AUTOGRAPHED CARDS
The card market is its own monster, its volatility can be intimidating even for veteran collectors. One category that has really picked up steam over the last decade is autographed cards. There are many types of autographs with a notable difference in price depending on the type. It is a complicated sub-category of the market. Let’s try and tame the monster together!
STICKER AUTO vs ON-CARD AUTO
The market has spoken, and although they both present beautifully, collectors tend to prefer and therefore pay more for an on-card auto as opposed to a sticker auto. It’s important to keep this mind if you are investing in autographed cards long-term.
ROOKIE PATCH AUTO (RPA) vs JERSEY AUTO vs AUTO ONLY
In that order indeed. The rarer it is, the more valuable it tends to be. So logically, if you were to pull the jersey off a player’s back, there would be a lot more fabric you could use to make jersey cards and way less possibilities when pulling off the patches. But that’s not the only reason. Patches also tend to look more spectacular often presenting several colors, stitches and so on.
STREET AUTOS vs MANUFACTURED AUTOS
Because there are so many products offering autographed cards nowadays, it seems like street autos (see previous tips of the trade for definition) are less desirable on current athlete cards. That being said, there is clearly still a market out there for autographed vintage cards and they are still very desirable.
NUMBERED AUTOS
Numbered cards are back in the spotlight and a lot of the newer collectors are religiously chasing numbered cards. We have seen monster prices for some 1 of 1 cards in the last few years and card companies are loving it! Now if you remember earlier, we ranked autographed cards last behind jersey cards and RPAs. However, numbered cards are the variable factor. A low numbered autographed card will be much more valuable than a high numbered RPA in most cases.
AUTO ROOKIE CARDS vs OTHER AUTO CARDS
Lastly, autographed rookie cards seem to be more in demand than any other card of the same player. That being said, vintage autographed cards of star players are still very popular and can be a fun way of collecting legends. In the end, if you collect what you love, you can’t go wrong!