Latest news with #WNBAPrizm
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Demand for Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, A'Ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers WNBA cards continues to grow
The WNBA season is underway, and fans and card collectors are excited for what's to come. With the likes of Caitlin Clark, A'Ja Wilson and newcomer Paige Bueckers, collectors are waiting for the first cards of the season to drop. The good news is with Panini Instant, fans can grab cards of big moments as they happen. Panini's on-demand offering features highlights and big moments from throughout the season, which started with the WNBA Draft. Advertisement Panini America saw big success with Instant last season, Clark's first year in the league. Not only was it a popular card release, but a Draft Night Clark 1-of-1 autographed parallel sold for $84,000 in September. The Panini Instant cards are important for WNBA — maybe even more so than in other sports. In women's basketball, the players go from college into the WNBA without much of a break in between. This doesn't give Panini a lot of time to get new products on the shelves because of the time needed to create a new card release. 'Panini Instant was so important because for us, it gave us the ability to get consumers into collecting 'W' products and getting excited for the W product,' said Jason Howarth, Panini's senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations. 'When we finally released that first product in August last year, people were ready to go for it.' This season, collectors won't have to wait as long for the first WNBA card product. Advertisement There are five WNBA sets scheduled for this season — an all-time high for the league. The newest entry will be Donruss WNBA, which is scheduled for July. Donruss has made a name for itself in the modern collecting space, especially in football, where the popular Downtown inserts can be found. Downtown inserts will soon feature WNBA stars with this summer's release. 'Donruss will be awesome from a Downtown point of view,' Howarth said. Panini has built WNBA collecting since it took over the card license in 2019. Before that, there may have been one product a year andit often came as a complete factory set with a chance of autographs. That product made about $50,000 in sales a year, according to Howarth. Advertisement Panini has revamped the WNBA card collecting space by making more traditional pack products, giving collectors a chase with parallels, rare inserts and autographs. As the WNBA has grown in popularity, so has the demand for cards, especially over the last year with Clark becoming the face of the league. 'I think you think there was a point in time where WNBA Prizm costs more on the secondary market than NBA Prizm,' Howarth said. 'I think that probably tells you the story about demand more than anything else. I think it always had a place in the category, but I think you saw a lot more migration and transition from other collectors of other core sports into the 'W,' and it is now viewed in that group of core sports. You've got the NFL, NBA, MLB, and now you've got the WNBA.' This year's offerings will look different again. There are five WNBA products scheduled, up from three last season, which was also up from two the year before. Last year saw the release of Panini Prizm (and the Monopoly version), Origins and Select. Previously, Panini also put out Revolutions. Advertisement The release calendar is always a work in progress as the brand team finds the right pieces for the season. One thing they knew they needed for Clark's rookie season was Prizm to make its way to the WNBA. Prizm has become a staple for Panini and one of the most highly sought-after rookie cards. 'To have the class that we had last year and not have Prizm would have been a complete miss for us and collectors,' Howarth said. 'It would be one of those things that you look back on and wonder why Caitlin [Clark] doesn't have a rookie Prizm card or Angel [Reese] doesn't have a rookie Prizm card.' As the WNBA continues to grow, creating household names and superstars, the league continues to leave its mark. From the women's college tournament, right into the WNBA Draft and then the start of the WNBA season. Advertisement While big names like Clark and Reese created a buzz last season, there is no slowing down. 'This class is equally as exciting,' Howarth said. 'We've seen that both from a collectible point of view just off of the Draft Night cards that we released here a few weeks ago. Lots of excitement around the product and lots of excitement and anticipation for more 'W' products.'
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark sets record for most expensive card for female athlete
Caitlin Clark now owns the top 30 spots on the list of the most expensive WNBA cards ever sold. (Credit: Goldin Auctions) Caitlin Clark's rise to the top of the hobby shows no sign of slowing down. The Indiana Fever superstar's 1/1 Panini Prizm Signatures Gold Vinyl rookie card sold for a record $366,000, the most expensive sports card for a female athlete in history. Advertisement Serena Williams, who had the category in a stranglehold prior to Clark's arrival, was the previous record-holder, with a top sale of $266,400. Clark's previous record was $234,850. The Fever guard has emerged as one of the hottest names in cards in the past two years, leading the surge of WNBA cards this past year — which saw secondary prices for boxes of WNBA Prizm beat out those of the NBA earlier this year. Clark has now had three cards sell for $100,000 or more and owns the top 30 spots on the most expensive WNBA cards ever sold. Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Indiana Fever, NBA, WNBA, Sports Business, Memorabilia & Collectibles 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
18-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
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. GO DEEPER Jump in WNBA card prices alienates collectors, creates barrier for newcomers 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. GO DEEPER Answers to the biggest Caitlin Clark trading card questions 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. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
