Two of the hottest names in the sports card hobby appropriately carry Chicago ties given the city will host next week’s National Sports Collectors Convention, which is the premier annual sports card and memorabilia show.
Even in 2025, Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan still carries the most weight on the planet in the sports card market. And at Wrigley Field, outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong stands as the centerpiece of the Chicago Cubs’ resurgence with the team transforming into a legitimate World Series contender this season.
There’s no doubt hobby darlings like Jayden Daniels, Caitlin Clark, and Shohei Ohtani should command attention across the National, especially with Clark setting yet another women’s sports card record on Thursday night. But what’s amazing is that even with so much sports culture caught up in “the now,” Jordan still remains supreme in the collectibles and memorabilia world.
Jordan is the most searched athlete on eBay every month without fail, including June. His card sales in the first half of 2025 rank No. 1 among all athletes at $28.7 million, via GemRate — a website that tracks card sales and grading.
“Is anyone going to touch Jordan? I mean that’s a level of iconic that’s hard to match,” said Brandon Crawford of COMC, a card consigning company.
Mark Laird of the Las Vegas based Paradise Card Breaks said anything featuring Jordan receives huge demand, ranging from insert cards in sets from the 1990s to autographed cards only found in Upper Deck products. Laird also points to the scarcity of Jordan autographed cards since Upper Deck hasn’t printed licensed NBA products for many years.
“He’s set forever,” Laird said. “Is Jordan ever going to sign again? He doesn’t want to sign any cards. And Upper Deck having a (exclusive) license of Michael Jordan cards, they’re not all of a sudden gonna be flying out in Fanatics products. So it’s rare air. Jordan cards are always going to stay that way.”
As for Crow-Armstrong, he’ll be among many Cubs players signing autographs next Thursday during the show’s first full day. Other Cubs standouts like Kyle Tucker and Shota Imanaga will attend Thursday, but Crow-Armstrong’s hobby popularity currently challenges some of the staples.
The value of PCA’s 2020 Bowman Draft 1st autographed card with a gem mint 10 grade from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) last sold for $900. That’s up 847 percent from one year ago.
“He has absolutely just skyrocketed as far as in the hobby and in the sport itself,” said James Morehead of the Iowa based Topp Tier Breaks, “He’s an MVP candidate in my opinion. His stuff has absolutely gone nuts.”
For those looking outside a Chicago connection, cards for Daniels and Clark should be heavily displayed and transacted throughout the show. They rank second and third, respectively, behind Jordan in eBay’s June global search popularity.
Clark has been among the top five most searched athletes each of the last 12 months, dating back to when she made her first WNBA All-Star team in July 2024. Her new Indiana Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham even received a bump in hobby notoriety recently after Cunningham notably defended Clark during a skirmish against the Connecticut Sun in June. Searches for “Sophie Cunningham rookie” increased more than 400 percent from May to June.
“The market is super hot like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” Laird said. “ Between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, I’m talking about freight trains like some of these guys like Ohtani and (Paul) Skenes. It’s in the same boat.”
Like C.J. Stroud last year at The National, collectors will likely flock to all things Daniels this year after the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year guided the Commanders to last season’s NFC Championship game. Daniels ranks third in card sales volume through the first half of this year at $17.6 million according to GemRate, only behind Jordan ($28.7 million) and Ohtani ($20.3 million).
That said, Laird expressed hesitation with Daniels’ market heading into the 2025 season. citing Stroud’s sophomore slump in 2024 following an outstanding 2023 season. He feels snagging cards from more proven quarterbacks without Super Bowl rings, like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow could be a better direction to turn.
“To me, it’s almost like fool’s gold,” Laird said. “I’m a little fearful there for the Commanders, but I would rather invest with those star quarterbacks, the ones that are right on the cusp. Generally, there’s just too much risk with those like Year 2, Year 3 quarterbacks.”
One player Laird, Morehead and Crawford said buyers on their eBay Live streams have recently clamored for has been Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who’s on pace to challenge the single season home run mark.
In June, where “The Big Dumper” hit 11 home-runs and won American League Player of The Month, eBay searches for “Cal Raleigh rookie card” increased more than 980 percent within the collectibles category compared to the month prior. According to Market Movers, which tracks online card sales, Raleigh’s 2022 Topps Chrome rookie card was one of the 10 most heavily transacted cards across all sports in June.
“Not very many people knew of Raleigh because of Julio Rodriguez,” Morehead said. “JRod was the big rookie for the Mariners in 2022, and so nobody really cared about Cal. And then as time goes on and all of a sudden he starts doing this, it’s like, ‘Oh, man! Look at this dude! Who’s this dude?’ I love seeing a catcher do this, too. You could probably lump them in a little bit with the pitchers in the hobby. You can only name a few catchers that have solid value. It’s fun to watch. It’s great for the sport.”
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(Top photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images; card image: eBay)
Larry Holder is a Senior Writer for The Athletic, focusing on the memorabilia and collectibles industry. He joined The Athletic in 2018 as a New Orleans columnist and shifted to covering the NFL in 2021. Holder chronicled the New Orleans Saints and the NFL for 19 seasons before his current role. Before joining The Athletic, he worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, CBSSports.com and the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. Follow Larry on Twitter @LarryHolder
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