What are your favorite modern cards?

I don't collect modern stuff, but growing up my two dream cards were the 1979 O-Pee-Chee Gretzky rookie, and the 1986 Fleer Jordan rookie. They had icon status in my mind and never thought I'd get to own one (eventually I did, but not for a long while). I still love the way they look - both have a great design, and depict the two greatest team sport athletes of all time (imo) in their youth.

What are yours?

!972 Topps Billy Martin and 1971 Topps Lowell Palmer. Also any card with Artis Gilmore and his giant 'fro

growing up, i loved the upper deck griffey. the shaq o'neal redemption card was also special, can't explain the feeling when i pulled those. also a 1990-91 opc premier jeremy roenick card, my first exposure to hockey. had the most fun just flipping through the set with nolan, nedved, ricci, jagr, fedorov etc. when you're young you have lots of heroes and they're infallible.

i was more in awe seeing the griffey card for the first time in the flesh than later seeing a t206 wagner.

For me, it was the '83 Topps update Strawberry & the '84 Fleer & Topps update Goodens. Like Quan said, they seemed infallible. Who would have guessed what those two were about to do.

I think the Upper Deck Griffey was my favorite card to ever pull out of a pack...I thought I won the lottery when I pulled that. But I love the 1985 Topps Puckett and 1985 Donruss Mattingly.

Jay, I had the 72 Martin but my mom took it away...along with the Billy Ripken.

For timely redemption value: '85 Topps Mark McGwire Olympic Card, I sold this for $75 before it all hit the fan
For actual value: '80-'81 Topps Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Dr. J tri-panel
For aesthetic value: '76 Topps Football, big footballs with bigger afros

83 Topps Gwynn
84 Topps Mattingly
89 UD Griffey