13 Most Valuable 1985 Topps Traded Baseball Cards
Just as the hobby boom of the late 80s began to heat up more and more, collectors sifted through 1985 Topps Traded baseball cards in hopes of landing the next big rookie.
Guys like Vince Coleman, Ozzie Guillen, and Mariano Duncan showed plenty of promise.
And only time would tell how far they’d go.
Ultimately, they each had impressive careers.
However, unfortunately for anyone who hoarded their rookie cards, none of them turned out to be superstars or Hall of Famers.
But that doesn’t mean those cards and others in this set can’t command decent prices if they’re in top condition.
And in this guide, we’ll take a look at the 13 most valuable.
Let’s jump right in!
1985 Topps Traded Baseball Set Snapshot
SET DETAILS
132
Tom Browning, Ozzie Guillen, Roger McDowell
Gary Carter, Rickey Henderson, Bruce Sutter, Don Sutton, Vince Coleman, Howard Johnson
GRADING ANALYSIS
4,783
TOTAL GRADED BY PSA
2,439
PSA 10 Population
51.0%
PSA 10 Grade Rate
MOST GRADED CARDS
1
#24T Vince Coleman
20.5%
982
2
#49T Rickey Henderson
17.4%
833
3
#43T Ozzie Guillen
7.8%
373
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Ross Uitts – Owner
- #1
1985 Topps Traded #49T Rickey Henderson
PSA 10 Value $160 – $165Total PSA Population 833PSA 10 Population 320PSA 10 Grade Rate 38.4% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The New York Yankees mortgaged the farm to bring Rickey Henderson to the Bronx, or at least it seemed at the time.
On December 5, 1984, the Yankees sent five players to the Oakland Athletics to acquire Henderson (along with pitcher Bert Bradley).
The names the A’s received, including Stan Javier and Eric Plunk, were supposed to replenish the team’s coffers for years to come.
Instead, they got future pennies on the dollar as Henderson played MVP-caliber ball in his first year in pinstripes.
1985 was arguably Henderson’s peak as a hitter and outfielder.
He led the Majors in WAR (9.9) and runs scored (146), and his 13 Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average (a catch-all advanced stat) topped MLB center fielders.
And oh yeah, he led the league in stolen bases (80) for a sixth straight season.
A bushel of accolades rightfully followed, including an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger, and a third-place finish for AL MVP.
- #2
1985 Topps Traded #24T Vince Coleman Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $115 – $120Total PSA Population 982PSA 10 Population 406PSA 10 Grade Rate 41.3% (Set Avg: 51.0%)When the St. Louis Cardinals promoted Vince Coleman early in the 1985 season, it was with the intention of sending him back down within a week.
Coleman was pegged as a stopgap as Willie McGee recovered from injury, and he was told as much by general manager Del Maxvill.
Maxvill explained to Coleman that he shouldn’t get too comfortable in St. Louis, as he was going to be returning to Triple-A in a flash.
Coleman respectfully disagreed.
“He said, ‘Yes, Mr. Maxvill, I understand that,” the former Cards GM recalled.
“But, I’m going to be here all year.” Coleman knew what he was talking about.
He stole two bases in his first game for the eventual NL pennant winners, along with going 4-for-5 with a double and a triple.
Three games later, he stole three bases.
Far from demoted, Coleman took the baseball world on a ride en route to an NL Rookie-of-the-Year award and an MLB-best 110 stolen bases.
- #3
1985 Topps Traded #43T Ozzie Guillen Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $53 – $54Total PSA Population 373PSA 10 Population 206PSA 10 Grade Rate 55.2% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The Chicago White Sox scored big in a seven-player deal during the 1984-85 offseason, lifting prized shortstop prospect Ozzie Guillen off the San Diego Padres.
The deal was an immediate smash hit, culminating in Guillen winning the 1985 AL Rookie-of-the-Year award.
“It is the greatest thing to happen to me in a long time,” Guillen said.
It was also the greatest thing to happen to a Sox team that wasn’t banking on Guillen to perform at such a level.
“He far exceeded our expectations,” manager Tony LaRussa said.
“We expected him to hit .240 and provide us with some solid defense.” What Chicago got was a .273 average and the best fielding percentage (.980) among all American League shortstops.
Guillen committed just 12 errors in 614 chances and helped turn 80 double plays.
He also overcame early adversity, shaking off a .210 slump through June 10 to hit over .300 (.303) the rest of the way.
- #4
1985 Topps Traded #17T Gary Carter
PSA 10 Value $50 – $51Total PSA Population 270PSA 10 Population 164PSA 10 Grade Rate 60.7% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The New York Mets didn’t just get a middle-of-the-order slugger in dealing for Montreal Expos catcher Gary Carter.
They got a huge character guy, a clubhouse leader, and what manager Davey Johnson termed as a “one-man scouting system.” After revitalizing his trade value with a brilliant ’84 campaign, Carter was sent to Queens during the offseason for a four-player package.
He set the tone right away on Opening Day in 1985, crushing a walk-off home run to the delight of an adoring Shea Stadium crowd.
It was a breath of fresh air for Carter, who had suffered multiple knee injuries in relative obscurity on the astroturf in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
At 31 years old, the future Hall-of-Famer looked and played like a man with a new lease on life.
Carter ended his Mets debut with a .281/.365/.488 slash line, 32 homers, and 100 RBIs in 149 games.
He was named to his seventh consecutive All-Star team, earned a Silver Slugger, and placed sixth for NL MVP.
- #5
1985 Topps Traded #83T Roger McDowell Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $46 – $47Total PSA Population 91PSA 10 Population 58PSA 10 Grade Rate 63.7% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The New York Mets tried their luck with Roger McDowell as a starter during the 1985 season.
It only took two games for them to think twice.
A former third-round pick, McDowell got his first taste of Big-League ball in the ’85 Mets bullpen.
He pitched six scoreless innings across his first four outings before taking a three-run punch to the chin in an inning against St. Louis.
It’s there where Mets manager Davey Johnson rolled the dice and moved McDowell to the rotation.
Disaster followed.
McDowell surrendered nine earned runs in 10.1 innings across his two starts and was quickly reintegrated back into the bullpen.
Now locked into the later innings, the 21-year-old righty thrived, piling up 21 scoreless innings across his next seven outings.
The final numbers were great.
McDowell pitched to a 2.83 ERA in 62 games for the second-place Mets, saving 17 while compiling a 1.139 WHIP in 127.1 innings.
- #6
1985 Topps Traded #78T Billy Martin
PSA 10 Value $40 – $41Total PSA Population 129PSA 10 Population 92PSA 10 Grade Rate 71.3% (Set Avg: 51.0%)If you think you have a read on the relationship between Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner, you’re probably mistaken.
The Martin/Steinbrenner partnership could have a whole trilogy written about it.
In fact, you could write five books on the subject, considering Martin was fired five times by the New York Yankees.
Martin’s fourth tenure with the Yankees was a perplexing whirlwind.
Steinbrenner ditched legend and beloved Yankees personality Yogi Berra 16 games into the 1985 MLB season, replacing him with the devil he knew.
For most of the year, it seemed like it would work.
Martin lifted the Yankees to the precipice of an AL East title, putting them in pole position with just over a week to go.
And then, the bottom fell out.
New York dropped eight in a row in mid-September and ultimately ceded the division to the Toronto Blue Jays.
That failure, coupled with a tabloid-exploding bar fight between Martin and pitcher Ed Whitson in Baltimore, earned Martin the axe yet again.
- #7
1985 Topps Traded #32T Mariano Duncan Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $33 – $34Total PSA Population 52PSA 10 Population 32PSA 10 Grade Rate 61.5% (Set Avg: 51.0%)When Dominican-born prospect Mariano Duncan made his first Big-League splash with the 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers, he immediately drew comparisons to the game’s most celebrated middle infielder.
“Mariano has a better arm than Ozzie Smith, and he can outrun Ozzie,” Dodgers coach Monty Basgall said at the time.
While Duncan never reached Ozzie’s league, he still made a good living for parts of twelve seasons with five different teams.
And, Duncan’s 1985 debut still stands out as a hidden gem.
Called up 24 hours after the start of the regular season, Duncan replaced an injured Steve Sax as the team’s starting second baseman.
His tools were so tantalizing that even when Sax came back, Duncan was moved over to shortstop to fill in for the ailing Dave Anderson.
Duncan hadn’t played at short in a regular capacity since rookie ball, but he still put on a show, finishing third for NL Rookie-of-the-Year with a .244 average, 38 steals, and a bevy of highlight-worthy defensive plays.
- #8
1985 Topps Traded #116T Don Sutton
PSA 10 Value $30 – $31Total PSA Population 93PSA 10 Population 50PSA 10 Grade Rate 53.8% (Set Avg: 51.0%)Don Sutton’s quest for his “inevitable” place in baseball lore took him through two towns in 1985.
After spending three years with the Milwaukee Brewers, Sutton was dealt to the Oakland A’s as part of a multi-player swap.
Now 40 years old, Sutton got 13 of those wins for the A’s, pitching to a 3.89 ERA in 194.1 innings.
He was no longer a Cy Young candidate, but he could still reliably eat innings and save a bullpen.
That’s precisely why the California Angels swung a waiver swap to land Sutton after the 1985 Trade Deadline.
The Halos were in a tight division race with the Royals, and Sutton’s arm still had good value.
The Hall-of-Famer was strong in five late-season starts, winning two more games to get within five of 300.
However, the Angels still capsized as the campaign wound down and lost the division by a single game.
- #9
1985 Topps Traded #88T Al Oliver
PSA 10 Value $28 – $29Total PSA Population 28PSA 10 Population 23PSA 10 Grade Rate 82.1% (Set Avg: 51.0%)Al Oliver’s last Major-League season was a head-spinning one.
It started with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After hitting over .300 for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1984, the team dealt Oliver to the Dodgers for veteran pitcher Pat Zachry.
The swap didn’t sit well with Oliver.
Zachry’s career was nearing its end, and Oliver felt slighted that he was offloaded for such a slight trade package.
Perhaps the Dodgers knew something that Oliver didn’t, or didn’t want to admit.
Los Angeles moved him back to the outfield for the first time since 1980, but the experiment didn’t go well.
The 38-year-old was shifted into a pinch-hitting role within a month.
By July, Oliver was traded once again, this time to the eventual AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays.
Oliver was unspectacular in a part-time role, but did pick up two game-winning hits in the ALCS.
However, after he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in Game Seven, the veteran decided enough was enough and called it a career.
- #10
1985 Topps Traded #129T Earl Weaver
PSA 10 Value $28 – $29Total PSA Population 81PSA 10 Population 32PSA 10 Grade Rate 39.5% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The 1985 return of Earl Weaver to the Baltimore Orioles’ bench was a marriage of convenience.
Weaver was in a perilous career spot.
When he retired from the Orioles after a winner-take-all Game #162 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1982, he was a wanted man.
Eleven different teams offered him roles with their clubs, ranging from managerial jobs to front-office positions.
He declined all of those and instead took up a broadcasting role for ABC TV.
By early 1985, Weaver had been dismissed from his TV position and was hemorrhaging his retirement funds.
When the O’s called and offered him a $500,000 payday to replace his original successor, Joe Altobelli, he jumped at it.
The money was nice, but the team was not.
Baltimore’s organization was unrecognizable aside from Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr., eschewing patience for quick-fix free agents.
Weaver’s results reflected that.
The O’s went just 53-52 to finish the ’85 campaign, and Weaver retired for good one year later.
- #11
1985 Topps Traded #120T Mickey Tettleton Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $26 – $27Total PSA Population 129PSA 10 Population 80PSA 10 Grade Rate 62.0% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The Oakland A’s circled Mickey Tettleton as their catcher of the future when they selected him in the fifth round of the 1981 MLB Draft.
Tettleton was an interesting prospect to watch.
His batting stance, complete with his bat nearly parallel to his waist, didn’t seem like it should work.
It did, though, and Tettleton was awarded a roster spot late in 1984 as a backup to Mike Heath.
After a strong ’84 debut, Tettleton was given more rope to work with in 1985.
He played in 78 games off the bench, slashing .251/.344/.351 with three home runs and 12 doubles in 246 plate appearances.
Tettleton was not a power hitter like he would be in his time with Texas, but his work with the pitching staff impressed the Oakland brass.
In December 1985, the A’s dealt Heath to the St. Louis Cardinals and promoted Tettleton to a starting role.
He’d play two more seasons with the club before his release in the spring of 1988.
- #12
1985 Topps Traded #77T Fred Lynn
PSA 10 Value $26 – $27Total PSA Population 61PSA 10 Population 37PSA 10 Grade Rate 60.7% (Set Avg: 51.0%)The Baltimore Orioles got the home run hitter they desperately wanted in 1985, signing nine-time All-Star and former MVP Fred Lynn to a multi-year deal.
The problem was that Lynn wasn’t healthy and didn’t have a playing style that could get him there.
Lynn was always a daredevil who played at breakneck speed.
It led to a myriad of injuries throughout his career, especially as he progressed through his thirties.
In ’85, Lynn suffered a sprained ankle on a slide shortly after the All-Star break.
Instead of opting out and resting, the 33-year-old center fielder pushed harder and ended up screwing up his back.
All told, Lynn lost 38 games on the disabled list and failed to make the All-Star team for the second consecutive year.
He also pressed when he was in the lineup, racking up a career-worst 100 strikeouts in 508 at-bats.
The home run numbers were nice (23) and the OPS+ was solid (117), but Lynn just wasn’t the guy the O’s targeted for years before.
- #13
1985 Topps Traded #115T Bruce Sutter
PSA 10 Value $25 – $26Total PSA Population 90PSA 10 Population 57PSA 10 Grade Rate 63.3% (Set Avg: 51.0%)Bruce Sutter’s brilliant 1984 season got him the ultimate payday.
Already a Cy Young winner with the Chicago Cubs (1979), Sutter was even better for the ’84 St. Louis Cardinals, tying the MLB saves record (45) while pitching to a microscopic 1.54 ERA.
He finished an NL-leading 63 games and placed third in the Senior Circuit’s Cy Young balloting.
Following a dismal ’83 outing, Sutter’s All-Star year was massive for both the team and his wallet.
He entered free agency as the pick of the bullpen litter, waiting for someone to throw a huge number his way.
That person was Atlanta Braves owner and media mogul Ted Turner.
Sutter signed on for $4.8 million over six years, plus an additional $4.8 million deposited into a deferred payment account over 30 years.
(He’d earn over $40 million over the next three-and-a-half decades).
It proved to be a foolish financial decision.
Sutter flamed out due to injuries and ineffectiveness in three years with the Braves, and never again sniffed his former heights.
Ross’s Take
Given the 1985 Topps base set is loaded with big-name rookies like Kirby Puckett, Dwight Gooden, Roger Clemens, Eric Davis and Orel Hershiser, the Traded set had a tough act to follow in that sense.
Sure, Vince Coleman, Ozzie Guillen, Mariano Duncan and some of the other rookies went on to have impressive careers of their own.
But they weren’t on the same level as those in the base set.
So, that lack of superstar rookies is probably the most notable problem (if you want to call it that) about the ’85 Topps Traded set.
Especially when you compare it to the ’86 Topps Traded set that featured rookies like Barry Bonds, Bo Jackson and Jose Canseco.But that doesn’t make ’85 Topps Traded a bad set.
Along with those aforementioned very good rookies, there is a decent group of Hall of Famers led by Rickey Henderson, Gary Carter, and Don Sutton to boost collector intereSt. You may not find many collectors hot on the trail to piece this set together, but it does feature some key players who are must-haves whenever you’re talking about 80s baseball cards.
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