Limited by a slow start to her WNBA career and the lack of a flagship chase card, Caitlin Clark’s card market has gradually recovered after weeks of negative price movement.
Clark’s key cards experienced an increase in price throughout her NCAA Tournament run with the Iowa Hawkeyes before suffering a sharp decline after she was chosen by the Indiana Fever with the top pick in the WNBA Draft on April 15.
Weeks later, a variety of Clark's key rookie cards have slowly recovered in price amid an on-court start highlighted more by hard fouls and trash talk than winning plays.
Although Clark joined Sabrina Ionescu as the only players in WNBA history with 150 points, 50 assists and 50 rebounds through their first 10 games, the popular narrative that Clark is underachieving for a Fever team that has won just two of 11 games could be making collectors bearish. Clark is shooting just 35.7% from the field and less than 30% from 3-point range.
The recent uptick in price is certainly great for those holding Clark’s key cards, though many collectors might also view this current trend as temporary.
Over the last seven days, the 41 unique graded cards tracked by pricing tool Market Movers have risen in price 2.8% collectively across 119 total sales.
Of those 41 different cards, Clark’s 2022 Bowman’s Best University Base PSA 10 and 2022 Bowman’s Best University Refractor PSA 10 have been the biggest drivers of positive price growth as the two most popular sellers.
Over the last week, that Bowman’s Best Base PSA 10 has risen 8.5% across 17 sales while the Refractor has jumped 21.3% across 16 sales.
A $200 card just 12 days before the WNBA Draft, Clark’s Bowman’s Best Base PSA 10 had recently dropped to as low as $60 on May 19 — its most recent sale is back closer to $74.
Clark’s Bowman’s Best Refractor PSA 10 has experienced a similar trajectory, selling for $265 on April 3 before slowly declining to $92 on May 28. That Refractor has also recovered some value since and recently sold for $147.
The recent positive price change, which impacts the majority of Clark collectors, comes alongside a variety of high-priced sales from Panini America’s Instant lineup.
Clark’s first professional card, a Blue Viper 1/1 from Panini’s 2024 Instant WNBA Draft Night series, sold April 30 for $10,000.
Weeks later, a WNBA Blue Viper 1/1 Autograph celebrating Clark’s debut sold for $24,921.60 via Dutch Auction, setting the record for the most expensive WNBA trading card sold publicly.
How Clark’s market — specifically low- and mid-end cards — moves forward remains extremely unclear, however. While several of Clark’s key rookies have recovered value in recent days, they still lag far behind prices achieved earlier in 2024.
In fact, it could be hard for Clark’s current lineup of cards to achieve those previous prices ever again.
Clark’s graded card market is currently devoid of any traditional flagship products from manufacturers such as Topps or Panini — her most popular cards so far have been from Bowman University products featuring her Iowa uniform.
Collegiate cards have historically only held strong value on the secondary market for short periods of time before flagship products featuring professional uniforms are released.
So far, the only cards featuring Clark with the Fever have been released through Panini’s Instant program. While some Instant cards have sold for record amounts, most collectors don’t view print-to-demand programs like Instant as a traditional release.
Based on historical precedence, Clark’s collegiate cards and Instant cards will likely greatly decrease in value once flagship professional products are released later this year.
Panini currently has three WNBA products set to release in 2024, with 2024 WNBA Origins expected to feature Clark’s first traditional rookie cards.
The debut of WNBA Select is currently expected in September, and the flagship WNBA Prizm brand is expected to arrive later in Q4 2024 or Q1 2025.
These WNBA releases will almost certainly cause massive declines for the cards that currently make up Clark’s market, though they will also signal the beginning of what will be her traditional, long-term market.
While Clark’s current low- and mid-end market might be struggling to maintain growth, Clark’s first WNBA Prizm will likely be one of the most sought-after cards of the year. Already one of the fastest-growing players in terms of graded card submissions, Clark’s WNBA Prizm rookie could end up as one of the most graded cards from the 2024 season.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.