Don Mattingly Rookie Cards: The Ultimate Collector’s Guide

The Six Types of Don Mattingly Rookie Cards

While each of the cards on this list has its own unique story, some have held up better over time and their values can vary quite a bit.

Six rookie cards may seem like a lot when you consider most players during the vintage era had only one.

In terms of design, though, there are really only three as his Nestle, O-Pee-Chee, Topps and Topps Tiffany rookies each shared the exact same layout and imagery.

To start things off, let's take a look at Mattingly's 1984 Donruss rookie.

This one is not only his most popular rookie, but arguably one of the most coveted rookie cards of the 80s alongside the key rookies of Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn.

1984 Donruss #248

Estimated PSA 10 Value: $1,250

Distinction: You need only look at that price tag to understand how coveted this card is.

It may seem unbelievable but, yes, in PSA 10 condition collectors are paying around $1,250 on average for this card at the time of this writing.

This is one of those cards that helped create the rookie card craze throughout the hobby.

Number: This is card #248 in a set of 660 cards.

Front Design: The 1984 Donruss set design was simple and straightforward but the photography, design elements and color scheme make this a beautiful baseball card.

I love the headshot, the flowing Yankees team name and the old Donruss logo in the corner.

Of his rookies, this is the only one to list him only as a first baseman and not both a first baseman and outfielder.

Back Design: The reverse side uses a horizontal layout and features his personal information, statistics and career highlights.

I enjoy how Donruss went into discussion about Mattingly's rise through the Minors on his way to being a full-time Yankee.

It's hard to believe this guy was drafted in the 19th round...just one of those sports stories about how a superstar doesn't necessarily always go in the early rounds.

Condition Issues: The biggest challenge collectors face with this card is centering.

Quality control was decent but the centering of the front and back is typically the biggest hurdle preventing this card from achieving PSA 10 status.

1984 Fleer #131

Estimated PSA 10 Value: $300

Distinction: This is the key rookie card in the 1984 Fleer set which also contained the Darryl Strawberry rookie. It is definitely popular among Mattingly and modern card collectors but not quite to the same degree as his Donruss card.

Number: Like Donruss, Fleer also included 660 cards in their set with Mattingly's card being #131.

Front Design: The front of the card features a nice action shot of Mattingly in a defensive position.

White borders are broken up by two blue horizontal stripes that cross the top and bottom of the card that contain the Fleer brand and his name, respectively.

Back Design: The reverse side contains all of the typical design elements of Fleer cards of that era: small inset photo in the upper corner, multi-color scheme flowing through the stat lines, and a short bit of trivia.

I always liked the fact that Fleer listed more of his Minor League stats so we could get a better idea of just how much this guy was raking at the plate.

The power may not have been there quite yet but his averages were definitely worthy of attention.

Condition Issues: Centering is also a tough challenge with this card although not quite as bad as with his Donruss rookie.

Far fewer have been submitted to PSA for grading with more achieving PSA 10 grade which gives you a good comparison between the two in terms of the degree to which centering can affect them.

1984 Nestle #8

Estimated PSA 10 Value: $250

Distinction: Topps teamed up with Nestle in 1984 to issue a full 792-card set that mirrored the regular Topps set and Mattingly's rookie is by far the key.

Number: This is card #8 in the set run of 792 cards total.

Front Design: Topps teamed up with Nestle in 1984 to issue a full 792-card set that mirrored the regular Topps set in order to further promote its products.

Remember, Donruss and Fleer had both joined the baseball card club in 1981 so Topps was looking for any creative way to help fight off the competition.

The front design itself is exactly like the regular Topps issue but you can easily tell this one apart by the Nestle brand name in the upper right corner.

Back Design: The red, white and blue reverse side side is printed with a horizontal layout and again the notable distinction is that the Nestle logo replaces the Topps logo in the upper left.

Mattingly's personal information, statistics, and a brief amount of trivia help anchor a jam-packed reverse side that definitely wasted no space.

Condition Issues: Centering is again an issue as are print bubbles from time to time.

1984 O-Pee-Chee #8

Estimated PSA 10 Value: $350

Distinction: Topps' counterpart in the Canadian market, O-Pee-Chee also released this Don Mattingly rookie with the exact same design as the Topps issue. These cards are notorious, however, for being printed in lesser quality card stock and can be more difficult to find in top grade as a result.

Number: The O-Pee-Chee set was exactly half the size of the Topps set with a checklist that included only 396 cards. Mattingly's is number 8 in the set.  

Front Design: Again, like the Nestle parallel, the O-Pee-Chee design is the exact same as the Topps design except for the O-Pee-Chee logo in the upper-right corner.

Back Side: The reverse side has a bit more differences between it and the reverse of the Topps card.

The O-Pee-Chee logo again replaces the Topps logo but you'll also notice the O-Pee-Chee trademark along the right side of the card.

And another glaring difference is that much of the text is written in both English and French to accommodate collectors in different parts of Canada.

Condition Issues: The quality of the cardboard stock used for these cards wasn't the greatest so they're often easily dinged up, roughly cut and tougher to find in high grade than their Topps cousins.

Condition Issues: The most common condition obstacle with this card is centering but these are much easier to find in high grade than any other of his rookies as there are just so many more in circulation.

Condition Issues: Tiffany cards were printed with much higher standards but still are susceptible to the usual centering issues.