If price is going to be your guidepost then that calls for a completely different list, no?

Griffey was the guy to get and it wasn’t close.

Rats' recollection of the '89 UD debate here is much more accurate than anyone else's. Anyone who doesn't doesn't agree with how hot the Jerome Walton was in mid-late '89 either has an awful memory (or wasn't involved in the heart of the junk wax era, in any "region")

I have a July 1990 Beckett in front of me right now. This was well after the '89 UD Ext Zeile, Jim Abbott, and Walton had really cooled off. Prices:

Griffey: up to 18.00, Abbott down to 7.00, and Walton down to 7.50, and Zeile down to 6.50.

So for those who don't remember, the proof is there (about how those cards were on a similar level in months prior). I may see if I can find another Beckett from late '89 and compare more

It definitely wasn't a regional thing. Jerome Walton was $15, Dwight Smith was $12, Jim Abbott was $12 and Todd Zeile was $10. Griffey was only $8 and wasn't selling. Upper Deck was running the presses making those little boxed high number sets, not Griffeys then. I was breaking them and travelling to shows across the country. That is all modern collectors wanted, the high number rookie cards and Nolan Ryan in a Rangers uniform throwing the football.

If you didn't know who Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith were, you must not have been following baseball in 1989. Jerome Walton was NL Rookie of the Year. Dwight Smith finished 2nd. They were the 2 rookies that led the Cubs to the NL East Championship and the NLCS. They were the hottest rookies in baseball, not the guy who led his team to 6th place in the AL West and finished 3rd in AL ROY voting. I guess if you and your friends didn't watch postseason games, watch ESPN Sports Center or read the sports section of any major newspaper, you may not know who the hot rookies in 1989 really were.

I am not entirely sure where are you going with this. Is your angle that because Griffey Jr. didn't win ROY and may not have been the most valuable card in the set at the time, that his UD Rookie card is not iconic?

We are talking about what is the most iconic (widely recognized/famous/historical) cards in the present day, not in 1989.

Griffey Jr's UD Rookie is the posterchild of a new type of sports card--the ultra high end/luxury brand card. That is what the kids like these days--shiny, fancy cards. One could make the case that the '89 UD set paved the way toward the current way modern sports cards are made.

Griffey Jr. was the 1st card in the set, is the most graded card ever, and is part of pop culture.

Wasn't Jerry Rice the goat? His card was right there with all the iconic 80's cards.

You can be as "regional" as you want but to put a selfish individual like LBJ on the list and not Bill Russell or Kareem is just plain stupid. I could also argue for Orr but no question Gretzky is the GOAT.