Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Fleer #548 and Score Traded #100T Rookies

Ask a collector to name Ken Griffey Jr.’s rookie card and nearly everyone says 1989 Upper Deck #1. But Griffey has several genuine 1989 rookies, and two of them get far less attention than they deserve: 1989 Fleer #548 and 1989 Score Rookie/Traded #100T. Both are real rookie-year cards from major manufacturers, both are widely available, and both are a sensible way to own a Griffey rookie without paying the Upper Deck premium.

1989 Fleer #548

Fleer’s 1989 base set put Griffey at #548. It is one of the five rookie cards every Griffey checklist lists first, alongside Upper Deck #1, Bowman #220, Donruss #33 and Topps Traded #41T.

What to know:

• It is a mass-produced card. 1989 Fleer was printed in the huge quantities typical of the era, so raw copies are easy to find. The premium lives in high grades.
• Condition is the whole game. Like most late-1980s paper cards, it is vulnerable to soft corners, edge wear and off-centre cuts. Check centering with our card centering calculator before you buy or submit one.
• There is a Glossy version. 1989 Fleer Glossy #548 shares the design and number but has a coated, high-gloss finish. It is easy to mislabel, so verify the finish in the photos or buy it graded.

1989 Score Rookie/Traded #100T

Score issued its 1989 rookies and traded players in a separate Rookie/Traded set, numbered with a “T” suffix. Griffey is #100T. Because it came from that set rather than the main Score release, it is a little less familiar than the big-five rookies, which is part of its appeal: it is an authentic 1989 Griffey issue that many collectors overlook.

Score also carried Griffey in other 1989 products — the Score Young Superstars Series II (#18) and Scoremasters (#30) — which are covered in the 1989 Tiffany and oddball cards guide.

Sources: card numbers agreed by Old Sports Cards, CGC and Baseball Almanac.

How they compare with his other rookies

Think of Griffey’s rookie year as a ladder of recognition:

• 1989 Upper Deck #1 — the flagship and the most recognised card of the era.
• 1989 Topps Traded #41T and 1989 Bowman #220 — the classic-brand rookies with strong followings.
• 1989 Donruss #33 — the Rated Rookie, beloved for its design.
• 1989 Fleer #548 and 1989 Score Traded #100T — real rookies, widely available, generally the most approachable entry points.

None of that is a price ranking — it is a ranking of attention. For the full rookie-year picture, see the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards guide, and for how they stack against his whole catalog, the most valuable Griffey cards.

Buying tips

• Confirm the number on the back. #548 for Fleer, #100T for Score Traded. Listing titles are often vague about which “1989 Griffey” they mean.
• Raw for the binder, graded for the keeper. A raw copy is fine for a set build; for a long-term hold, buy it already graded and match the certification number to the photos.
• Watch for reprints. Mass-produced junk-wax cards are reprinted and counterfeited too. Compare card stock, print quality and the back against a known genuine copy, or buy graded.
• Price from sold listings. Our Ken Griffey Jr. card value checker opens eBay’s sold-listings search for the exact card and grade. Thinking of submitting a raw copy? Run it through the grading ROI calculator first.

Use the eBay buttons below to pull live listings for both cards, raw and graded.