After years of playing sidekick to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown took a leap this postseason both on the court and in the hobby. But with the 2023-24 NBA season over and the offseason ahead, incoming price dips are likely — even for breakout stars such as Brown.
Here’s our weekly dive into notable graded cards across the sports card market over the last 30 days, according to data tool Market Movers.
All cards have sold at least 10 times and have a current average value of $30 and above.
Price percentage risers
- 2018 Topps Chrome Shohei Ohtani 1983 Topps PSA 10: +212%
- 1974 Topps Bill Walton Base PSA 7: +180%
- 2016 Optic Jaylen Brown Holo PSA 10: +143%
- 2017 Bowman Draft Juan Soto Base PSA 10: +127%
- 1969 Topps Willie Mays Base PSA 4: +101%
The sports world is currently mourning the loss of a trio of titans following the deaths of Bill Walton, Jerry West and Willie Mays. Already popular among many hobbyists, all three have also seen collectors celebrate their legacies by adding key cards in recent days.
Over the last 30 days, Walton’s graded cards tracked by Market Movers are up 12% in price collectively across 72 sales, with an average sale of $248. Collectors have specifically targeted his rookie 1974 Topps Base PSA 7 with 14 sales over the last month — it recently sold for $232 after averaging around $80 a month ago.
Hobbyists have flocked to Mays’ cards, too. With many of his earliest cards unachievable — his 1951 Bowman is one of the most important baseball cards in existence — collectors have targeted cheaper options such as his 1972 Topps Base PSA 6. Featuring a simple photo with an attractive border, that card sold 14 times in a two-day span immediately after his death Tuesday.
Price percentage decliners
- 2020 Select Anthony Edwards Concourse Blue Prizm PSA 10: -73%
- 2024 Topps Heritage Elly Da La Cruz Base PSA 10: -49%
- 2012 Prizm Kyrie Irving Base PSA 10: -47%
- 2018 Prizm Jalen Brunson Red White Blue PSA 10: -47%
- 2017 Bowman Ronald Acuna Jr. Chrome Prospects PSA 10: -38%
With the NBA season over, the fall for many basketball cards is expected to arrive swiftly.
Already among those with a relatively fragile card market, Kyrie Irving has seen some of the biggest drops in price after Dallas’ poor showing in the NBA Finals.
Irving’s graded cards tracked by Market Movers are down 11% collectively over the last 30 days across nearly 300 sales and 18% across 106 sales over the last two weeks. With just 45 total sales tracked over the last week, it’s clear Irving’s market is rapidly drying up.
Beyond his earliest seasons with the Cavaliers, Irving has struggled to capture the attention of collectors — the reasons he’s not popular among regular fans are likely major factors within the hobby as well. Like many stars, Irving’s market revives some during any lengthy postseason run before regressing to the mean after.
Irving’s 2012 Prizm Base PSA 10 has been a major driver in his overall price decline with a 47% drop across 39 sales over the last 30 days. After hitting nearly $200, that Prizm Base is now back down closer to $100 and could be heading toward its 2024 low in the $80 range.
Dollar amount risers
- 2016 Optic Jaylen Brown Holo PSA 10: +$137
- 2017 Topps Chrome Aaron Judge Refractor PSA 10: +$81
- 2017 Optic Patrick Mahomes Base PSA 10: +$75
- 2015 UD Connor McDavid Star Rookies Base PSA 10: +$62
- 2015 Prizm Nikola Jokic Base PSA 10: +$60
Outside of Anthony Edwards, no NBA player might have helped his card market more this year than Jaylen Brown. So often called the "Robin" to Jayson Tatum’s "Batman," Brown elevated his game in the playoffs to secure NBA Finals MVP.
A true two-way star, Brown’s market has shifted significantly, though it’s still not particularly close to Tatum’s yet. Whether or not it can ever achieve that is something collectors might debate this offseason.
Powered by his stellar postseason performance, Brown’s graded cards tracked by Market Movers are up 24% over the last 30 days across 700 total sales. Along with his flagship Optic Holo, Brown’s 2016 Prizm Green PSA 10 has jumped over $200 in price across 10 sales. Looking at volume, nine of Brown’s most popular graded cards over the last month are tracking with positive price movement.
Brown’s surge in popularity is undeniable, but whether or not it continues into the offseason is something hobbyists should monitor closely. Until Brown supplants Tatum as the hobby favorite on the roster, he might be limited to slow regular seasons with postseason boosts like so many other stars.
Dollar amount decliners
- 2023 Upper Deck Connor Bedard Young Guns Outburst Silver PSA 10: -$633
- 2020 Prizm Anthony Edwards Silver PSA 10: -$467
- 2018 Prizm Luka Doncic Silver BGS 9.5: -$176
- 2017 Prizm Jayson Tatum Silver BGS 9.5: -$121
- 2023 Prizm Victor Wembanyama Silver PSA 10: -$100
As expected, with Brown earning some of the hobby’s focus, Tatum and Luka Dončić lost some spotlight, and their markets have slid a little earlier as a result.
It should be noted that while Brown’s cards have been rising in price, they still aren’t on par with Dončić and Tatum in either value or volume. For perspective, Market Movers has tracked 700 sales of Brown’s graded cards over the last 30 days — Doncic has more than 5,000 sales while Tatum has nearly 2,000.
The average price on those cards for Dončić and Tatum is also $80 higher than Brown’s.
This comparison isn’t exactly apples-to-apples because the number of cards available to track is far different, but the delta in price and volume should make it clear to any hobbyist that those three players are in very different tiers of collectability.
Over the last 30 days, Dončić’s graded cards tracked by Market Movers are down 5% collectively, while Tatum’s cards are down 5.4%. Among those cards, the pair's respective Prizm Silvers are both two of the biggest price decliners in dollar amount.
Sales volume leaders
2023 Prizm Victor Wembanyama Base PSA 10: 1,000 sales 2018 Prizm Luka Dončić Base PSA 10: 470 sales 2023 Prizm CJ Stroud Base PSA 10: 321 sales 2024 Topps Elly De La Cruz Base PSA 10: 186 sales 2023 Upper Deck Connor Bedard Young Guns Base PSA 10: 178 sales
As Connor McDavid fights to keep the Oilers alive in the Stanley Cup finals, Connor Bedard continues to simply be the player Upper Deck and hockey collectors needed.
Despite an injury that kept him out for nearly six weeks, Bedard remains the favorite to win the Calder Trophy later this month as the NHL’s top rookie. He has been a popular purchase among hobbyists, too, and despite a massive decrease in price, Bedard has maintained the sales volume hockey fans were likely hoping for.
The biggest chase for hockey collectors in years, Bedard’s 2023 Upper Deck Young Guns Base PSA 10 has sold over 650 times since release. Currently around $760, that card was once at $3,500 — a price that was completely unsustainable.
Though McDavid is the hockey hobby favorite, Bedard has managed to bring non-hockey collectors into the hockey space. How his market shakes out during the offseason and whether the average collector remains engaged are two things to watch moving forward.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.