Most iconic cards of the 90s?
 

So not sure if 90s cards can be considered vintage but I want to start collecting some from that era. What are the most iconic cards from the 90s?


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The Frank Thomas NNOF 1990 Topps is one of the biggest, but probably out of most of our budgets. For affordable cards I would go 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas and basketball 1992 Shaq Beam Team. The Jordan 1991 UD baseball SP1 is pretty iconic as well. The 1991 Topps Desert Shield Chipper Jones is very popular, but pricey. 90's is really out of vintage since it is the insert era. Some really cool cards, but outside of typical vintage card stock.

[QUOTE=discodanman45;19724010]The Frank Thomas NNOF 1990 Topps is one of the biggest, but probably out of most of our budgets. For affordable cards I would go 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas and basketball 1992 Shaq Beam Team. The Jordan 1991 UD baseball SP1 is pretty iconic as well. The 1991 Topps Desert Shield Chipper Jones is very popular, but pricey. 90's is really out of vintage since it is the insert era. Some really cool cards, but outside of typical vintage card stock.[/QUOTE]


Frank Thomas is definitely out of reach. I could maybe grab the Chipper Jones. 90s is a strange era where it’s not vintage


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SP Jeter
SP AROD
NNOF Frank
Leaf Frank
SP1 Jordan
90T George HW Bush
1992 Fleer Update Piazza
1992 Topps Traded Nomar
1993 Topps Traded Helton (AND Bazooka)
1990 Score Bo Jackson (Pads/Bat Card)
1992 Donruss Elite Ripken Auto
Any 1992 Donruss Elite
UD Griffey/Mantle Auto
Score Franchise Musial / Mantle / Yaz Auto
Pinnacle Joe D Autos
UD "Greats"/CL Autos
Pretty much all the relevant RCs in 1992 Bowman
1993 Topps Finest Refractors
1997 Griffey UD Relic

There's a good bit more, but those came to mind

[QUOTE=smanzari;19724079]
SP AROD
Leaf Frank
SP1 Jordan
1990 Score Bo Jackson (Pads/Bat Card)
[/QUOTE]
These were significant cards that I remember in the 90s. They were big close to their release and people knew them and wanted them.

Some of the previously mentioned rare cards were obviously worth more, but seen less frequently, so I think they aren't really 'iconic' like some of the more common cards.

90's cards are not "vintage".

Vintage is generally considered anything 1980 and earlier. After that you have the junk wax era, and then when that ended in the early 90's, manufacturers started finally being intentional about variations and contrived scarcity. The mass production of the junk wax era finally led them to switch focus from kids to adults / hobbyists with more money.

[QUOTE=jchcollins;19740378]90's cards are not "vintage".

Vintage is generally considered anything 1980 and earlier. After that you have the junk wax era, and then when that ended in the early 90's, manufacturers started finally being intentional about variations and contrived scarcity. The mass production of the junk wax era finally led them to switch focus from kids to adults / hobbyists with more money.[/QUOTE]

90s is starting to become vintage as much as I hate to say it. I considered 50s vintage in the 80s.

[QUOTE=GoTribe!!!;19742528]90s is starting to become vintage as much as I hate to say it. I considered 50s vintage in the 80s.[/QUOTE]

No, it's not. "Vintage" means different things in different contexts. It's not simply a matter of how old something is. The card hobby was light years different than it is now, in say - 1974. Cards were still issued in packs with gum for 10 cents, and were in their first year of not being distributed by series. When I was a kid, the argument was sometimes that vintage ended with 1973 because of that.

Vintage
Junk Wax
Modern
Ultra Modern

Is the typical progression of the terms that most use these day. It's almost more of an argument where junk wax begins.

There are typically accepted terms for all this,problem is depending on the sport,,production run,and other factors there are exceptions.baseball carries the narrative in most circles.

As an example 86 baseball while a year before 87-93 norm for "junk wax" is generally considered junk wax,how many of you think 86 fleer basketball is junk wax?86 topps football?how about 93 sp baseball?

in baseball pre 81 so 80 and back is vintage 81-85 is not junk wax,though some do think it is.......so grey area.pre war pretty set as the years are the only factor.there seems to be differing opinions on the term junk......is it quality?is it value?is it over production?or a combo of all that?does the year matter?everyone has an opinion and not everyone is going to agree.

I feel like there should be an iconic Jeter rookie, but none come to mind as "The One" to have, so I guess, by definition, none of them are iconic. Regardless, I feel like you would need at least one Jeter rookie in a proper '90s collection.

[QUOTE=Gary;19743308]
in baseball pre 81 so 80 and back is vintage 81-85 is not junk wax,though some do think it is.......[/QUOTE]

Exactly. I don't think of early 80's baseball as junk wax, but it's commonly described as such. In my mind it's about 1986 up into the 90's and stops only when most 90's sets started offering SP's or inserts or something which turned out to be valuable. In many cases, by the late 90's most manufacturers had started to figure this out.

[QUOTE=gmarutiak;19743463]I feel like there should be an iconic Jeter rookie, but none come to mind as "The One" to have, so I guess, by definition, none of them are iconic. Regardless, I feel like you would need at least one Jeter rookie in a proper '90s collection.[/QUOTE]

The Upper Deck SP seems to have been anointed by the hobby as "The One", though I'm not sure everyone agrees with that. Finicky card, and one that has trouble grading sometimes due to the cuts that many of them received.

Not that I particularly like the card, but I'd say the single most iconic baseball card of the 90s is probably that weird Bowman Mariano Rivera RC where it looks like he's about to head to the golf course.

The other candidates for me would be the Topps Jeter RC or the SP, whichever. Frank Thomas 1990 topps is another on the short list. Maybe the Michael Jordan UD card is in the convo?

[QUOTE=VanLingoMungo46;19749878]Not that I particularly like the card, but I'd say the single most iconic baseball card of the 90s is probably that weird Bowman Mariano Rivera RC where it looks like he's about to head to the golf course.

The other candidates for me would be the Topps Jeter RC or the SP, whichever. Frank Thomas 1990 topps is another on the short list. Maybe the Michael Jordan UD card is in the convo?[/QUOTE]

That Rivera card is horrific. I wouldn't pay 10 cents for that card, the $50 for a raw version is just plan insanity. This is coming from a HOF RC collector. I think I will grab a nice Rivera on card auto from a new product, and maybe some type of 90's numbered card.

Collecting in the 90's for me is all about the cool inserts and numbered parallels. Completely different collecting in this era versus vintage.

Ironically the most iconic cards of the 90s were mostly from the 80s. :coffee:

1991 Upper Deck Bert Blyleven, no doubt.

The most iconic parallel set of All-Time is the 1993 Finest Refractor set.

Nolan Ryan and Ken Griffey Jr. run into the 5 figures now.

1991 Upper Deck #SP1 Michael Jordan

This would be my list
1990 Leaf Frank Thomas
1990 Score Bo Jackson #697
1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan
1991 Stadium Club Nolan Ryan
1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera
1993 Finest Ken Griffey Jr
1993 SP Derek Jeter
1997 Bowman Chrome Kerry Wood

I am sticking with base cards. If you want to go with inserts to supplement this, they can get pretty expensive. Some lower price examples would be the 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Frank Thomas and 1994 Flair Hot Gloves Ken Griffey Jr or 1994 SP Holoview Griffey.

I think this is pretty much the right list, I might add the 1990 Leaf Sammy Sosa or 1994 SP Alex Rodriguez to it.

[QUOTE=rats60;19796140]This would be my list
1990 Leaf Frank Thomas
1990 Score Bo Jackson #697
1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan
1991 Stadium Club Nolan Ryan
1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera
1993 Finest Ken Griffey Jr
1993 SP Derek Jeter
1997 Bowman Chrome Kerry Wood

I am sticking with base cards. If you want to go with inserts to supplement this, they can get pretty expensive. Some lower price examples would be the 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Frank Thomas and 1994 Flair Hot Gloves Ken Griffey Jr or 1994 SP Holoview Griffey.[/QUOTE]

I'd add to the list 1989 Fleer Randy Johnson 381 with its variations

[QUOTE=sthoemke;19796864]I'd add to the list 1989 Fleer Randy Johnson 381 with its variations[/QUOTE]

To a list of '90s cards?

Precious Metal Gems, Select Certified Mirror, Donruss Crusade, Finest diecut refractors

Between Jeter SP or Thomas NNOF.

Jordan SP
Jeter SP
Jordan Scoring Kings
Kobe 96' refractor
93' Finest Refractor Nolan / Griffey
94' UD Griffey/Mantle