Mark McGwire Rookie Cards: Values, Grading and What’s Worth Buying
Growing up in the late 1980’s, I remember my friends and I all dreaming of owning a 1985 Topps Mark McGwire rookie card.
It was one of the hottest cards at the time…
Not quite as big as some of the vintage baseball cards.
But in terms of modern cards it was way up there alongside the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.
McGwire was one of the most popular players playing for one of the most powerful teams in baseball.
They aren’t worth as much as they used to be, but in top condition they can still go for hundreds of dollars.
And in this guide I go over everything you need to know about collecting the 1985 Topps Mark McGwire rookie card.
Let’s jump right in!
QUICK FACTS
Most Valuable Rookie
1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire Rookie Card
$5,000
Most Graded Rookie
1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire Rookie Card
65,865
LEAST VALUABLE ROOKIE
1987 Fleer Update #U-76 Mark McGwire Rookie Card
$80
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Rookie Cards
Mark McGwire is the rare star whose rookie cards span two different years, and knowing the difference is half the battle.
His first card is the 1985 Topps #401, from the Team USA subset that captured him as an amateur, before he ever wore a major league uniform.
It is his most valuable and most chased rookie, and a PSA 10 set a fresh auction record in early 2026.
Two years later came the flood: 1987 Topps, Donruss Rated Rookie, Fleer Update, and Leaf, all minted during his 49 home run rookie season while he was rewriting the record book in Oakland.
Purists argue only the 1985 counts.
Plenty of collectors chase only the 1987s.
Both sides have a point, which is good news for you, because it means there is a real McGwire rookie at almost every budget, from a few dollars to several thousand.
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1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire Rookie Card
PSA 10 Value $5,000Total PSA Population 65,865PSA 10 Population 307PSA 10 Grade Rate 0.5% (Set Avg: 8.9%)PSA Population Distribution
29651273791,1953,07511,43434,7557,34230712345678910This is his first recognized mainstream rookie card.
I say “first” because the hobby also recognizes a lot of his cards printed in 1987 as rookies, too.
Some actually put more emphasis on those 1987 cards as being “true” rookies since they were the first cards to show him in an Oakland Athletics uniform.
But hobbyists still chase his 1985 Topps and Topps Tiffany card and consider it his most valuable and sought after of all his rookies.
Topps went with a vertical layout in 1985 and featured the team logo and name as well as the player name and position at the bottom.
But Topps took a different design approach for the USA Olympic Team subset, cards number #389 to #404.
For the Olympic Team cards, Topps featured a baseball in the upper left corner with “USA” in bold alongside a titled banner that reads “1984 United States Baseball Team”.
Nice shots of players in their USA team uniform dominate the middle and in small print along the bottom you can see the player’s name and position.
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1987 Donruss #46 Mark McGwire Rated Rookie
PSA 10 Value $225Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate (Set Avg: )As I mentioned earlier, many collectors recognize some of his cards from 1987 as rookie cards as well.
The key reason being: they were the first cards to feature McGwire in a MLB uniform.
Let’s take a look at his 1987 Donruss issue firSt. I always loved the “Rated Rookie” callout on Donruss cards of that era.
And I think that the design of their 1987 cards were some of their best overall.
The colored borders didn’t do collectors any favor in terms of chipping and wearing easily.
But I always thought they had a unique look.
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1987 Fleer Update #U-76 Mark McGwire Rookie Card
PSA 10 Value $80Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)McGwire made it into Fleer’s Update set in 1987 and is shown following through on a swing with a bright smile on his face.
The blue borders of that set are instantly recognizable.
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1987 Leaf #46 Mark McGwire Rookie Card
PSA 10 Value $1,100Total PSA Population 1,516PSA 10 Population 50PSA 10 Grade Rate 3.3% (Set Avg: 0.0%)PSA Population Distribution
113726852536942975012345678910Donruss’s Canadian counterpart, Leaf, produced rated rookie cards for McGwire as well.
They have the same look and design as the Donruss version but the Leaf logo is clearly visible in the top left.
Notice the Leaf version is much more expensive than the Donruss version if you find them in PSA 10 condition.
They’re considered more scarce, hence the price bump.
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1987 Topps #366 Mark McGwire
PSA 10 Value $175Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate (Set Avg: )PSA Population Distribution
1123551664026251,5648,4577,4592,06012345678910This is probably McGwire’s second most popular rookie card.
The 1987 Topps issue was the first time the company featured McGwire in an Oakland Athletics uniform and a card that many kids of that era chased feverishly.
Other Early Key Career Cards
Beyond the mainstream rookies, McGwire has a few early cards that serious collectors chase.
The headliners are the Tiffany versions: the 1985 Topps Tiffany and the 1987 Topps Tiffany, printed on brighter, higher-quality stock in far smaller numbers than the standard cards.
That scarcity is everything, and it pushes them to a steep premium over their base counterparts, especially the 1985 Tiffany, which is a genuine condition rarity.
You will also find the 1987 Donruss The Rookies here, the boxed-set version of his Rated Rookie.
It is a fun, affordable way to add another 1987 McGwire without paying base-set prices.
If you already own the mainstream rookies and want to go a layer deeper, this is where the chase gets interesting.
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1985 Topps Tiffany #401 Mark McGwire
PSA 10 Value $27,000Total PSA Population 65,865PSA 10 Population 307PSA 10 Grade Rate 0.5% (Set Avg: 0.0%)PSA Population Distribution
29651273791,1953,07511,43434,7557,34230712345678910There is also a Topps Tiffany version of the Mark McGwire rookie card.
And it is much more valuable than its regular Topps counterpart…
Why is that?
From 1984 to 1991, Topps released a limited number of “Tiffany” factory sets so far fewer were printed making them more scarce.
Secondly, the Tiffany cards were higher quality.
You can easily tell the difference in the card stock of Tiffany cards as they are much whiter and have a glossy finish on them.
The reverse sides of the cards are also drastically different.
On the left, you’ll see the Tiffany version, which depicts a much more lime green coloration.
That color scheme makes the reverse of the Tiffany Mark McGwire rookie card much easier to read
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1987 Donruss Rookies #1 Mark McGwire
PSA 10 Value $220Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)Donruss also had a “Rookies” set in 1987 and McGwire was card #1 on the liSt. It’s got pretty much the same look and feel as the card above but shows him in a different shot along with a “The Rookies” logo in the bottom.
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1987 Topps Tiffany #366 Mark McGwire
PSA 10 Value $600Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)
Ross’s Take
Mark McGwire goes down in history as one of the game’s most feared power hitters of all-time.
He famously broke Roger Maris’s single season home run record in 1998 when he went on to rack up 70 dingers.
He played 16 seasons in the big leagues between the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals.
His list of accomplishments is outstanding: 1987 American League Rookie of The Year 12-time All-Star 2-time World Series Champion 3-time Silver Slugger But his legacy will forever be tarnished by the steroids scandal that rocked the sport in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
It remains to be seen if Major League Baseball will ever allow stars from that era in the Hall of Fame.
Nevertheless, Mc
