Since I have been slacking off on posting on the SCN blog,  so I thought it would be fun taking a trip down memory lane... Like many of our members, I grew up collecting in the 1980's. It was a such great time as baseball cards seemed to explode in popularity because:

• there were only 3 main sets per year (Topps, Fleer, and Donruss)
• there was no crazy inserts, jerseys, parallels, etc that have ruined the hobby
• there was no grading companies
• so many adults wanted to relive their youth (when they collected in the 1950-1960's) and enjoy the hobby with their sons/daughters 

Below is a list of the top 100 cards (from core brands - UD, Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Score) from 1980-1989:

1984 Fleer Update #27 Roger Clemens	$221.25
1987 Donruss Opening Day #163A Barry Bonds (Johnny Ray pictured)	$212.40
1982 Topps Traded #98T Cal Ripken	$96.67
1989 Fleer #616B Bill Ripken Whiteout	$82.00
1982 Fleer #576A John Littlefield - Reversed Negative	$66.40
1984 Fleer Update #93 Kirby Puckett	$58.00
1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson	$35.07
1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr.	$34.50
1985 Fleer #155 Roger Clemens	$30.50
1982 Topps #21 Cal Ripken	$30.32
1982 Donruss #405 Cal Ripken	$28.56
1984 Donruss #248 Don Mattingly	$27.74
1982 Fleer #176 Cal Ripken	$26.29
1987 Fleer #604 Barry Bonds	$24.61
1985 Donruss #273 Roger Clemens	$22.80
1986 Fleer Update #14 Barry Bonds	$20.94
1985 Topps #181 Roger Clemens	$20.55
1986 Topps Traded #11T Barry Bonds	$18.65
1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire	$18.50
1984 Fleer Update #43 Dwight Gooden	$16.96
1989 Fleer #616C Bill Ripken White Scribble	$16.25
1985 Leaf #99 Roger Clemens	$15.58
1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn	$15.16
1987 Leaf #219 Barry Bonds	$13.66
1987 Donruss Opening Day #163B Barry Bonds Correct	$13.39
1986 Donruss Rookies #11 Barry Bonds	$13.00
1983 Topps Traded #108T Darryl Strawberry	$12.75
1984 Fleer #131 Don Mattingly	$12.50
1984 Donruss #106 Cal Ripken	$12.33
1983 Topps #83 Ryne Sandberg	$11.61
1989 Fleer #616D Bill Ripken Black Scribble	$10.35
1988 Topps Rookies #13 Mark McGwire	$10.34
1983 Donruss #277 Ryne Sandberg	$10.23
1983 Fleer #360 Tony Gwynn	$10.16
1984 Topps #8 Don Mattingly	$9.94
1988 Score Rookie/Traded #105T Roberto Alomar	$9.90
1989 Fleer #616A Bill Ripken FxxxFace	$9.86
1989 Score Young Superstars II #18 Ken Griffey Jr.	$9.82
1982 Topps Traded #109T Ozzie Smith	$9.63
1980 Topps #580 Nolan Ryan	$9.59
1984 Donruss #60 Nolan Ryan	$9.44
1984 Donruss #324 Tony Gwynn	$9.08
1983 Topps #498 Wade Boggs	$9.00
1983 Donruss #598 Tony Gwynn	$8.67
1987 Donruss #361 Barry Bonds	$8.57
1983 Fleer #179 Wade Boggs	$8.29
1989 Upper Deck #25 Randy Johnson	$7.90
1984 Donruss #311 Ryne Sandberg	$7.73
1984 Fleer Update #102 Pete Rose	$7.70
1984 Fleer #17 Cal Ripken	$7.46
1985 Fleer #286 Kirby Puckett	$7.41
1983 Fleer #507 Ryne Sandberg	$7.12
1983 Donruss #586 Wade Boggs	$6.81
1987 Donruss Rookies #1 Mark McGwire	$6.71
1988 Score Rookie/Traded #103T Craig Biggio	$6.69
1985 Donruss #424B Tom Seaver - Correct	$6.62
1986 Fleer All-Stars #5 Cal Ripken	$6.60
1987 Fleer All-Stars #11 Roger Clemens	$6.60
1981 Topps Traded #850 Fernando Valenzuela	$6.53
1981 Squirt #28 Rickey Henderson	$6.50
1984 Topps Traded #42T Dwight Gooden	$6.50
1986 Donruss #39 Jose Canseco	$6.47
1983 Topps #163 Cal Ripken	$6.37
1984 Donruss #61 Pete Rose	$6.33
1985 Donruss #438 Kirby Puckett	$6.33
1981 Topps #261 Rickey Henderson	$6.29
1985 Topps #536 Kirby Puckett	$6.29
1984 Donruss #53 George Brett	$6.20
1980 Topps #393 Ozzie Smith	$6.15
1986 Fleer Future Hall of Famers #5 Nolan Ryan	$6.11
1987 Leaf #36 Greg Maddux	$6.10
1984 Fleer Update #103 Bret Saberhagen	$6.04
1987 Donruss #36 Greg Maddux	$5.97
1989 Score Young Superstars II #32 Randy Johnson	$5.87
1986 Fleer #649 Jose Canseco	$5.76
1981 Topps #315 Kirk Gibson	$5.72
1984 Donruss #68 Darryl Strawberry	$5.68
1987 Leaf #46 Mark McGwire	$5.68
1984 Donruss #183 Mike Schmidt	$5.67
1989 Score Rookie/Traded #100T Ken Griffey Jr.	$5.57
1987 Topps #320 Barry Bonds	$5.50
1989 Donruss Rookies #3 Ken Griffey Jr.	$5.48
1984 Donruss #41 Joe Carter	$5.35
1989 Donruss #33 Ken Griffey Jr.	$5.34
1989 Bowman #220 Ken Griffey Jr.	$5.33
1986 Fleer All-Stars #1 Don Mattingly	$5.25
1987 Fleer Update #68 Greg Maddux	$5.18
1987 Donruss #46 Mark McGwire	$5.16
1989 Topps Traded #41T Ken Griffey Jr.	$5.15
1981 Fleer Sticker Cards #108 Nolan Ryan	$5.13
1987 Donruss Rookies #52 Greg Maddux	$5.11
1980 Topps #540 Pete Rose	$5.07
1980 Kellogg's #9 George Brett	$5.06
1987 Fleer #369 Bo Jackson	$5.06
1981 Topps #302 Fernando Valenzuela/Mike Scioscia	$5.02
1984 Donruss #151 Wade Boggs	$5.02
1988 Score Rookie/Traded #80T Mark Grace	$5.02
1989 Scoremasters #30 Ken Griffey Jr.	$5.01
1980 Topps #450 George Brett	$4.99
1984 Fleer #239 Nolan Ryan	$4.93

It's amazing just how different the list looks now than it would have in 1989. The 1984 Fleer Update Clemens probably would have still been in the top 3, but I remember the 1980 Rickey Henderson and 1984 Donruss Mattingly being much higher then.   

The only guys still playing from this list are Maddux, Clemens, Randy Johnson, Bonds, and Griffey Jr.

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