Caitlin Clark rookie card chase has new WNBA release selling for more than NBA cards
The hunt for Caitlin Clark rookie cards has the newest release of WNBA trading cards selling for higher prices than the NBA equivalent for the first time.
On Feb. 12, Panini, which currently holds the exclusive trading card licenses for both leagues, released its flagship 2024 Prizm set for the WNBA. Even though the league's 2024 season is long over, hobby boxes are presently selling for an average of around $1,200 each across retailers, according to Waxstat, which tracks sports card retail prices. Panini's 2024-25 NBA Prizm set will be released on Feb. 19 and the average presale price of a hobby box is currently around $800, according to Waxstat.
WNBA and NBA Prizm hobby boxes each contain 12 packs with 12 cards in each pack and a guarantee of two autographed cards per box. Hobby boxes of 2023 WNBA Prizm carried a suggested retail price of $150, which means the price of the latest release marks a 700 percent increase.
The sudden explosion in demand and, as a result, value for WNBA cards has been fueled by the massive interest in the league's 2024 draft class, led by No. 1 pick and rookie of the year Clark.
Throughout last year, Clark's college and initial WNBA card releases repeatedly broke sales records. In December, her one-of-a-kind Panini Select WNBA gold vinyl card sold at auction for $234,850 — currently the record for both a Clark card and a women's basketball card. Clark's Prizm 1/1 card will almost certainly eclipse that number once it's found and put up for sale, though, as Prizm is more well-regarded than Select among collectors.
But while the most recent WNBA draft class is inspiring unprecedented interest in the league's cards, the opposite is unfolding on the NBA side. Demand for sealed boxes of trading cards in any sport is largely driven by interest in the rookie class and whether collectors believe the first cards of those players can hold long-term value. So far, the 2024 NBA draft class is failing to inspire that belief. However, 2023-24 NBA Prizm hobby boxes, which include Victor Wembanyama's rookie cards, are currently selling for nearly $1,300 on average, according to Waxstat.
According to eBay, the largest marketplace for trading cards and collectibles, Clark is the third most searched active basketball player on their platform during the current NBA season, behind only Wembanyama and LeBron James.
2024 WNBA Prizm has a 150-player base set that includes rookie cards for Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and others. Each card in the base set has a total of 32 parallel variations of varying colors, designs and rarity. In addition to those cards, Prizm also includes a variety of autographed cards from Clark, Reese and other top players, plus additional inserts that include the league's top names, as well. Clark's base Prizm rookie card (No. 22 in the set) is currently selling for around $70 on eBay, while the popular silver Prizm parallels are selling for around $450, though supply is still limited as the product is still in the process of hitting stores across the country.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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