It’s one thing to buy PSA 10 and SGC 9.5 graded examples of each star’s base rookie card. There are thousands of them in the graded population reports at PSA and SGC. Other base rookies even have tens of thousands of graded cards in their populations. Some collectors have started to narrow their focus to the limited edition or lower population cards. Cards with the /100 or /50 or /25 are simply more scarce than base set cards. What about the unique 1/1 cards?

The first rule of buying any card, whether it be for pleasure or profit, no card buyer should ever expect that they have a guaranteed profit coming to them. There are no assurances that stocks or bonds will rise in value. The same holds true here, particularly when we are talking about active players that can be injured or have other issues which hurt their attraction. One difference that applies to serial-numbered and limited-edition cards versus base cards is that they have the supply metric in their favor for buyers who want scarcity.

Some collectors want to own cards that are even more scarce than the /100 or /50 or even the /10 serial-numbers. Card producers have been making unique 1/1 cards for years. These are the types of cards that can fetch thousands, tens of thousands and even more without just the few “GOAT” players being included. For most modern cards to be considered as truly unique, the 1/1 print on the front or back was the brand’s method of saying the card has no others exactly like it. These cards can be very difficult for many collectors (and even the sports card investors) to properly assign a dollar value.

Before we get into certain instances of recent 1/1 card sales, tracking the value of a 1/1 card is not easy even in an age where all sales in auctions or online can be somewhat tracked. Some 1/1 cards are freshly graded or have never even been graded, and some come from live pack-breaks. Others have never been sold on the open market where a price could be tracked. The ultimate “value” of many 1/1 cards will vary wildly from buyer to buyer, and some sellers may be unwilling to sell a 1/1 card for anywhere close to what the highest bidder is willing to pay.

Are prices higher or lower than recently? Well, that depends. Some of the unique 1/1 cards and low-pop cards are selling for more than they sold for in 2021. Others are selling for lower prices than in 2021. Many facets play into modern era sports cards. These 1/1 and limited editions are also prominently featured in the early 2022 top auctions by each auction house.

As for supply and demand metrics being used in 1/1 cards, the price one buyer may be willing to pay can be “…until the other buyer(s) give up!” And even then, or particularly then, there are no assurances the card will ever be worth more than what was just paid. Owning a perfect gem-mint grade in 1/1 cards can be considered a “Grail” for some collectors while others will feel the price is in the stratosphere.

Some of the absolute highest-priced card sales in 2021 were seen in modern era 1/1 cards or low-pop cards (Mahomes, LeBron, Luka, Jordan and so on). Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. Some of these unique cards definitely fall within that category.

Due to time constraints and potential license issues, the images of most of these 1/1 auction examples have not been included. The one which does have an image is a card recently sold on Goldin.co which we asked if it was the coolest NFL Rookie Patch card of them all… This was the 2020 Panini National Treasures “Treasure Chest” #ROOK Logo Tag Rookie Card (#1/1) and it sold for $9,326.00 after the buyer’s premium and after 19 bids (Image by Goldin).

Many other fresh 1/1 auctions have been seen in the last 24-hour period. There are likely many others, and these are only the cards that were in auction format.

FRESHLY SOLD ON EBAY

eBay had a 2019 National Treasures Kyler Murray RC NFL Shield Nike Patch AUTO JERSEY# 1/1. This was even listed with a designation of “Great Investment” in the description from Probstein123. This 1/1 Kyler Murray was bid at $5,700 with 2 hours and 45 minutes to go and it had 48 bids had been seen at that time. The final sale price was $8,867.00 after 56 bids.

eBay was listing a 2020 Panini Xr Rookie Xcellence Justin Herbert RPA RC NFL Shield Patch AUTO 1/1 and the current bid was $3,800.00 with 2 hours and 45 minutes to go. It had already seen 53 bids at that time, and the card’s final price was $4,500.00 after 56 bids.

A 2020 Panini Select Gold Prizm #411B Ja’Marr Chase RC Rookie 7/10 BGS 9.5 was seen with a bid at $3,950.00 with 2 hours and 40 minutes to go after 49 bids. Its final sales price was $5,100.00 after 51 bids.

PWCC’s 1/1 and /5 /25 /50 RECENT SALES

Some recent sales have also been seen at the PWCC Marketplace December 2021 auction. Here are some of those high-dollar sales in 1/1 and the limited-edition cards.

• 2019 Panini Encased Platinum Ja Morant ROOKIE DNA 10 AUTO 1/1 #149 PSA 9 MINT sold for $6,750.00
• 2018 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Shohei Ohtani ROOKIE /25 #1 BGS 9.5 GEM MINT sold for $6,000.00 (Image below by PWCC Marketplace)
• 2020 Panini XR Justin Herbert ROOKIE NFL SHIELD PATCH AUTO DNA 10 1/1 PSA 9 MINT sold for $4,700.00.
• 2020 Score Tribute Tom Brady AUTO 1/1 #TB2003 PSA 8 NM-MT (1/1) sold for $4,600.00.
• 2018 Panini Chronicles Platinum Luka Doncic ROOKIE 1/1 #389 BGS 8.5 NM-MT+ sold for $4,500.00.
• 2019 Panini Prizm Hype Black Finite Prizms Patrick Mahomes II 1/1 #HPM PSA 9 sold for $3,100.00.
• 2019 Immaculate Collection Gold Tyler Herro ROOKIE PATCH AUTO 1/10 #126 PSA 9 (PSA Pop. 1 of 1) sold for $3,100.00.
• 2020 Absolute Hall Worthy Signatures Tom Brady AUTO 1/10 #7 BGS 8 NM-MT sold for $2,700.00.
• 2019 Panini National Convention VIP Gold Diamond Gems LeBron James 1/1 BGS 8.5 sold for $2,300.00.

And the /5 /10 /15 /25 Serial-Numbered Cards?

And beyond GOAT Time! and Kobe Time!… Here are some of the fresh sales that have been seen on eBay in the prior 24 hours:

• 2019 Panini Flawless Super Bowl XLIX Tom Brady Patriots 3-Color GU Patch 19/20 was at $1,913.00 after 33 bids) with 2 hours and 35 minutes to go. This Tom Brady /20 card fetched $2,025.00 after 34 bids.
• 2008-09 Upper Deck Black 2004 All Star Kobe Bryant HOF Signed Gold AUTO 4/10 had been bid at $6,358.00 after 43 bids with 2 hours and 35 minutes left. Its final price was the same $6,358.00 after 43 bids.
• Shohei Ohtani is still hot, and a 1/15 proves it. A 2018 Panini Flawless Sapphire Shohei Ohtani RPA RC 4-Color GU Patch AUTO 1/15 was showing a price of $2,475.00 after 34 bids with 2 hours and 40 minutes remaining. This lot sold for $3,850.00 after 46 bids.
• 2017-18 National Treasures Bam Adebayo RC Rookie NBA LOGOMAN Patch 4/5 was at $2,325.00 after 47 bids with 2 hours 40 minutes to go. Its final price was $2,610.00 after 51 bids.
• 2019-20 Panini Flawless Gold Tyler Herro RPA RC Rookie 3-Color Patch AUTO /10 had a current bid of $2,175.00 after 57 bids with 2 hours and 40 minutes. Its final price was $2,451.00 after 62 bids.
• 2019-20 Immaculate Acetate Ja Morant RC Rookie Signed AUTO 18/25 Grizzlies was last seen with a $2,150.00 bid after 41 bids with time left to go. It fetched a $2,300.00 final auction price after 42 bids.
• 2019-20 Contenders Optic Orange Rookie Ticket #106 Ja Morant RC AUTO 23/25 was at $2,2025 after 39 bids with 2 hours and 35 minutes to go. This card’s final price was $2,938.00 after 46 bids.
• 2019-20 Contenders Optic Blue Prizm Rookie Ticket #106 Ja Morant RC AUTO 93/99 had a current bid of $3,050.00 after 36 bids with 2 hours and 35 minutes. Its final price was $3,350.00 after 40 bids.
• 2020 Bowman Chrome Orange Wave Refractor Gabriel Moreno RC AUTO /25 PSA 10 (not seen prior to auction-end) sold for $4,183.33 after 41 bids in the final auction price.

AND FINALLY… Some Still Active Listings….

• 2020 Optic Contenders Justin Herbert Gold Rookie Ticket Auto RC /10 PSA 8/10 T1 from seller (everyidiwantistaken) had a bid of $12,100.00 after 57 bids with 8 hours to go.
• 2018-19 National Treasures Treasured Green Kobe Bryant HOF Signed AUTO 2/5 (seller Probstein123) had a $2,000 level after 22 bids with 2 days and 2 hours to go, but the last was showing $3,000 after 22 bids and about 34 hours to go.
• Another Kobe card up for grabs — the 2017 Panini Eminence All-Time Buckets Double Diamond Kobe Bryant AUTO /5 BGS 8.5 with a then current price of $2,074.00 after 27 bids with about 34 hours until the auction’s end.

And some cards are still “affordable” in the 1/1 category. We found eBay listings for:

• 2020/21 Xavier Tillman Panini Midnight Signatures Platinum Rookie Card 1/1 from seller (lloyd1099) with a current bid of $72.00 after 18 bids with just 40 minutes left at the time.
• Another 1/1 was a 2020 XR CeeDee Lamb RC⭐ Vortex Laundry Tag 1/1 Dallas Cowboys listed by (saltycards21) with a current price of $180.00 after 26 bids and with 51 minutes remaining.