Sports Cards: 10 Most Coveted Active NFL Players and Their Top Cards (2024)

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Sports Cards: 10 Most Coveted Active NFL Players and Their Top Cards? ›

The current record price is the US$12.6 million paid for a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card (Topps; #311) on August 28, 2022, breaking all previous records.

The current record price is the US$12.6 million paid for a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card (Topps; #311) on August 28, 2022, breaking all previous records.

That was proven in July 2021 when a 2017 Panini National Treasures Platinum #161 Patrick Mahomes II NFL Shield Rookie Autograph 1/1 became the single most expensive football card ever sold, fetching an astounding $4.3 million in a private sale.

To find the value of sports cards, there is no better source than eBay. eBay will show you exactly what a particular card in a variety of conditions has recently sold for.

QB Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Championship Ticket parallel version of his 2000 Playoff Contenders rookie card is the holy grail of football card collecting. It has a print run of just 100, and a PSA 9 version of the card sold for $3.107 million in June 2021.

For super-premium football cards, the best football brand is Panini National Treasures – The cards from these very high-end sets are second to none, but they'll cost a lot.

Gem mint 10s are the highest and most valuable on that scale, and they sell for the most amount of money. Cards from Tom Brady's career - Currently, Tom Brady is the most valuable player in the football trading card world. His rookie cards and others consistently sell for tens of thousands of dollars, if not millions.

How do I know if my NFL cards are worth money? ›

CollX (pronounced “collects”) is the fastest way to figure out what your cards are worth. Snap photos of them and instantly get the current market price. Add them to your collection and track your overall portfolio value. You can even buy, sell, grade, and trade your cards with other collectors.

The rarer a football card and the higher the demand, the more expensive they become. With that being said, NFL trading cards can become a rare commodity when new cards get released or vintage cards receive higher grades from renowned grading companies like PSA and CSG.

The more low-numbered a card is, the more it is worth. This, in particular, is true in relation to the other cards of the set. For example, a /99 Prizm of LeBron will be worth more than a /199 Prizm of LeBron. The catch is that there are times when different brands have different values despite the numbering.

According to William Ricks—with an assist from ESPN's Stats and Research department—the league's most popular uniform number is 26, worn by former Offensive Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley and Washington Pro Bowler Landon Collins, among others. In fact, the only team without a No. 26 is the Las Vegas Raiders.

During periods of high inflation, sports cards have either held their value or offered an annual growth rate as high as 95%. Over the last 5 years, sports cards have increased in value by 218%, outperforming nearly every other asset aside from cryptocurrency.

While Honus Wagner's card is generally seen as the holy grail for baseball card fans, it's Mantle's rookie that takes the top spot. On August 28 of 2022, a Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps Card sold for $12.6 million to an anonymous buyer.

Collecting sports cards can be a great investment for card enthusiasts. Not only does it provide a fun hobby, it can also be an excellent way to make a profit. While the value of individual cards depends on the rarity and condition, some rare cards can be worth thousands of dollars.

In order to tell if a card is worth grading, there are two main factors. One, check to make sure the condition is worthy of grading. Visually inspect the corners, centering, surface, and edges. If the corners are sharp, the card is centered, and the surface and edges are free of blemishes, it's a great first step.

What football cards are trending? ›

Estimated Value (PSA 3, VG)- $22,750

This one is sometimes referred to as the 'holy grail' of football cards and is a part of the first football cards in history-the N302 Mayo's Cut Plug set. I'd say it is one of the coolest football cards in history of the hobby and it is also the rarest football card of all time.

Best of the Best: Prizm

A favorite in the hearts and collections of many, Prizm can be thought of as the best of the Panini card brands. Thus, it's also typically the most valuable, and yes highly sought after.

Panini Prizm

Considered to be the best of the best in all aspects, Prizm football hobby boxes offer two autos, with most people chasing big-name rookies. As is the case with “Prizm-runner-up” Select, it's not just the base auto people are after, but one of the many different and colorful parallels.

They do not hold their value. To keep it short and sweet, it's fair to say that Panini is flooding the market with way too many new products and overprinted quantities of all of them because a) they don't have any long-term skin in the game and b) people were buying as much as they could print, at least for a while.

Best 2022 Football Rookie Cards Sets to Collect

Among the early-season releases, standouts for NFL rookies include 2022 Donruss Elite Football, 2022 Panini Gold Standard Football and 2022 Panini Elements Football.

Panini is not lying when they say Kaboom cards are rare. When you buy or pull one, you are guaranteed to have a card with under a 100 pop and, in some cases, well below 50.

What NFL Pro set cards are worth money? ›

There are only 1,500 copies available, 243 of which have been evaluated by PSA. And of those, only 21 are in gem mint condition. If you're looking to invest in this Tom Brady card, you can expect to shell out anywhere between $600 and $9,000, with the highest sale price pegged at $9,300.

The PSA grading scale ranges from 1-10, based on factors like centering, corners, edges, and surface. To grade your cards using the PSA Online Submission Center, select a service level, ship your cards to the PSA facility, and receive the graded cards in the mail.

Every football card has a big number at the top and 6 smaller numbers at the bottom. The big number is the player's overall rating out of 99. Meanwhile, the smaller numbers show their skills in different areas. Each skill is rated out of 99. So the higher the better.

The most valuable Card of Darryl Strawberry is currently 1984 Topps Tiffany #182 Darryl Strawberry PSA 10 by Topps from 1984 with a worth of approx. $944.0.

NBA Cards That Feature A Player's Jersey Number

There are instances when the number labeled on the card matches the player's jersey number. This is considered the only one of its kind, making it more valuable to collectors.

'Vintage cards' is truly a catch-all term for all varieties of cards produced before 1980. Vintage cards are further divided into two segments, Pre-War and Post-War.

So, the sequence goes: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc. This sequence of numbers was invented by Leonardo Pisano Bigollo. The goal keeper must wait and be quick to stop the ball from flying into the net. This is a mathematical calculation of the flight of the ball which gives the direction of the flight.

"10" is one of the most emblematic squad numbers in football, due to the sheer number of football legends that have worn the number 10 shirt; playmakers, second strikers, and attacking midfielders have worn this number.

What is the lucky number in football? ›

Most common lucky numbers: 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 21, 25, 31, 33, 37, 43, 49, 51, 63, 67, 69, 73, 75, 79, 87, 93, 99, …

Head to PSAcard.com/auctionprices and search for your card. The more refined the query, the more accurate the results. It is best to include the year, manufacturer and subject of your card in your search. If you include the card number, expect All-Star results.

1909-1911 Honus Wagner T206

Considered the rarest and most valuable baseball card in existence, there are only about 50 copies of this full-color card from 1909 to 1911, known as the T206 Wagner. In 2016, one sold at auction for $3.12 million.

The famous Honus Wagner Card (which, depending on who you ask, is more well-known than the actual player) last sold in August of 2022 for a total of $7.2 million at auction. But of every other valuable card on the list, nothing comes close to the Mickey Mantle Rookie Card that shattered auction records last year.

Other baseball cards that have sold for over $1 million include the 1909-1911 T206 Eddie Plank, the 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card, and the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card. These cards, like the T206 Honus Wagner and the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, are incredibly rare and sought after by collectors.

Reigning National League Rookie of the Year, Michael Harris II is one of the top 2023 Topps Baseball Rookie Cards. Others with the RC logo badge include Gunnar Henderson, Riley Greene, Adley Rutschman (who also has a base card in 2021 Bowman's Best), Christopher Morel, Gabriel Moreno, Bret Baty and JJ Bleday.