It is not every parallel or color variation.

How much is a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card worth?

Parlae does not print card values. Find the year, set, card number, parallel and grade on your card, then check eBay sold listings or eBay's price guide for that exact card.
Sold prices on eBay

Are collectors watching Ken Griffey Jr. right now?

Collector attention is flat: Wikipedia lookups of Ken Griffey Jr. are down 10% this week. That is attention, not a price.

Does Ken Griffey Jr. have a PSA 10?

PSA's population report says how many PSA 10s exist of each card; Parlae does not reprint it. To see PSA 10 copies listed now, use "PSA 10 on eBay" beside each card above.

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Collector attention

Collector attention: down 10% this week, down 14% over 30 days

Card facts checked 2026-10-15. Parlae prints no card values. Set and brand names belong to their makers; Parlae is not affiliated with them.

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By the Parlae deskCard data updated Oct 16, 2026 at 8:34 AM ETHow this is builtReport a wrong number