What Cards From Your Childhood Are Worth Money? What Should You Collect Today?

When I got back into the hobby in 2021, the first thing I did was pull out my childhood card collection. I stopped collecting when I was 14 because I spent every penny I had for 3 years on cards, amassing over 6,000 cards.

I looked up at least several hundred cards on eBay, shocked to find out what is and isn’t worth money (mostly isn’t).

I literally only had a few cards worth even $100, and maybe a dozen in the $20 - $50. Granted, much of my collection was from the Junk Wax Era, and I was mostly ripping low-end stuff… but still disappointing!

Today, the most common questions I get from readers are variations of this:

• What cards in my collection as a kid are worth anything?

• What should I focus on now to build a valuable collection?

Let’s dive in, talking about your old cards first.

What’s Worth Money From Your Old Collection?

First, if you have any real old stuff, like from before 1985, there’s a good chance you have cards that are worth at least a bit. You’ll honestly have to go one-by-one searching through “Sold” listings on eBay, focusing on rookies or early-year cards of superstars.

However, I’m going to focus more on the 90s, because that’s the sweet spot where plenty of people collected as a kid, took a break, and are now back.

Here’s a quick idea of what can be worth money:

• Jordan and Kobe. I had binders full of inserts I wanted to sell to card shops, and they all said the same thing: “Do you have Kobe and Jordan?” Otherwise, they wouldn’t even look at my cards. Base cards of theirs obviously aren’t worth a lot, but at least a few bucks. Other cards are worth plenty, like my 2000 Upper Deck Legends Generations card with both Kobe and Jordan, which is worth a few hundred bucks. Look up pretty much all cards from them.
  

• Rare Inserts. The vast majority of your 90s inserts are worth bupkis…but there are a few exceptions. A rule of thumb I used was that if I had, like, 5 of a certain insert, it likely wasn’t worth anything. However, I had a few random ones, like a Soul of the Game Scottie Pippen that I sold for $55.
  

• Rookies in Good Condition. Out of my entire collection as a kid, I sent in 12 cards for grading. Half of those I shouldn’t have, but I was new to grading. Also, this was during the height of COVID when everyone sent in everything. Anyway, while it is the junk wax era, it’s still hard to find cards that old in PSA 10 condition. I’d start with the superstars though, and I’d be super picky about what you send in. Most PSA 9s don’t net you a ton (unless it’s a Kobe/Jordan or a rare card).

I’m Just Getting Back in…What Cards Should I Buy?

Whether you’re in it to flip the cards or not, it’s still nice to build up a valuable collection of worthwhile cards.

Let me include a few rules of thumb that I give out to new collectors:

• Comp out 3+ Sales - You could use a pricing software for this (I use Cardladder) or type it into eBay, filter by “Sold”, and average out the last 3 sales. Doing it yourself won’t give you historical highs and lows, but at least you'll know if you’re paying too much for the card right now.
  

• Wait 6+ Months After a Card is Released - Every new set released experiences the “new card bump.” Collectors get excited for new Cooper Flagg releases, they massively overpay, and the market corrects after a while. Wemby’s a great example with his PSA 10 Prizms:

  

  
  

• Collect Superstars - If you’re brand new, it can be hard figuring out who’s worthwhile in the long-term. If you’re looking to add cool cards to your collection, buy some Mahomes, Ohtani, and Luka. Too many newbies buy second or third-tier players, not realizing that the hobby doesn’t care about those guys in 10 years. As you gain knowledge and experience, you can move on to successfully speculate on non-superstars by reading price charts and understanding hobby movement & trends.
  

• Spread Out Your Money - This is important, especially if you’re new. Let’s say you blow your entire budget on a PSA 10 Luka Doncic PSA 10. Well, at least you have a great card, but a 10% or 20% dip can be really frustrating. I’d much rather buy 15 cards worth $100 each. It’s more fun to have that many cards in your collection (IMO), plus $100 cards are generally easier to sell in the future. I like to “stay in the game” and be active with buying/selling, and having several cards makes it easier to do that. Less risk, too.
  

• Buy Licensed Cards from Good Brands - If you’re new, I’d focus on Topps and Topps Chrome for basketball and baseball, and Prizm for football (until their license switches to Topps for next year). Once you’ve gotten the lay of the land, branch out.
  

• Don’t Buy Inserts Unless They're Top Inserts - Many inserts, while they can look cool, often don’t retain value. In many cases, base rookies keep their value better than inserts. Of course, there are exceptions, like Kaboom, Downtown, Stained Glass, and others.
  

• Autos, Parallels, and Numbered Rookies Are Good - You can just buy base rookies, but if you’re looking for something a little more desirable, autos, parallels, and numbered cards are safe bets.

What were your first pickups when you got back into collecting?

Buy/Sell Targets

This doesn’t constitute investment advice, more just a window into my overall strategy as well as for entertainment purposes. All pricing and screenshots are taken from Card Ladder—the only pricing & inventory tool I use.

✔️ Alperen Sengun - I’m guessing it’s because he’s a center (and the hobby doesn’t go wild for centers) that he hasn’t caught on yet, but he’s one of the 15-ish or best players in the league right now on a team with a historically good point differential. He’s 23 and averaging 22/9/7 (Jokic at 23 averaged 20/11/7). There are multiple Silver Prizm rookies available for under $30 on eBay right now.

✔️ Austin Reaves - I keep saying it, and I’m not going to stop: Austin Reaves is a great buy right now. He’s averaging 29/6/7 on a team that’s 15-5. He’s a proven clutch playoff performer, and it’s pretty clear he’s passed LeBron as the #2. He’ll be an All-Star, but his Silver Prizm PSA 10 pricing keeps dropping (despite a ludicrously low pop count).

✔️Patrick Mahomes 🏈 - If you’ve ever wanted a window to jump in on Mahomes, you’re looking at a decent one now. He’s a made man, so he’ll never drop off a cliff, but his cards have dropped 25% almost across the board over the past year. I still can’t write them off, and I believe they’ll somehow make the playoffs…so right now might be the time to grab him. And if they don’t make the playoffs, having Mahomes stock is still pretty awesome. This specific card always seems to jump up to $400, so buying in at $280-$300 seems smart.

❌ Josh Allen 🏈 - Since March, his Prizm PSA 10 has gone from $250 to around $375 or so because people seemed to think this was “his year” to win a Super Bowl. I detest investing in football cards in players who need to win a Super Bowl to see a bump. His pricing has wavered a bit, so the market might start to move off him due to poor play (for him). With this specific card, I’d list at $400 and see if I could get an offer around $360 or so. I just don’t understand or trust this new sustained high:

Quick Hits

News From Around the Hobby

+ Eye-Toppsing Prices - “Topps will run its first online Dutch auction for special-edition 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball First Day Issue boxes, starting the price at $3,500.” Dutch auction means they’ll lower the price every 3 minutes until it’s all sold out… but do they actually expect these to sell for even 1/3 of that price? It’s a bold starting point, I’ll give them that.

+ Them’s the Breaks - “Baseball Card Breaking 101: Your Guide To Getting Started With Online Card Breaks.” If you’ve read me, you know I stay away from breaks like a sugar addict from a candy store. But I have to concede that it’s a huge part of the hobby, and this is a top-notch breakdown.

+ Hideo and Seek - “Topps released an image of the first licensed certified Hideo Nomo autographs the industry has seen in 20 years.” With Fanatics making a massive push into the growing Japanese market, this move makes a ton of sense. It’s also why I’m so bullish on the cards of Japanese players, such as Ohtani (duh), Darvish, Sasaki, Yamamoto, and the incoming Murakami, to name a few.

How to Sell Sports Cards on eBay: The Investor’s Complete Guide

While there are more options than ever for selling your cards now, there’s still one monster who remains supreme: eBay!

So unless you’re a big influencer who can sell cards at ease to their FB or IG audiences, you’re likely going to do the bulk of your selling there… [Keep Reading]

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The content in this newsletter is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be actual financial or investment advice.