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Paul Skenes' Rookie Debut Patch goes to auction at Fanatics Collect

Skenes RDPA was among the most important cards to release in 2024

Cover Image for Paul Skenes' Rookie Debut Patch goes to auction at Fanatics Collect
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes wore the MLB Rookie Debut Patch in his first big-league start May 11, 2024. (Credit: Getty Images)

The Paul Skenes Rookie Debut Patch Autograph 1/1 card, arguably the biggest chase card of the year, has been consigned to Fanatics Collect for auction, the company confirmed to cllct Friday.

The announcement is a major coup for Fanatics’ auction house in the never-ending behind-the-scenes fight for consignments, frequently dominated by a few large players including Fanatics, Goldin and Heritage.

Fanatics announced in a social post Friday that the card will go to auction, and all Fanatics Collect proceeds from the sale will be donated to Los Angeles fire relief funds.

The Pittsburgh Pirates offered a bounty of 30 years of season tickets behind home plate in exchange for the card. It’s unclear whether the collector has had contact with the team, and Fanatics says it has no information to share regarding that bounty.

The card will have its value tested for the first time when it comes to auction, offering a fascinating glimpse into not only the collectibility of Skenes and Debut Patch Cards, but also the impact of virality on a card, which was arguably the most discussed card outside the hobby of the year.

The card was graded by PSA just two days after Topps announced it had been pulled by an 11-year-old collector from Los Angeles and received dual 10/10 condition and autograph grades, according to a PSA post on social media Thursday.

Fanatics said the 11-year-old boy received the box on Christmas Day and opened it up to find the Skenes card.

According to a PSA spokesperson, the card was hand-delivered Thursday for a same-day turnaround at an expedited service level. The card was submitted to PSA by a third party on behalf of the owner.

PSA added the card was a pack-pulled redemption, and the card was turned over from Topps to the owner before it arrived at PSA for authentication and grading.

Just nine of the 35 PSA-graded cards from 2024 Topps Chrome Update’s RDPA set have been given autograph grades, with the Skenes card joining Elly De La Cruz and Pete Crow-Armstrong as the third 10/10 in PSA’s census.

The set included more than 250 debut patches, all 1/1 cards. A sale of Jackson Chourio’s RDPA for $105,000 would rank as the highest paid for the highly-touted cards. However, that sale has yet to be publicly confirmed.

Junior Caminero’s $66,000 sale at Fanatics Collect in December is the highest confirmed public sale.

Dave and Adam’s Card World also paid out a $150,000 bounty for Anthony Volpe’s RDPA last year.

But none of those had the hype surrounding Skenes’ card, which attracted numerous bounties, including the much-publicized offer from the Pirates.

The identity of the collector has remained a mystery, with no information provided other than age, location and the fact the collector pulled the card from just one hobby box.

While some outside the hobby have said the card could be worth $1.5 million, this is almost certainly a drastically inflated number. The record for any Skenes card is $123,220, paid in September. The RDPA could set a new benchmark with the social media attention surrounding the card likely to boost its price.

Shohei Ohtani, who was easily the most popular MLB player of the year, has a top sale of $533,140.

Factoring in the unique nature of the Skenes card, which carries a patch from his MLB debut uniform, as well as his pop-culture relevance as part of a sports power couple with gymnast Livvy Dunne, perhaps $500,000 is more within reason.

Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.