20 Chipper Jones Cards to Add To Your Collection

Ryan Barone (@ballcardgenius, Card Expert) is a lifelong member of the hobby. He has been quoted in PSA Magazine, and his content has regularly been mentioned in “Quick Rips” (the Topps RIPPED Newsletter) and across other hobby publications. hello@ballcardgenius.com; Last Time Ago LLC dba Ballcard Genius.

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The most valuable Chipper Jones cards include rookie parallels 1991 Topps Desert Shield and 1991 Topps Tiffany, along with high-end inserts such as 1998 Skybox E-X2001 /95, 1999 SkyBox Premium Spring Fling Star Rubies /50, 1998 Metal Universe PMG, 1998 Finest the Man Refractor, and 1999 SkyBox Premium Intimidation Nation. This is based on sales over the last 365 days from cards in the Market Movers catalog along with historical sales as reported by Card Hedge.

Here are the top 10 most expensive cards based on sales, from Market Movers:

1. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base PSA 10, $11100
2. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Tiffany #333 Base PSA 10, $5499
3. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base BGS 9.5, $3138
4. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base PSA 9, $2550
5. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base BGS 9, $2500
6. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base PSA 8.5, $1200
7. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Tiffany #333 Base BGS 9.5, $1150
8. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base PSA 8, $900
9. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base BGS 8, $750
10. Chipper Jones 1991 Topps Desert Shield #333 Base Raw, $750

As another slice of data and because they feature different cards in their catalog, Card Hedge reports the following (with the last sold date in parenthesis):

1. Chipper Jones 1998 Metal Universe Baseball Precious Metal Gems #188 BGS 8, $3,720 (3/12/23)
2. Chipper Jones 1998 Circa Thunder Baseball Super Rave #10 PSA 10, $3,650 (11/8/21)
3. Chipper Jones 1998 Topps Finest The Man Baseball Refractor #TM4 PSA 10, $3,250 (1/24/23)
4. Chipper Jones 1999 Metal Universe Baseball Precious Metal Gems #292 Raw, $2,000 (2/6/23)
5. Chipper Jones 1993 Upper Deck SP Baseball Foil #280 RC PSA 10, $1974 (6/11/23)
6. Chipper Jones 1996 Select Certified Baseball Mirror Gold #7 BGS 8.5 $1,704 (6/25/23)
7. Cal Ripken Jr. / Chipper Jones 1998 Pinnacle Plus Team Pinnacle Baseball Mirror #5 PSA 9, $1,196 (12/3/23)
8. Chipper Jones 1997 Topps Finest Baseball Embossed Refractor #330 PSA 10, $1,035 (4/23/20)
9. Chipper Jones 1998 Flair Showcase Legacy Collection Baseball Row 1 #10 PSA 10, $997 (8/8/20)
10. Chipper Jones 1996 Select Certified Baseball Mirror Blue #7 Raw $925 (6/26/23)

Of course, the above really only tells one side of the story, and that story is a 1991 Topps Desert or Tiffany in decent condition has a chance to be worth quite a bit. Even the raw Desert Shield as had a nice jump in value over the year, as you can see here:

The thing is, for any star player with a rookie card right around this same time (late 80s, early 90s) their most valuable cards are going to follow a similar pattern. You have 1991 Topps, right in the middle of the junk wax era yet filled with awesome names like Chipper Jones, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr., etc. Problem is, their base rookies from these “flagship” sets were so severely overprinted that they hold little value.

So, to find value, you need to find the more scarce parallels—Desert Shield, Tiffany, and even Traded, in this case, or the more coveted sets out of the bunch, like 1989 Upper Deck for Ken Griffey Jr., 1993 SP for Derek Jeter (and Chipper), and 1990 Leaf for Frank Thomas and a handful of others.

Then, after the rookie year, brands that aren’t even around anymore to the rescue. SkyBox, Select, Circa. While there were a number of amazing insert cards back in the day, these producers just did it better with flashier designs, serial numbering, and rarity.

Other cards that caught my eye include the 2021 Diamond Kings Blank Slate, which has only had two sales over the last 365 days, jumping from $55.73 with the first sale to $145 on the second. (Between Downtowns and these Blank Slate SSPs, a hobby box of 2021 Donruss could be a fun rip.)