Skip to content

Search CardWire

↑ ↓ to navigate · Enter to open · Esc to close

CardWire menu

Stories

Featured

First in war, first in peace, and somehow a rookie in 1952, 64 years after his face was on tobacco cards.

What a rookie card is can be confusing. George Washington, the first United States President, has a card in the 1952 Topps Look ‘n See set. The card is often considered his ‘rookie,’ but how can someone who died in 1799 have a rookie card 153 years after his death? I think that’s the opposite of what a rookie card is. It isn't even his first card, since Washington was already on tobacco cards in 1888, in sets like…

Latest Stories

  1. Baseball

    Tarik Skubal's Topps Chrome rookie rose after the Dodgers trade

    As free agency gears up, his rookie value has come back down to pre-trade levels.

  2. Research

    Courtyard rips more than cards, from Pokémon slabs to a $20,000 watch box

    Every card sits in Courtyard's own insured vault and cash-outs usually reach Venmo in minutes. Here's how to choose between the buyback and its fee-free marketplace.

  3. Baseball

    Topps leaves 23 Supernova players out of Cosmic Chrome packs

    Only Judge's and Soto's made it into boxes. Topps will send the other 23 to collectors who submit that player's base Interstellar Gold /50.

  4. Research

    Collector Crypt users ripped 123,425 packs in one October day, a $24.3 million record

    By the time you finished reading this sentence, someone on Collector Crypt would have ripped another pack.

  5. Baseball

    Which MLB Rookie of the Year finalists' cards are worth buying

    What each finalist's cards cost now, before the winners' Red Rookies qualify for $100 in FanCash on Monday.

  6. Research

    Tilt Rips lets you open digital packs for a dime

    Spend a little more per rip and you get access to different odds, from Conservative to Full Tilt. Read on to learn how it works.

  7. Football

    2026 NFL rookie card prices: what Mendoza, Tate, Love and seven more sell for

    A card-by-card look at the Bowman Chrome, Refractor /499, Topps and Topps Gold rookies of 10 top NFL rookies, led by Fernando Mendoza.

  8. Research

    Arena Club puts every card's odds on the table before you rip

    Its 90% buyback is one of the best rates among rip sites. Here's how to check the estimate behind your offer against real sales.

  9. Basketball

    Luka Dončić's Silver Prizm rookie holds near $1,800 as his hot start continues

    His Silver Prizm PSA 10 sells for $1,860, while the base Prizm PSA 10 holds near $200.

  10. Hockey

    Connor McDavid's hot streak leads to a rise in his market

    His Young Guns PSA 10 sells around $3,500 after he became the fastest player in NHL history to 30 assists.

  11. Basketball

    Where I'd Buy a Michael Jordan Card at Every Budget Right Now

    Black Friday came early for Jordan collectors, with most of his weekly sellers marked down in October from the $25 SP1 to the PSA 8 rookie.

  12. Basketball

    Stephen Curry's 2009 Topps rookie runs ahead of his Wilkins milestone

    His PSA 9 jumped from about $4,400 in July to $6,400 in August, well before Friday's milestone.

  13. Football

    J.J. McCarthy's PSA 10 rookie is a cheap flyer on the Giants' fifth-round bet

    His 2024 Prizm sells for about $40 in PSA 10, close to Jayden Daniels' and a fraction of Caleb Williams' $300.

  14. Hobby

    Fuggler decks bring Labubu's blind-box chase to playing cards

    Pre-orders are open at $16 a box, with a chase Room One calls "something special for collectors to hunt for!"

  15. Hockey

    Alex Ovechkin's PSA 10 rookie is up 20% since he named his final season

    It's still short of the $5,100 his Young Guns reached while he chased Gretzky's goal record.

  16. Market

    Your PSA insured value is the most you'll get back if your cards are stolen

    A raw 151 Charizard SIR that grades a PSA 10 sells for about $1,200, while PSA's $60 Standard tier only covers $1,000.

  17. Baseball

    Brewers Win the World Series While Rookie Cooper Pratt Sets a World Series Rookie Record

    Pratt set a World Series rookie record with six straight hits as the Brewers won their first title, and his 2024 Bowman Chrome Refractor /499 auto in PSA 10 went from $246 in the regular season to about $375 after Game 4.

  18. Market

    Patrick Stewart Dies at 86: A Look Back at His Cards, From Captain Picard to Professor X

    His cards follow his career, from Picard base cards printed while The Next Generation was on the air to an autograph Topps put in packs three weeks before he died.

  19. Pokémon

    How Logan Paul Turned a $5.3 Million Pikachu Illustrator Into a $16.5 Million Record

    Paul's PSA 10, the only one PSA has graded, sold at Goldin in February after a detour through a fractional platform that left some token holders unable to withdraw their money.

  20. Market

    A Jordan and Kobe Logoman Still Holds the Record for the Most Expensive Sports Card Ever Sold

    Heritage sold the 1/1 for $12,932,000 in August 2025. Here's every sports card sale of $5.2 million or more and why each one went so high.

  21. Market

    How Grail Break Turned Ripping Packs Into a Group Game

    Grail Break sells digital packs that pay out graded slabs from a vault, then offers to buy most of them right back. I went through its odds, its buyback rates and two weeks of pulls to see how the game works.

  22. Market

    Search All 6,451 Items on PSA's Stolen List Before You Buy a Slab

    Thieves took 6,451 items from a FedEx truck carrying PSA customer orders on Oct. 13. Our search covers every cert on PSA's list and prices 1,922 of its 3,916 different cards by grade.

  23. Market

    How to Tell If the Old Trading Cards in Your Closet Are Worth Anything

    A 1st Edition Jungle Snorlax just sold for $180,000. Here's what to pull from an old card box before the holidays and how to find what a card sold for.

  24. Market

    A Jungle Snorlax PSA 10 Now Sells for More Than a 1st Edition Charizard PSA 9

    Vintage Pokémon collectors spent the past year paying up for higher grades on Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket holos while the shadowless Base Set holos lagged behind.

  25. TCG

    One Piece Heroines Edition Vol. 2 Card List: Chase Card Breakdown

    Bandai posted all 61 cards in the second Heroines set ahead of the Oct. 30 English release, with a Kentaro Yabuki Nami alt art and six SP cards as the cards to chase.

  26. Market

    Dodgers Front Office Says Ohtani Doesn't Need Surgery and Will Pitch Next Season, as His Topps Update Rookie Falls in Price

    Andrew Friedman expects Ohtani to pitch in 2027 after doctors ruled out surgery, while his 2018 Topps Update rookie in PSA 10 has slid since late September.

  27. Baseball

    2026 Topps Museum Collection Baseball Sold Out Before Release

    Presale boxes of Topps' premium set with Sandy Koufax, Derek Jeter, and Shohei Ohtani autographs sold out at $410 and now cost at least $575 on eBay.

  28. Baseball

    Brewers Fans Are Paying Up for Chourio Before the World Series

    Jackson Chourio's first Bowman Chrome autograph Refractor went from $930 to $1,177 in PSA 10 in August to a $1,600 sale four days after Milwaukee swept the Dodgers.

  29. Hobby

    PSA Lost Your Cards. Who Is Legally Responsible?

    After thieves stole nearly $1 million in graded cards from a FedEx truck, PSA promised to compensate affected collectors. But who is legally responsible when a grading company loses your cards, and what happens if you disagree about their value?

  30. Hobby

    A Mahomes Card Lifts Brendan Darr to Second in the SCN Challenge

    Alex Llanso still leads after Week 6, as Brendan Darr climbed from seventh on a Mahomes card I doubted last week.

  31. Hobby

    PrizePicks Put Cooper Flagg's $8 Million Debut Patch in Its $1 Packs

    The daily fantasy company's new digital packs put Flagg and three other cards worth more than $2 million in play at every pack tier.

  32. Hobby

    Thieves Have Hit Card Shops in 11 States Since December

    Thieves cut through the wall of the H&R Block office next door to a Phoenix card shop on Oct. 12 and left with about $70,000 in cards. Here's how to protect your collection at home, at the shop and on the way to PSA.

  33. Hobby

    Thieves Took Nearly $1 Million in PSA Slabs Off a FedEx Truck

    Someone broke into the truck in Santa Ana as it carried freshly graded cards back to collectors. One of them says his 104-card order alone was worth more than $100,000.

  34. Hobby

    The SCN Challenge Is Fantasy Football But With Graded Cards

    The SCN Challenge is a fantasy football league where 10 hobby creators "draft" graded cards within a $1,000 budget for a $1,500 cash prize.

  35. Basketball

    LeBron James' First Pack-Sealed 76er Cards Are Short-Printed

    Topps says a last-minute add put LeBron James on the Sixers in 2026-27 Topps Flagship Basketball

  36. Football

    Fernando Mendoza's Card Sales Quadrupled Before His First NFL Start

    Fernando Mendoza has yet to make his first start, but the market is heating up in anticipation.

  37. Market

    The 10 Best WNBA Cards to Buy Right Now

    This is still Caitlin Clark's market, even in a Finals without her. These are the top 10 WNBA cards to buy in October.

  38. Market

    The 10 Best Football Cards to Buy Right Now

    Josh Allen joins the list as a co-favorite for MVP. These are the top 10 football cards to buy in October.

  39. Market

    The 10 Best Basketball Cards to Buy Right Now

    Two Jordans, a LeBron and Cooper Flagg's first Topps Chrome rookie made the cut. These are the top 10 basketball cards to buy in October.

  40. Market

    The 10 Best Baseball Cards to Buy Right Now

    With the Brewers in the World Series and four of my picks in Milwaukee, these are the top 10 baseball cards to buy in October.

  41. Market

    The 10 Best Hockey Cards to Buy Right Now

    Between Ovechkin's last season and McKenna's first, these are the top 10 hockey cards to buy in October.

  42. Market

    The 10 Best Soccer Cards to Buy Right Now

    Four of my players are on the Ballon d'Or shortlist for the Oct. 26 vote. These are the top 10 soccer cards to buy in October.

  43. Market

    The 10 Best Tennis Cards to Buy Right Now

    Three of this year's Grand Slam champions and three of the greatest players ever made my list. These are the top 10 tennis cards to buy in October.

  44. Market

    The 10 Best Pokémon Cards to Buy Right Now

    For Pokémon's 30th birthday, these are the top 10 Pokémon cards to buy in October.

  45. Market

    The 10 Best One Piece Cards to Buy Right Now

    With Saint Shamrock joining the card game in November, these are the top 10 One Piece cards to buy in October.

  46. Market

    The 10 Best Lorcana Cards to Buy Right Now

    Before Hyperia City reaches stores on Oct. 23, these are the top 10 Lorcana cards to buy in October.

  47. Market

    2026 Topps Update Baseball brings back colorful insert Mystical as a short print

    Topps turned its once-common Mystical insert into a hobby-only short print in 2026 Topps Update. Early sales run from mis-priced $15 for a JJ Wetherholt to $455 for an Aaron Judge.

  48. Market

    Analyzing the Market of 4 Key Players in the Championship Series

    Last year's World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto shows what a stellar Fall Classic performance can do to a rookie auto. This October, four key player's cards are lined up to find out again if their market will explode.

  49. Market

    The Tax Code Punishes Card Collectors. Here’s How to Fight Back.

    Trading cards have become legitimate investment assets, but federal tax law can subject collectors to higher taxes on gains while refusing to recognize their losses. CardWire is organizing an effort to ask Congress to change the rules.

  50. Market

    Ohtani's Base Grail Is on Sale

    The postseason has not been kind to Shohei Ohtani's 2018 Bowman Chrome rookie. His PSA 10 rookie has dropped to $4,750 in October, down from $7,505 in early August.

  51. Hobby

    Mike Trout Is Getting Into the Breaking Business With Gen One

    Mike Trout will be ripping packs live on Whatnot and Fanatics Live in December. Trout's Gen One Collect is powering the experience. Wait list is open!

  52. Hobby

    Ripmart Brings Live Shopping With Instant Buybacks to New York Comic Con

    Collector Crypt's live-shopping app signed up thousands of collectors at the Javits Center and plans to launch within months, its CEO said.

  53. Market

    Mike Ditka's Rookie Card Sales Soar After His Death Announcement

    Mike Ditka's 1962 Topps rookie card sold 42 times after his family announced his death Oct. 9.

  54. Hobby

    What Card Collectors Can Chase at New York Comic Con

    Cardsmiths has a Bitcoin chase, PSA's booth has a 1-in-25 Pochita and Magic sells a Secret Lair drop.

  55. Hobby

    Tom Brady Rips Packs at CardVault's New Los Angeles Store

    Erin Andrews, Kevin Burkhardt and the heads of Fanatics ripped packs at the new Westfield Century City shop.

  56. Hobby

    The 5 Greatest Card Collections in the World

    Five collectors and five very different ways to build a museum out of cardboard.

  57. Baseball

    The Value of Most Patch Cards Is Going To Zero

    Cooper Flagg's debut patch sold for more than $8 million in September. A game-used Mike Trout jersey relic sold for $7 on Oct. 1.

  58. Market

    Is EQL Actually Equal? We Tested Topps' System for Selling Cards

    CardWire modeled the EQLizer scoring system Topps uses for scarce drops; the math checks out, but neither company publishes real launch data to prove it.

  59. Hobby

    Cards Used to Come in Soup Cans. Bring That Back.

    Pinnacle sold its 1997 Inside baseball cards in sealed soup cans. With Topps Holiday Baseball tins due Oct. 21, I'd bring the can back too.

  60. Market

    Why We Started CardWire

    The card market has grown up without the information infrastructure that should have come with it, so we built one.

  61. Market

    Whatnot Is Changing Which Sports Cards Become Valuable

    Live commerce is creating a new premium for sports cards.

  62. Market

    10 Raw Cards Under $100 Everyone Should Own

    Ten established cards with real history and broad demand. Buying all ten raw costs about $381 at October prices.

  63. Market

    Stop Buying Prospects. Buy Disappointment.

    Prospect cards price in the career everyone hopes a young player will have; buyers get the better risk-reward once the first part of that career goes wrong.

  64. Market

    Private Equity Has Entered the Collectible Space

    Private capital now owns grading, marketplaces, price data and vaults. Card shops are next.

  65. Market

    1990s Marvel Cards Are Still Mispriced

    Prices of the best 1990s Marvel cards climbed all fall while PSA's count of perfect copies barely moved.

  66. Market

    Autographs Are Not What Makes a Card Scarce

    Cooper Flagg's signature already sits on rookie autographs in six different Topps products. What collectors pay for is the serial number, the rookie year and whether he signed the card itself.

  67. Market

    What Happens to Card Prices When a Career Ends

    Surprise retirements and deaths move a player's card prices, but a Hall of Fame call rarely does. Mike Ditka's PSA 4 rookie went from around $335 the year before his death to $549 on Oct. 18.

  68. Hobby

    Everyone Hates PSA. Everyone Still Wants a PSA 10.

    PSA handled 70 percent of the cards graded in September. Its 10s still sell for more than double the same card in another company's 10.

  69. Basketball

    Topps Printed 211,627 LeBrons. Collectors Couldn't Get Enough.

    LeBron James plays his first game for the 76ers on Tuesday. I'd skip the $7 base of his first Sixers card and spend on the numbered parallels.

  70. Hobby

    Your Kid Shouldn't Need Comps to Enjoy a Pack of Cards

    Card shows, new products and even Fanatics Fest's tour for new collectors teach kids the price of a card before the player on it. I'd bring back cheap base-set packs and give kids their own space at shows.

  71. Market

    What's More Valuable: Liquidity or Scarcity?

    Patrick Mahomes's 2017 Prizm Silver rookie sold 36 times in PSA 10 over the last 90 days. His far scarcer Select Premier Level Silver sold three times.

  72. Market

    Are Modern Sports Cards Just Junk Wax With Serial Numbers?

    Prizm Basketball went from one numbered parallel in 2012 to 59 in its last NBA-licensed year. Buyers are paying up for the few parallels collectors know by name.

Load more

Latest Wires

All wires

Get The Card Wire

Essential card-market reporting, notable sales, and context delivered to your inbox.

We will email a confirmation link. Unsubscribe at any time.

Cookie preferences

Choose whether CardWire may use optional analytics. You can change this choice at any time.

Security and your privacy choice. Always on.

Helps CardWire understand which public features readers use.

Analytics is disabled for this browser or environment.