Just when you thought Junior didn’t have another trick up his sleeve for the hobby, he finds a way to do it again.
Earlier this month, a 1997 Ken Griffey Jr. card crossed the auction block and left collectors doing some serious math because of its sale price. A single gem-mint card turned a three-year holding period into one of the most eye-popping gains you’ll see.
Editor’s Note: Looking to Sell Sports Cards? Here’s How to Do It Quickly & Easily
The 1997 Ken Griffey Jr. Card Sale That Turned Heads
According to Sports Illustrated’s Cole Benz, the above 1997 Topps Finest Ken Griffey Jr. refractor sold on February 1 for $18,600. That number alone is impressive, but things go up a notch when you see how this sale stacks up against the last time it changed hands.
The same card sold for $1,600 in August 2022. For those who don’t want to do the math at home, this is a 1,069% increase in less than four years.
So what justifies a jump like that? First of all, it’s Ken Griffey Jr. He’s been one of the most consistently collected players in baseball card history, and his cardboard carries a generational emotional weight that only a handful of players can claim.
Second, this is an early refractor. Topps launched refractor technology in 1993, making it still relatively new by 1997. Third, and probably most importantly, is that this card received a PSA GEM Mint 10 grade despite being nearly three decades old. Only 12 copies have graded this high, per the PSA population report.
When scarcity meets condition with a legendary player like Griffey, the market responds accordingly.
The Wider Griffey Card Market Is Booming
This sale doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Griffey’s entire card market has been on a serious run. According to an August 2025 report from Cllct, Junior’s cardboard saw a 32.5% increase in value through 2025 compared to 2024. Market Movers also tracked $3.9 million in sales volume for Griffey cards in just the past year.
Nobody has a completely satisfying explanation for the surge, but the most logical theory is that fans who grew up watching him in the ’90s (like me!) are now in peak earning years and chasing the memories. Whatever’s driving it, the market’s record tells the story, too. A 1998 Skybox E-X Essential Credentials Now card numbered just 4/10 sold at Heritage Auctions for $280,600, setting the all-time high for any Griffey card.
The Most Valuable Ken Griffey Jr. Cards of All Time
Speaking of the devil, let’s talk a little more about other valuable Griffey cards. That $280,600 sale for the 1998 Skybox E-X Essential Credentials Now sits at the top of the mountain. But before that sale happened, the previous record holder was a 1998 Upper Deck A Piece of the Action patch auto (BGS 8.5) that fetched $84,000, according to Sports Illustrated.
The 1998 Precious Metal Gems (numbered to just 50 copies and prone to surface chipping) went for $54,000 in a BGS 8 at Goldin in 2023. The 1994 Upper Deck dual auto pairing Griffey with Mickey Mantle (limited to 1,000 signed copies) hammered for $57,600 through Goldin as well.
And then there’s the granddaddy of all Griffey refractors. Benz noted that Junior’s 1993 Topps Finest refractor, the first one ever produced for him, sold for $26,400 with buyer’s premium. When you put these figures side by side with the $18,600 sale we just saw for the 1997 card, it makes the recent sale look like there’s still room to grow moving forward.
The Best Ken Griffey Jr. Card in My Collection
The 1992 Fleer Pro-Vision cards are awesome. The #709 Ken Griffey Jr. is my favorite because it’s the one I have in my collection.
The Pro-Vision series featured painted, artistic interpretations of players rather than standard photos. It was a bold creative swing for Fleer at a time when most card companies were playing it straight. Griffey’s card shows him standing in front of a unique background, and before he went on his insane run to finish the 1990s with the Seattle Mariners.
Graded copies in PSA 9 condition are trading in the $20-50 range, making this about as accessible as a quality Griffey card gets in today’s market. I feel like that underappreciated status is exactly what makes it worth holding. It’s not the most expensive card, but for one that feels this good in hand, the price-to-enjoyment ratio is high.
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