15 Awesome 1990's Ken Griffey Jr Cards for Under $40 Each

Welcome back to Cards and Comics, guys. Today I want to talk about some Ken Griffy Jr. cards that I think are um really nice looking cards that are under $40. And so, right now, the Griffy universe, the cards are pretty hot. Um, some cards have taken off uh in value. The Thunderclaps, you know, those those are really gotten hot. And so there's just a few cards that have just started really getting hot. Um the the the Pinnacle Bubble card, I think that's 95. Um you know, or 94. I forget years. I'm not good at years. And uh you know, those cards have gotten hot. Um and I think there's a lot of great looking Griffy cards still under the $40 range. um you know that are great cards. Some of them are in the $10 to $15 range that I still think are amazing cards. So you know I want to do this video uh for another reason too is because I'm sorting my sorting my entire King Griffy Jr. collection. I am going through the graded cards, the raw cards, the high value cards, everything. I'm going through all like six or seven boxes I have and um I have a box of probably about 300 raw griffies and toploaders and they came out of collections like I would buy on eBay like a 20 $20 or sorry 20 card lot uh card shows the five or $10 boxes. Um some of them came from my original binders at Griffy Cards when I was a kid. And so just going through them it's like wow there's some really cool cards in here. And so I'm going to share with you uh about 15 cards uh that I think are um that are all valued $40 or below and I think are amazing cards and and still uh relatively affordable and I think they're cards that people will continue to love um and go up in value uh maybe um but they're just great looking cards and if you want to collect some awesome looking Griffy cards that aren't going to break the bank, here's your chance. So, the first one up here is um and again they're not in order by year. They're in order sort of like uh by set design or design of the card. So, the first cards up are shiny cards. So, they're not going to be refractors, but they're going to be like refractor adjacent or just really shiny cards that are cool. So, this first one is from 2000. It is the Fleer Focus, the Focus Pocus. And uh it's going about for about 30 bucks raw right now. And if you look at this card, it's got a lot of cool things going on. First of all, you got the really nice shiny uh pattern here. And plus, you got a little bit of cracked ice in the background. So, you get kind of a double hit there from a shiny perspective. I really love um this card, too, because he's still in a Mariners's uniform even though it's 2000. And the thing I thought is really funny, if you look at the back, you'll see that the logo is a red. So, they you know, like everyone like, okay, well, I don't have a photo. Maybe they didn't have a lot of photos of him as a red yet. Uh, still early in that phase to have photos, so they kept him as a mariner, but pit the red's logo, [snorts] but Focus Pocus from 2000. Um, last comp is about a $30 card. Uh, beautiful card. Next up is a card that I see more often now. It's kind of funny because it's a card that is not really that rare. U, well, take that back. It's It's a little rare than I thought, you know, in the hobby. A lot of Topps products too in the 90s had a lot of different uh configurations and some of them had much easier odds than others, but this is from 1996. It's a top space or tops insert card. It's actually one in 36 pack, so it's not as hard as I thought it was, but it is the hobby masters card. And again, this is a super shiny card. Uh so this has got a cool a lot of cool elements. One thing is it's got a almost like fireburst design here. You can see how it's almost like um like flowers or you know it's kind of like this um like holographic design in the back and then in the very back it's hard to see but there's a griffy head floating in the background too. Um so but the Hobby Master's product is never been or this insert's never been super expensive. Um, in fact, it's only worth about $20 now. But it I've seen it posted more often on in Griffy, you know, message boards and as a card that people just kind of like now. Um, it's it's affordable shiny card from the mid 90s. And I feel like, uh, 20 bucks is is a good price. And what I'm also going to say, a lot of these cards are cards you can still maybe find [snorts] in your five or $10 boxes at shows. Um, and so they're they're well worth looking at. uh if you can get them in those kind of five or $10 boxes. Um you know, and I think some of these cards might still be there because again, some of these cards 10 years ago were $5 cards, you know, they're now they're now $20 cards. Um here's another one that's in the $15 range. It's a one and 20. It's from 19 uh 98 Fleer Tradition and in the clutch. So, this is a cool car because of that green foil background. You can see it's very shiny. It's got, [snorts] you know, if you if you kind of zoom out, see how it kind of those circles kind of go out for the entire car pattern. Um, it's a card that, um, you'll see on eBay, they'll take a photo of it where it's really, um, at, you know, a really good angle where it's really shiny. So, a lot of people think it's like almost like a refractor card. Um, again, it's just really cool shiny foil board, but it's a beautiful card. It's green. A lot of people like [snorts] that uh you know really bold colors like green and red on cards uh again and it's also embossed. So if you one thing I want to also point out that if you look at it uh at the right angle you can see it's embossed. So it has a lot of cool design elements. It's embossed. It's got a cool um shiny pattern to it. It's got a really bold color. Uh and it's 20 bucks or 15 bucks. Sorry $15. It's a one and 20. So again, 1998 Flare Tradition in the clutch. Uh won't b break the bank, but it's still a really cool card. Next up is like one of my all-time favorite inserts, and I'm glad to see it's still on the cheap side. Um and it's uh it's a one of 12, but it's from a pretty expensive product for the time, [snorts] uh Metal Universe. It's from 97 Metal Universe. Uh it is the uh magnetic field card. Uh, and I really love this card for one main reason, and I have actual multiples multiples of this card. Um, as I was collecting, you know, as buying lots and and going through bins and just buying stuff, um, kind of like without a checklist, which the reason why I'm doing this now is to create a checklist. A lot of doubles. This card I do have quite a few doubles of, but I still love it. It's the magnetic fields card, and I love the purple. I love that um, shiny pattern. I love sort of the the ring pattern that's on it. It's just a really cool card. Um it is uh about $25 uh one and 12 from a fairly hard to get product now. Um so it's not like there's a lot of these packs still opening or being to be opened. Um as it's it was a popular set and it's just a really cool card. Um, I don't see Griffy in a lot of just purple cards. You know, he's not like, um, you know, you get epics and you know, donorous crusades, you know, some classic purple cards, but just it's like a cool uh card with a cool uh color background. And $25, I think, from a really cool set. Um, seems pretty good for right now for Griffy Cards. Uh, next up is a card that uh is from 94 and it's actually a like a promo card. Um, but it's from a um one of his games. It's from his Super Nintendo game and I just love this promo card. Um, I love the game itself. It's just just really welldesigned, you know, with the bat, the auto actual logo. This isn't like an unlicensed kind of promo card. Uh, and the fact it's just Super Nintendo. Uh, there's the back. You got stats. So, it's a well-designed card. Um, again, you know, this card if in a PSA 10, I've seen it go for some okay numbers. You know, Griffy cards and 10s are expensive, but raw you can get it for 15 bucks, guys. And I think it's a great card to have in your collection if you're just if you're a fan of Nintendo games, Griffy. It's just a really classic Griffy card. Um, and it's $15. So, it's like it's a it's a great price point to get a card that has a lot of cool elements to it. Uh, next up is a card that I really really like and I'm a little surprised it's still this cheap. I think obviously because um this is a really good lesson for anyone that's collecting cards. um that even if a card's really rare, if there's a rare version of it, um not super fractor, but like you know, like let's say it's a a one and 30 and there's a one in 72, right? It's like all the attention will go to the more uh rare card. Uh classic example of that is like the fuller brilliance gold and the 24 karat. you know, most people, you know, because the 24 karat cards are so shiny and pretty that they actually don't even like the golds because they kind of look dull and lifeless. A lot of people do, but there is sort of this idea of like, well, I'd rather have the best version of that card versus the more um, you know, plain version. And this is a card that falls in that range, too. It's that Star Quest. This is from 1999 Star Quest. Uh, it's the red. So, there's red, blue, green, and then gold. Now, I have the gold as well. I picked up the gold last year at the national and I think the gold just makes this card, you know, um, a lot of people just go like, I'd rather have the gold. You know, the gold's out of 100. This card is a one and 23, so basically one a box type insert. Um, and there's a lot of players in this set. So, I just think it's interesting that this card is only $25. It's a really pretty, again, bold color card. Um, the gold card in this set is very expensive. So, I thought that, you know, maybe it had gone up a little bit more than it has, but still a $25 card. It's a beautiful uh red background. Um, so I feel it's, you know, if you can't afford the gold. Um, the red one's still pretty tough to get and 25 bucks is still a really good price point um um for what I think the card is. Um, you know, um, in the Griffy world, $25 is really nice. Really good price point. Next up is a is sort of like the prototype or the first version of a card. Now, the second version is a lot more expensive and obviously a little more cooler designed, but it's the mother insert. So, this is the 96 version, which is one in 12 packs, and it's shiny. It has some really cool design elements to it. uh really intricate foil patterns here. Um however, the next version of this card is the super intricate diecut version, which is worth a lot more money than this card. I believe it's also a much rare card. I think that card is at least one in 72, maybe even higher. Maybe it's a one in 144. So, it's it's a much harder to get card. This is actually a one in 12. So, it makes sense why this card is so cheaper. It's not die-cut, which is the very, you know, element of that other card, the the next year's card. that makes it stand out so much because it's a very intricate die cut. Um, but this card still has a lot of cool design almost. I do think that foil on this card is really cool looking. Um, and it's from a really good set. It's like, you know, Metal Universe, which we had a you another card from Metal Universe that was still really cool. So, it's a very desirable insert set. Really cool looking card. And, you know, it is uh going for about 35 bucks now. And I think that's been really uh been driven by how much the um the next year's mother lode uh has really driven the price because that card is one of the ones I would say has gone way up in value. Um like I mentioned the Thunderclaps, you know, in like almost every year Thunder Claps has gone up in value. Um and I think Mother Load, so that card is kind of making this card go up a little bit because if you can't afford that Motherload, you can get this one for 35 bucks. So again, I think it's still a really really cool card and it's under 40 bucks. It's a nice cool insert from a a set that's very popular. Next up is a card um that I really um have never really thought about when I was a kid in terms of being kind of rare. Um and it it was at the end kind of a tail end of of a great run of cards for this insert set. Uh it's the 1996 Donner Elite Griffy and um you know this this run you know had a lot of peaks and valleys you know this the the donor elite set because then they made a full elite set that I think kind of took away some of the luster of the name elite because when you make every card in the elite style you kind of take away the insert itself and and sort of the uniqueness or the rarity of the insert set which I do think happened. Um, then they had the really some really terrible designs in this in this set that kind of took away. You know, you had like some peak designs in like 93. Um, but then it it never really, you know, got back to that level of coolness. Now, I do think this set design is much better than some of the other years around, you know, 95. I think the last year was either 97 or 98. I think 98 was the last year. Um, so it's towards the end of that run, but the thing about this was this is the first year they really short printed this. So this is out of 2500. Uh, it's a one and 144. So again, 2596 was pretty rare. One and 144 and it's only $25. And I think that to me is just because of how muddled the Elite insert became when you're releasing sets. Um, other inserts became much more lower printed. So like one in 5,000, one in 10,000 wasn't rare. So they made it one in 2500. But even at that, you know, I will admit that this design is is a little plain for the time. Things got really kind of crazy around 96 97. So but compared to other designs in this run, it's still one of the better designs. I do like the marble border, the kind of calligraphy E on it. Um, and it's pretty well printed. So, I do think it's one of those undervalued riffy cards that is still harder to get than you think of. And 25 bucks to me is a great price point to get a card like this that is kind of from a very classic uh all-time great insert set. Um, that was kind of on its last legs uh at this point, but it's still a cool looking card and it's $25. Uh, next up is I've always loved this card and it's never really taken off like I thought it would. In fact, um I used to put, you know, I have two copies of it and I would always have it in it in in a big holder kind thinking like this card's going to get big. Um it's it's a one and 25. So it's it's not as rare as I when I first had these cards, I'm like, "Oh, these have to be pretty rare." They're not. They're one and 25. So it's kind of like one a box type of insert set. But I just like the design so much. It's the ticket studs from floor Ultra 98. Um, so people who don't know about this card, um, it's got a couple of things going on. First of all, it's embossed. So, just so you understand, this card is embossed. Stands out. It's got cool foil. Um, but the the the gimmick here was this card's like a ticket stub and it folds. It's folded in half and you unfold it and it makes a long ticket and that's the card. And in fact, if you see the card graded, um PSA will unfold it and grade it as the full length card because then you see the full Griffy profile. Um so they're they're incredibly hard to get in good shape if you've unfolded them. Um they're very easy to damage. So these cards are very difficult to find in high grade. Um and I've always just like the design. Um I just think they look really cool. Um, but they go for like 35 bucks, which is, you know, I've seen them go cheaper than that. I've seen ones go for like 20, 25. I've seen a few go above 35. So, it's one of those those insert sets that, you know, kind of has uh the numbers all over the place a little bit because I do think they're cool, unique. I I don't know of any other year that's like this um from Ultra. So again, this is kind of a unique insert set done maybe one time, but um people don't like oversized cards. So if you unfold it, it does you have to put it in a like a big holder. Uh so maybe that's holding it back a little bit, but I don't know why you can't ask PSA to grade it folded. That way it's in a normal size holder, but you know, it is what it is. But that keeps the price down. And I do think it's a cool looking insert and very unique. Um so next up is kind of a cheater. I have a whole run of cards like because I think all these cards are a little bit they're all under $40, but I just think they're great looking inserts and um it's the uh gold crown die cuts from from Pacific. So, I'll show you the ones I have. I think I'm missing one year. Here's 96, which is the plainest year. So, just really gold and diecut, but still a cool die cut. It's $20 for the 96. Um the 97 got a little bit more intricate and it's $20, but there you go. You added some color. Uh a little bit fancier foil. Uh so a little bit nicer, a little more color here. So it's like they up the game a little bit. So they're increasing the design complexity a little bit. Then here is 90. Um this is 19 98. So 97 98. So this is 98. And [snorts] they in 98 really they they kind of really upped the game here because now you've got refractive foil. You've got kind of these um sun rays coming out. You've got a much cooler logo here for Grippy the name. So it's like they really upped the game here. They really made it shiny, cool looking card. And of course the price point does go up. Now it's $35. So you went from like a 20 to $25 insert to, you know, a $35 insert. Now, I don't have the 99. Um, it's one of the years I'm missing, but I do have the 2000. And the 2000 is sort of like the ultimate form of this card. Uh, this card got crazy looking cool 99 or sorry, 2000. Look at that card. You got, you know, foil everywhere. The like 2000s in the background, the foil, you just, it's like uh, you know, they just went nuts on this card. And, and the prices reflect this card now. this this card's closer to $100 than, you know, this card's like 35. But you can see the evolution every year. It kind of got more and more crazy. And then it kind of culminated in the 2000 version, which I just think is one of the better looking Griffy uh die cuts out there that So still, you know, it's not as reasonable as these uh you know, which are in the 20 to $35 range, but even the ultimate 2000 form of this card is still, I think, under 100 bucks. So, you know, if you want to go a little more expensive and you want to do the whole run of die cuts and get, you know, 96 through 2000, uh, you're still not going to really break the bank compared to what most Griffies that are shiny and diecut go for. And these all were pretty tough pulls. They were all one per box. Um, one and 37. So, again, they were they were a box hit. Um, so again, um, just really nice fun cards and, um, you can collect a whole run and it's not going to break the bank comparatively for a lot of griffy inserts like that. Next up is is a, um, card. I didn't realize these were so rare cuz I've had so many ver so many copies of this card and they always go so cheap uh, when you see them on eBay. So, I'm always just being like, "Oh, it must be a pretty easy to get." No, these are one of 32 packs. Um, and I just feel like it's interesting. It's from 99. It's from uh Holographics, and they're called Future Fame. [snorts] Um, and I and I and again, my previous theory, I think, holds on this insert, too, because there is a gold version of this card. And I think a lot of the attention goes to the regular gold or the gold version versus the regular version. And so you just have sort of like this really cool one in 32, one, you know, one per box insert that goes for 15 bucks for 99 that is a really cool looking die cut, really shiny, a lot of stuff happening here, but since there's a gold version of it, this card gets lost in the shuffle. So again, this is a card that I guarantee that you could find in some people's5 or $10 boxes pretty pretty easily because again, you know, it's gone maybe a little bit in value comparatively, but it's been one of those cards that you'd always kind of see around um and never that expensive, but they're still pretty tough to get. So I would say like um you know, if you can snag that card for, you know, uh five or 10 bucks, I do think it's a cool card. And look out for the gold version because the gold version does sell, you know, a little bit higher. Still not as expensive as you think it be. It would be. Maybe it's just because people don't like the holographic set as much as I do. I think it's a great set. Uh here we go. Going back to this is from 1997. And so this is uh base pinnacle. And um it's the shade set. And I think again cool die cuts are fun and this is a you know cool they put two different photos and the shades. Uh it's just a really fun set. You get the D. You can see the die cut a little bit better here. Uh these were one and 23 uh packs. Uh and it goes for about 20 bucks now. So not super expensive, not shiny. You know, they didn't like make it shiny, but they did kind of cool double photo it in the eye. So, they they did some care here. The die cut's cool, but it's just a fun cool card for 20 bucks. And I think um it's hard to get fun cool cards for Griffy now under that uh $40. And I think that's just a fun one. And it's not super difficult to find, but just uh I've always thought that card was cool. Uh next up is another die cut from an insert from a set that people don't really really like. It's the pinnacle and side set uh which came out in I think 98 and yeah 98 and this was one and 23 or virtually one a box. So they did these behind the numbers cards which are diecut [clears throat] and it's cool because it's Griffy jerseys number. It's got a cool die cut. It's shiny. It's a little hard to get. It's one again about basically one a box and uh 35 bucks for it. Um, so I mean it's not, you know, 10 or $15, but again, the die cut is cool. Uh, you can see how it kind of mirrors the two and the four. Um, now could they have made the die cut a little bit more, you know, gone into the two, cut away this four here? Yeah, they could have made it even a little bit cooler. They didn't. It's not a one in 72 or one in, you know, two cases or one case, one per case type product hit, but you know, it is a nice card. It is, you know, again, 35 bucks. This set is very heated as far as because if you've ever tried to open this a box of this, it takes forever because you not only do you have to open the cans, you have to open the packs and it's just like it's torturous to try to open like more than a couple box or cans of this at a time. Uh, so I could see dealers and collectors being like, "This is just this is Yeah. No, I I don't have the patience to to to do this all day." But, um, but it causes some of these inserts from this set to be hard to find and hard to, um, you know, price because I do think if this came from a different set, it might be a little bit more expensive. But it's still a really cool card from a set that really isn't um you know thought of as being a cool set. Um but there's some cool inserts in that set, especially the the parallels in that set. Uh Donner Studio, the next card up here, this is from 199 uh I think it's 98 and um this is um called sorry freeze frame. So, this is an interesting card because it's die-cut, but only the first, I believe, 500 cards in this set are die cut. It's a numbered out of 4500, but the first 500 have this really intricate die cut. So, you got this D cut, this guy, but you get all these punch outs here, um, like a filling strip. So, this card is number 418, and you can kind of see the die cuts. [snorts] Um, and the cool thing about it's like a five one and 500 card, you know, um, serial number card. First 500 are this cool die cut. And this is a $20 card. I I just feel like it's kind of gotten lost in the shuffle um, in all the graphy cards that are out there. Um, you don't see the die cuts that often. It's kind of like the Donner's 98 die cuts, the um, the All-Star die cuts which are out of 250. You just don't see the Griffy that often. You don't see this Griffy that often either. Um, and it's 20 bucks. So, if you can find one, um, they're really hard to get. They're really hard to grade because the die cuts, you know, are messy. You can see lots of hanging chads. So, no, not clean on some of the die cuts. So, a PSA tennis card would be very, very, very difficult. Um, but it's just cool. Um, it's a cool die cut, super unique, and it's 20 bucks. So, you know, it's it's definitely affordable. Now, the last card on the list, and the only reason why it's the last is because it's a die cut, so it fits the the pattern here, but it's a red card. So, you know, a lot of Griffy collectors, you know, they don't touch the red stuff. But this card is really cool. It's really cheap. It's a one and 12. It's from 2001. It's from uh Fleer. I want to say Ultra. Yeah, Fuller Ultra 2001. It's a one and 12. and it's greatest hits of and I just like it because it looks like a compact disc. And so to me that's like just a cool uh moment in time when you know when CDs were popular they made a card that looked like you know a compact disc. It's cool dya. It's still shiny. It's a red card so it's not going to be as much. And compared to the prices of cards on this list, this is just a $10 card. It's a one and 12. you know, from a mid-tier set. Ultra's always been price point, you know, mid-tier, so it makes sense, but it's a cool card and it's $10 and you can definitely pick these kind of cards up in those $5 bins sometimes. So, just a fun card if you've never seen it before. Uh, you know, if you can overlook it's a red uh card, it's a really fun one to pick up. So, hope you like the the selection of cards. you know, um, these are all cards I've had in my collection sometimes, some of them for quite a while. Um, you know, I really like the magnetic field card. I really like the Star Quest Red. Um, I just think these are all really fun cards. You know, they have some really uniqueness to them, diecut wise, shininess wise, and they're all very affordable. So, let me know what you think about the video. Um, please like and subscribe. I don't really say that very often, but you know, I'm trying to uh, you know, grow the channel a little bit. And, uh, hopefully you guys like what you hear and uh, hit the buttons and I'll see you next time on Cards and Comics. Bye. It's like [music] a turn at the time. I ain't all right. >> [music]