Sports Card Power Rankings: Paul Skenes takes No. 1, but Caitlin, Wemby loom

Fresh of his All-Star Game start, Pirates rookie continues to defy trend for pitchers

Cover Image for Sports Card Power Rankings: Paul Skenes takes No. 1, but Caitlin, Wemby loom
Three rookie phenoms sit atop cllct's first Sports Card Power Rankings.

As the hobby prepares to descend on Cleveland for the National Sports Collectors Convention, cllct is launching its first Sports Card Power Rankings.

An evaluation of the sports card hobby’s top players based on price growth, sales volume, current play and storylines, these rankings will arrive every Monday.

Here’s a look at where the hobby’s most popular players currently stand.

1. Paul Skenes

Forget Rookie of the Year — Skenes is already among the best pitchers in baseball, and the hobby has noticed. Only two active athletes have had more sales tracked by Market Movers over the last seven days, and Skenes has still managed to maintain positive price growth anyway. Starting the All-Star Game on Tuesday game surely helped raise his profile even more.

Collectors don’t focus on pitchers much, but Skenes is breaking that trend, and it likely isn’t stopping anytime soon.

  • Price growth: +2.5%
  • Total sales: 2.2k
  • Key card: 2023 Bowman Draft 1st Base PSA 10 (83 sales, -9%)

2. Caitlin Clark

Clark finished just one assist shy of tying Sue Bird’s WNBA All-Star Game record Saturday, and it somehow seemed like a lukewarm performance. For collectors, few players have been more sought after than Clark in recent months, and her market has surged 9.4% collectively over the last seven days.

PSA has already graded more of Clark’s cards in 2024 than it did in all of 2023, and she appears poised to sit atop the market for years to come.

  • Price growth: +9.4%
  • Total sales: 652
  • Key card: 2023 Bowman Chrome University Base PSA 10 (25 sales, -22%)

3. Victor Wembanyama

Victor Wembanyama's sales volumes continues to soar.
Victor Wembanyama's sales volumes continues to soar.

When it comes to sales volume, Wembanyama has been at the top of the market for months. Market Movers has tracked nearly 7,000 sales for Wembanyama over the last seven days, and while his cards aren’t rising in value collectively, the raw volume keeps him high on this list. For perspective, the second-ranked active player has just 2.8k sales over the last week.

Regardless of price growth, Wembanyama will be near the top of the card market indefinitely based on volume alone, though a strong Olympic performance this summer could shift pricing.

  • Price growth: -0.8%
  • Total sales: 6.9k
  • Key card: 2023 Prizm Base PSA 10 (182 sales, -12%)

4. C.J. Stroud

Collectors have swarmed The National in recent years looking to add key cards for the upcoming NFL season, and based on recent sales volume, no player will be targeted more than Stroud. Market Movers has tracked nearly 3,000 sales for Stroud over the last week, while his market has collectively ticked up 1.2% over that same period.

Buying at a discount might no longer be possible, but a variety of high-end cards will likely be extremely available in Cleveland this week.

  • Price growth: +1.2%
  • Total sales: 2.8k
  • Key card: 2023 Prizm Base PSA 10 (69 sales, +2%)

5. Shohei Ohtani

Despite the move to the NL, Shohei Ohtani is right back as an MVP favorite.
Despite the move to the NL, Shohei Ohtani is right back as an MVP favorite.

It doesn’t matter which league Ohtani is in, he’s one of the best players in baseball — even when he’s not pitching. Ohtani remains the heavy favorite to win the NL MVP this season. After what seems like years of extreme sales volume, Ohtani’s market has slowed some this season.

It’s hard to say if the betting scandal involving his interpreter impacted him at all, but his prices have slowly recovered over the last 30 days after several months of decline. If anything, the lack of two-way stardom might have shifted collector sentiment some.

  • Price growth: +2.1%
  • Total sales: 1.5k
  • Key card: 2018 Topps Update Base PSA 10 (30 sales, -7%)

6. LeBron James

James has an interesting market at this point because his legacy is largely locked in, but the real change for collectors has been how achievable some of his key rookie cards have become since the boom during the pandemic. He can also see some interesting movements simply because he has such a large portfolio of cards, and collectors can latch onto various non-rookies just because they are cool — his 2020 Prizm Base, known as the Kobe Tribute Dunk, is a good example of this.

A strong Olympic performance probably doesn’t move the market much for James, but another gold medal in his final appearance might inspire collectors this summer.

  • Price growth: +2.1%
  • Total sales: 1.2k
  • Key card: 2003 Topps Base PSA 9 (13 sales, +17%)

7. Anthony Edwards

Arguably no NBA player saw his market completely reshaped more last season than Edwards. A great regular season was followed with a fantastic playoff run, and suddenly, the Minnesota star is in contention to be the face of the league.

While a big Olympic performance might not move the market much for some of the established stars, some international success for Edwards could be a major plus for collectors. His cards have been selling with strong volume (1.1k over the last seven days), and his price growth has been strong (+2%) over that same period.

  • Price growth: +2.0%
  • Total sales: 1.1k
  • Key card: 2020 Prizm Base PSA 10 (20 sales, -7%)

8. Gunnar Henderson

Though another Orioles Topps Series 2 rookie might be the best card made this year, Henderson is poised to compete for the AL MVP, and his market has shifted accordingly. His price growth hasn’t been amazing recently but the sales volume is there.

Henderson is one to monitor for collectors moving forward, and he has the potential to move up these rankings if he remains in the award hunt. Collectors don’t exactly swarm to buy Baltimore players, so he could fall out of these rankings quickly if his play regresses at all.

  • Price growth: -1.5%
  • Total sales: 1.1k
  • Key card: 2023 Topps Chrome Base PSA 10 (13 sales, -17%)

9. Bobby Witt Jr.

Another darkhorse MVP candidate in the American League, Witt Jr. might have a little more staying power in these rankings than Henderson because of his popularity among collectors. His play so far has been great, and while that usually might completely drive interest, Witt’s participation in the hobby as an active collector might give him a slight bump.

Witt has been among the first superstar baseball players to really embrace his interest in collecting publicly, and that might count for something as we get deeper into 2024.

  • Price growth: +0.9%
  • Total sales: 661
  • Key card: 2022 Topps Update Base PSA 10 (14 sales, +0%)

10. Elly De La Cruz

De La Cruz has become a little polarizing for collectors — he’s unbelievably explosive and extremely popular among younger hobbyists, but his play hasn’t exactly wowed fans and collectors the way many expected.

Few players are more exciting than De La Cruz right now, and his 1.9k sales over the last week show that, but his nearly 7% decline in price collectively is a little worrisome. Don’t be shocked if he falls out of the rankings next week or shoots inside the top five after hitting a baseball into space.

  • Price growth: -6.6%
  • Total sales: 1.9k
  • Key card: 2024 Bowman Base PSA 10 (39 sales, +6%)

Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.