Most Iconic Cards list from the Athletic
 

Interesting list.
"Iconic" is a slippery term I guess.

https://theathletic.com/1817526/2020...s-of-all-time/

I'm getting a paywall :(

Darn... I'm sorry...I thought of that and I thought that people got a free number of articles for a certain period before that kicked in...:mad:

It's an interesting list maybe someone with more computer skills than me can figure out how to link it?

Paywall

I've never read that site. I don't really understand the concept, but like my mom used to say, the world does not revolve around me. This is an interesting topic to me, so I'll throw out a list...

TOP TEN MOST ICONIC BASEBALL CARDS...discuss

1 T206 Honus Wagner
2 T206 Plank
3 T204 Walter Johnson
4 T206 Cobb Red
5 T206 Cobb Green
6 1933 Goudey Ruth
7 1934 Goudey Gehrig
8 T210 Joe Jackson
9 T206 Cy Young port
10 Goudey Lajoie

T206 Wagner
T206 Plank
1933 Goudey Lajoie
1952 Topps Mantle
Baltimore News Ruth
T206 Cobb/Cobb back
M101-4/5 Ruth
1925 Exhibit Gehrig
T210 Jackson
1914 Cracker Jack Mathewson

The Athletic aspires to be a bit like what Sports Illustrated used to be plus daily "fluff" content (usually league/team based). They do have some excellent sportswriters. They do produce a lot of articles on a daily basis but a couple of times a month, there's a truly excellent long-form piece like SI used to have on a weekly basis.

They generally have a nice sale around Black Friday and Xmas and I've found it mostly worth the money if you like good sportswriting.

This seems like the pre war baseball card collector version of a iconic card list. To be iconic the majority should know about it. Not some obscure cards that even some of the most experienced collector has never seen. Griffey 1989 UD is iconic
It doesn’t compare to some pre war iconic stuff but never the less it has made its mark. 1989 Ripken F#ck face card. And now Trout Topps update is becoming another staple in the hobby.
Etc

The list should also span from the beginning to current time .

One thing that makes a card ionic is how long it has been iconic. The first 3 cards on my list were iconic in the 1930s. A card that has been iconic for 80-90 years doesn't cease being iconic because people enter the hobby and don't bother to educate themselves about the hobby. I no longer collect modern cards, but I still try to follow what is hot. I started collecting in 1967 and the cards on my list were iconic in the 70s and 80s, so why would they not still be? There are not obscure.

The UD Griffey is really only iconic to a small segment of the hobby. Those that were kids in 1989-1999 and couldn't afford the card. Really how iconic is a card that was bought and sold in 100 count lots? How iconic is a card that was 125-150 and crashed to 20.00? At this point the only reason to put it on a list is because it was the key card in Upper Deck's first set. A company that hasn't made baseball cards in over a decade and is barely in business with only a hockey license?

I noticed that no one wants to post the list, why? I saw someone post Griffey was #7. I don't have a problem with it being on the list, but that is way too high. The top 3 modern cards are the 1986 Fleer Jordan, 2003 Exquisite LeBron James and the 2000 Contenders Tom Brady. Two of which I understand aren't even on the list. I could see the first two being on a top 10 list. A list of most iconic cards should span all eras of the hobby. However, that means the list needs to be a lot more than a top 10. The top 10 is going to be mostly prewar cards.

Really how iconic is a card that was bought and sold in 100 count lots?

The most iconic rock and roll album of the modern era is is arguably the Beatles Sgt. Pepper. It sold over 32 million copies.

What does iconic have to with scarcity?

I like this list, though I would replace the Gehrig or Mathewson with the Old Judge Cap Anson in uniform. Or is that one too rare and obscure?

That is certainly a good choice. Very iconic card.

Yet the most iconic card in the hobby is the t206 Wagner and its statis is because of rarity relative to its set. It is a factor.

I'm happy to say that I've owned three cards on this list at one time or another.

It's a totally defensible list. Of course we might not agree with it but it's as good as any list I could come up with. Yellow Gehrig should be on the list.

1: T206 Honus Wagner
2: 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
3: 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth (yellow)
4: 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan
5: 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle
6: 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson
7: 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr.
8: T206 Ty Cobb Red Portrait (Cobb back)
9: 1954 Topps Hank Aaron
10: 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky
11: 1965 Topps Joe Namath
12: 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan with Jerry Koosman
13: 1914 CJ Ty Cobb
14: 1952 Topps Willie Mays
15: 1914 CJ Joe Jackson
16: M101-5 Sporting News Babe Ruth
17: 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente
18: 1951 Bowman Willie Mays
19: 1958 Topps Jim Brown
20: 1980 Topps Larry Bird / Magic Johnson / Julius Erving
21 (tied): 1955 Topps Koufax (rookie), 1941 Play Ball Ted Williams
23 (tied): 1966 Topps USA Bobby Orr, Baltimore News Ruth, T3 Cobb

Who said they're no longer iconic? They've just (possibly) been moved down.

And cards don't have to be rare or valuable to be iconic. The Griffey is iconic because it was the first card in a set that changed the entire industry. It was all over everywhere for a decade and is still extremely popular today. So what if it was sold in 100-card lots? The Mantle was double-printed and is extremely common - doesn't change its status.

The same reason that the top 10 list of home run hitters in 1967 is not the same as it is now. Has nothing new happened in the last 53 years?

I can’t agree , I think the points you mentioned can help a card to be iconic . I don’t think there is a true formula for anything to be iconic.The collectors of 80s thru the 90s and to current date are probably the majority of collectors now. The “new kids “the people getting back in to it are not thinking about a rare card that they never knew existed. They won’t what they remember and then eventually will learn more about the hobby and move from that point.

To be iconic in my eyes, people who just breeze through the hobby should know them by sight.

I agree. The Griffey card is known by millions of people. The Ruth rookie, no.

It’s like arguing that some obscure song by Muddy Waters is more iconic than Rock Around the Clock. It isn’t.

Even the 1990 score black and white bo jackson will "stir memories " among collectors in that bracket.

Could be the age talking, but the hype was there.


86 donruss canseco

I missed the late 80's and early 90's. I don't even know what Griffey you are calling his rookie. Is it this Bowman one? I can see where someone might call it iconic. I can point to rookie cards 1983 and earlier, but I don't know what Griffey, Jr., or Frank Thomas, or Jeff Bagwells' rookies look like. Don't they all have scores of rookies and Score rookies?

When someone says "Ken Griffey", what pops into my head is 70's Reds, like Dan Driessen.
Hostess Driessen = iconic


One time I started an unpopular thread titled "The Last Baseball Card" and posted a 1983 Donruss Tony Gwynn rookie...

The list from the Athletic (which is mostly listed above -- except it has the T206 Cobb when the list actually includes the T3 Cobb)... was multi-sport and tilted heavily towards baseball it actually had certain criteria and a was assembled by a panel.. Its a good site but I didn't post the link to get them subscribers.

Anyway
My "iconics" are based on the image of the card as well as the meaning and importance of the card ... I didn't have very many recent cards either -- I guess they aren't iconic to me yet although I almost put that Score Bo Jackson card on the list.

Baseball
N172 Ewing w Mascott
T206 Wagner (Honus not Heinie)
T205 Mathewson
T202 Cobb/Jennings (classic Conlon photo in the middle)
14-15 CJ Jackson
52 Topps Mantle
33 Goudey Ruth
34 Goudey Gehrig (Portrait)
33-34 Lajoie
39 PB Williams
41 PB DiMaggio
48 Bomwan Musial
52 Topps Mantle and Mays (much much better looking than the 51 Bowmans)
53 Bowman Reese (this is just the most beautiful card)
53 Topps Jackie Robinson
54 Topps H. Aaron
55 Topps R Clemente
68 Koosman/Ryan
89 UD Griffey

---
Football:
33 Sport Kings Jim Thorpe
35 Chicle Bronko Nagurski
55 Topps All-Americans Four Horsemen (Great Set)
58 Topps Jim Brown
65 Namath (tall)
76 Topps Payton (sweetness smiling)
I assume that there is some Brady card out there?
--
Hoops
48 Mikan
57 Russell
61 Wilt
69 Alcindor (long tall boy) RC
76 Topps Dr J (Great image and really big card... I love this set)
80-81 Bird/Johnson/Erving
84 Star MJ
86 Fleer MJ (yes MJ gets 2 cards!)
UD #1 Shaq RC (great shot of a slim Shaq dunking)

-----
Hockey (I don't know as much about Hockey so my decisions are dubious)
Gordie Howe "Mr. Hockey" ,54-55 Topps (his rookie is this awful little Parkhurst card from '51 ... I guess if I were a real Hockey person it would be "iconic" but I've always liked the Topps card that's colorful and bright and says "Mr. Hockey")
Orr RC -- looks like a 55 bowman to me ... I think there is a tall boy that came out a year or two later that's kinda cool too?
Gretzky OPC RC

Also:
T9 Jack Johnson
1997-98 Grand Slam Ventures Tiger Woods

It is a terrible list. No Plank or Lajoie? No Jackie Robinson RC? Missing 2 of the top 3 basketball cards Kobe Chrome and LeBron Exquisite? Missing the #1 football card, Brady Contenders? Proof of why I would never pay to read The Atlantic.