The Top 10 Fastest-Growing Sports Cards This Week

The 1998 Upper Deck Vince Carter Ovation card has 196 copies graded in a Kicking off our list of the fastest-growing cards this week is Shawn Kemp’s 1992 Stadium Club Beam Team PSA 10 with a population of just 45. The card last sold on 10/26 for $350.99, up from its last sale of $130 just one day prior: 

In the past year, the card has been sold 8 times at an average price of $312.58 and has grown in value by 48% in that same time period. 

Kemp played 8 seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics as a 6'10" Power Forward / Center, followed by 3 seasons in Cleveland, 2 in Portland, and his final season in Orlando. Kemp was a 6-time NBA All-Star and was selected to the All-NBA Second Team 3 times. Despite not winning an NBA championship, Kemp was ranked 100th on ESPN’s list of top 100 best NBA players of all time. 

Hank Aaron’s 1961 Topps MVP card has a population of 397 in a PSA 8 grade and last sold for $360 on October 25th, an increase from its previous sale of $160 on 10/24: 

Over the past year, the card has sold 15 times at an average price of $341.51 and has grown 86% in that same time period. Aaron is a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and over his 23-year career, he set many records, including most home runs in a career with 755. Barry Bonds later broke this record. 

Aaron was a 3-time Gold Glove winner, 1-time National League MVP, and still holds records for most career RBIs (runs batted in), career total bases, and extra-base hits. He was also selected to a record 25 All-Star games. 

Aaron was ranked the 3rd best baseball player of all time by ESPN. 

ESPN ranked LeBron James as the 2nd best NBA player of all time, and at 36 years old, he’s still playing for a Los Angeles Lakers team with the 2nd best odds of winning the 2022 NBA finals. 

James’ 2019 Mosaic Overdrive Insert has a population of 160 in a PSA 10 grade and last sold for $275 on October 26th, up from a previous sale of $125 just a day earlier: 

In the past 12 months, the card has sold 50 times at an average price of $255.08 and has grown 7.05% in that same time period.

ESPN ranked Rick Barry the 37th best NBA basketball player of all time after 14 seasons of professional basketball (10 in the NBA, 4 in the ABA). Barry was an 8-time NBA All-Star, 6-time All-NBA Selection, and the NBA Scoring Champion for the 1966–67 season. He won an NBA championship in 1975 and was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame. 

This 1971 Topps card is recognized as Barry’s rookie card and a PSA 6 copy last sold for $282 on October 23rd up from its previous sale of $127.50 on 10/21:

The pop 193 PSA 6 has sold 10 times over the past 12 months at an average price of $224.12 and has grown 129.83% in that same time period. 

Miles Bridges was just named NBA Player of the Week alongside Steph Curry after averaging 25 points and 8.5 rebounds in his first 4 games for the Charlotte Hornets. Bridges is just in his 4th season with the Hornets but has caught a lot of attention for his play so far this season. 

His rookie Prizm Silver PSA 10 has a population of 596 and last sold for $400.50 on 10/26, up from a previous sale of $275 on 10/24: 

The card peaked in value when it sold for $480 this past April, and has grown 300.50% in value in the past 12 months. In that same time period, the card has been sold 158 times at an average price of $200.81.

The Kobe Bryant 1996 Flair Showcase Rookie card in a PSA 8 grade has a population of 596 and last sold for $240 on October 23rd, the card’s highest price since early June:

This last sale is up from a previous low of $102.50 on 10/19.

In February of this year, the card hit a peak price of $525 and has sold 108 times over the last 12 months. The card has grown 128.57% in value over the past year with an average sale price of $233.75. 

LeBron James is still actively playing for the Lakers, who currently have the 2nd best to win the 2022 NBA Finals. Like Bryant’s cards, prices for LeBron rookies (including non-flagship cards like this Upper Deck MVP) peaked in February and March of this year. In a BGS 9.5 grade, the 2003 Upper Deck MVP LeBron James Base card has a population of 1,113 and sold for a record $1,800 in March. 

The card last sold for $700 on 10/23, up from its previous sale of $362.57 just the day before:

Over the past year, the card has been sold 88 times at an average price of $654.70 and has seen a 34.1% rate of growth in that same time period. Many cards have declined significantly in value from peak prices in February and March that have not rebounded. Given that James is already one of the best (some argue that he is the best) players of all time and he’s still playing on a championship-caliber team, it’s worth watching the prices of his cards as the NBA season progresses.

Joe Burrow and the Bengals just beat a good Baltimore Ravens team 41–17 and currently sit at the top of the AFC North at 5–2. The Ringer now has the Bengals ranked 8th in their power rankings. Burrow reunited with his dominant college teammate and receiver Ja’Marr Chase, which has made an immediate impact on elevating the Bengals’ offense. Chase has already broken multiple records, becoming the youngest player in NFL history with 4 or more reception touchdowns in the first 3 games of the season, and has set a rookie record for most receiving yards (754) in his first 7 games. 

The bottom line: Burrow has his top weapon and the Bengals are playing like a contender. 

Burrow’s rookie autograph Mosaic PSA 10 has a population of just 95 copies and last sold for $1,908 on October 25th: 

Despite a relatively low population, the card has sold 63 times in the past year at an average price of $1,577.88. The card peaked a few times, selling in March, May and July for around $2,500 before going as low as $1,000 on 10/22, just 3 days before nearly doubling in price. 

Population count has a lot to do with the volatility of a card price, but data suggests on-field performance can have a noticeable impact as well. If Burrow and the Bengals continue to play like a contender, it will be fun to watch the price of cards like this one throughout the season. 

Tom Brady is 44-years-old with 7 Super Bowl Wins and is the league’s passing leader with 2,275 passing yards so far this season. The Bucs are 6–1 and are the favored team to win the Super Bowl this season. Brady also became the first player in NFL history to throw for 600 touchdowns. That’s 31 more touchdowns than Drew Brees threw for (Brees ranks 2nd in all-time touchdown passes). 

Brady’s 2000 Bowman base (keep in mind, there’s Bowman, Bowman Chrome, and Bowman Chrome Refractor) is one of his key rookie cards in a pro uniform and has a population of 563 in a BGS 9.5 grade. 

The card last sold for $8,499 on 10/25:  

Keep in mind, the listing that sold had sub-grades of 9.5 (x3) and 10, which puts it into a rarer category than the typical BGS 9.5 and is likely the reason it sold for $4,000 more than the previous sale just 1 day earlier. 

In the past 12 months, Brady’s rookie Bowman BGS 9.5 has sold 66 times at an average price of $4,392.84 and has grown in value by nearly 500%. Brady proved he could win a Super Bowl without New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and 7 games into this season, it’s looking like he could legitimately win another. 

Pokemon cards grace our list of fastest-growing cards this week with a PSA 9 copy of the 1999 Venusaur Holo. In November 2020, the 1999 Pokemon Game Venusaur card sold for over $1,000 but has been on a decline ever since. The card has a population of 3,049 and last sold for $399.75 on 10/24:

In the past year, the card has sold 302 times at an average price of $452.43 but has lost 61.93% of value during that same time period.