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Friday, June, 14, 2024
7 Cards That fly Under the Hobby Radar (Most are Cheap Too)
Last Updated On: June 14th, 2024
Since the pandemic-era surge in collecting, a few cards have generally enjoyed a place center stage (and commanded the most money from buyers). You can guess the ones: National Treasures, Kabooms!, and Gold Prizms to name a few.
Indeed, shiny, serial-numbered cards with low print runs earn our gaze 10 times out of 10. But what about the cards that, for whatever reason, simply fly under the radar? In this post, we’ll highlight seven underrated sports cards that we believe have gone unnoticed (at least according to the prices they fetch).
Our goal here is to provide a handful of affordable pickups that could turn into gold or become excellent additions to your personal collection, offering a potential return on your investment.
We spend most of our time talking about the flash. It’s time to dive into some diamonds in the rough!
Table of Contents
Overview
We’ve picked the following seven cards for a few different reasons. First, and perhaps most obvious, the cards on this list are undervalued vis-a-vis their peers. In other words, the following cards tend to be a bit more affordable than their oft-hyped counterparts.
But don’t mistake cheaper for lower quality. While these cards are reasonably priced, they offer unique features that add to their ‘cool factor.’ The list contains low-pop, serially-numbered cards, autos, jerseys, and gold cards galore. These features make them excellent, eye-catching additions to your personal collection, even if you choose not to resell them later.
The final note: we highly recommend Card Ladder for your own journey hunting for underrated sports cards. The site makes it simple to find recent sales of any card, including the ones you’ll learn about below.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the seven underrated sports cards that made our list.
7 Under the Radar Cards Worth Buying
2000 Upper Deck SPx Radiance /100
We promised our list of underrated sports cards wouldn’t skimp on quality. For those who love the funky, holo-inspired patterns of the Panini Scope Prizm parallels, look no further than the 2000 Upper Deck SPx Radiance /100 parallel. These cards capture one of the last great eras of professional baseball, with stars like Derek Jeter, Mike Piazza, and Chipper Jones represented.
Radiance parallels come with low pop counts and are serially numbered to /100. The 135-card set, much like the Upper Deck Game Worn jersey autos we’ll discuss later, offer collectors a great opportunity to get their hands on early 2000s legends.
The other great thing: the vast majority of these cards are selling for next to nothing ungraded. Additionally, the pop counts of graded Radiance cards are minimal; PSA has graded just 149 SPx Radiance cards from the 2000 set.
2000 SPx Radiance cards invite a strong sense of nostalgia for an era where sports cards were dominated by baseball and the designs were hugely experimental. Coming off the heels of the disastrous Junk Wax Era, manufacturers searched for ways to make their cards relevant to the mainstream once more.
While not every set was perfect, we think SPx Radiance parallels are prime examples of the underrated sports cards floating around the market today.
1995 Select Certified Mirror Gold
Let’s continue with another bit of a throwback set: the 1995 Pinnacle Select Certified Mirror Gold. Released for three sports, collectors can get their hands on hockey, football, and baseball stars.
With 135 cards in the Mirror Gold set (#18 evidently does not exist), the pack odds for an MLB Mirror Gold card were 1:5. Meaning if one wanted to hit the Derek Jeter #122 from the baseball set, they’d need to crack open 675 packs.
Some collectors are likely already familiar with the Mirror Gold series, albeit from the 1996 set. Indeed, the ’96 Mirror Golds tend to command much more of the market’s attention than the ’95s, a result of the low print runs and extremely tough pack odds; rumored to be around /30 sets produced and 1:300 packs in 1996.
It’s precisely because the 1996 set has done so well that the 1995 earned a spot on this list. If you’ve ever taken a psychology course, you might have encountered something known as “The Halo Effect,” a type of cognitive bias in which one’s “overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about their character.”
In other words, what if the hobby’s interest in 1996 Mirror Gold parallels expands to reach other Mirror Gold sets, like the one from 1995 (the inaugural set)? It’s a long-term play, but certainly one worth monitoring.
When we take a look at the values of the ‘95 Mirror Golds, we can see an interesting pattern emerge. The highest-selling cards from the baseball set are consistently Derek Jeter, and Ken Griffey Jr., in Gem Mint condition. In football, Barry Sanders notches the top spot also in Gem Mint condition.
But after that, the prices become significantly more reasonable. A PSA 9 Mint Barry Bonds #1 can be had for $40, while Deion Sanders #78 is $20 ungraded. In hockey, Wayne Gretzky’s #23 card tends to be a popular find for around $80 ungraded, while Alex Rodriguez’s #118 baseball card runs for $30 in PSA 9 Mint condition.
| 1995 Select Mirror Gold Card | Sales Price |
| Barry Bonds #1 PSA 9 Mint | $40 |
| Deion Sanders #78 (raw) | $20 |
| Wayne Gretzky #23 (raw) | $80 |
| Alex Rodriguez #118 PSA 9 Mint | $30 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. #70 PSA 9 Mint | $143 |
| Derek Jeter #122 PSA 9 Mint | $84 |
2023 Panini Prestige Xtra points Gold Premium /75
We’re going to continue our Gold theme with one of the flashiest cards from the 2023 Panini sets: Panini Prestige Xtra Points Gold Premium /75.
Released in 2023, Prestige doesn’t have the same cultural clout as Prizm, but nonetheless has printed some spectacular cards. A total of 400 cards make up the base set, which is a mixture of veterans, football legends, and rookies (rookies are specifically numbered #301-390).
If we’re talking rookies in the 2023 NFL Prestige set (Prestige is mainly an NFL release, but also available in basketball), we’re primarily interested in players like QBs C.J. Stroud (Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Anthony Richardson, and offensive weapons like running backs Bijan Robinson, JahMyr Gibbs, and tight end Sam LaPorta.
Here’s one of the key reasons why these cards (at least for rookies) are undervalued: the set still features the rooks in their college gear. Stroud, for instance, still wears the red and silver of Ohio State, while Richardson is in his blue and orange Florida garb.
The lack of a pro jersey for rookies puts a ceiling on the cards for sure. Even still, the cards are eminently affordable for stars and rookies alike; a Gem Mint Stroud sold for $225 back in February 2024. Raw cards routinely sell for less than $50. Case in point: the Joe Burrow card similar to the one featured above went for $49 in April. Mahomes even did $50 at the end of January.
If you want something a bit more high end from the Prestige set than the Gold Premium, check out one of the 22 other parallels offered. There is a Black Xtra Points Premium (and non-Premium), both are one of ones /1.
2012 Panini Select Prizm (Silver)
Next up on our list of underrated sports cards is the 2012 debut of Panini Select Prizm. While Panini Prizm, which also debuted in 2012, tends to get all of the hobby’s love, we believe Select might be critically undervalued.
Keep in mind that in 2012, the “Prizm” parallel was what we today would call the Silver Prizm parallel. So these cards are the predecessors of some of the most collectible cards on the market today.
And as early versions, it’s not surprising that the pop counts for the 2012 Select Prizms are so low, especially when compared to later releases. For instance, as of today, PSA graded a total of 6,662 of 2012 Select Basketball cards, compared to 49,115 of 2020 Select Basketball cards.
Not only are these cards rarer, but the set contains several players who will be Hall of Fame bound in the next 5-15 years. The list includes Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Anthony Davis.
Recent sales of Select Prizms from 2012 paint the story vividly, with some graded copies going for barely the cost of grading (all values via Card Ladder):
| 2012 Select Prizm & Grade | Pop Count | Sales Price |
| Kevin Durant #88 PSA 9 | 62 | $23 |
| Kobe Bryant #54 PSA 9 | 87 | $164 |
| LeBron James #66 PSA 9 | 95 | $204 |
| Stephen Curry #39 (raw) | NA | $125 |
| Vince Carter #29 (raw) | NA | $11 |
| Derrick Rose #20 (raw) | NA | $11 |
When basketball is this cheap, it only stands to reason that hockey and football (two other Select releases) will make for great opportunities as well. Those sets began in 2013, one year after the NBA release covered here.
2000 Upper Deck Game Used Jersey Autos
Much like how the 2012 Select Prizms paved the way for our modern obsession with Silver Prizms, 2000 Upper Deck Game Used Jersey Auto inserts were an early pioneer in game-used patch auto cards.
The MLB set contains 13 cards, including stars like Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, and Ken Griffey, Jr. The NFL set consists of two parallels, a silver with 27 cards and gold with 21 (Marshall Faulk, Peyton Manning, and Kurt Warner well represented).
In the grand scheme of patch autos, the 2000 Upper Deck cards are very affordable. Ivan Rodriguez’s #H-IR card, for instance, sold ungraded for $40 in 2024. Also ungraded, Cal Ripken’s #H-CR sold for $99 in June, 2024. The set’s most valuable card, Derek Jeter’s #H-DJ, sold for $466 in 2024 (PSA 8, pictured above).
$466 might sound like a budget-breaker in a vacuum, but when compared to the star-studded MLB patch autos currently on sale (Shohei Ohtani’s 2022 patch autos consistently top $1,000), it’s a significant drop in price. And it bears repeating the Jeter is consistently the most valuable card of the set.
1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractor /100
Next up, we have the 1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractor numbered out of /100. The ’98 Atomics resemble the Panini Cracked Ice parallel of modern day sets. For this card, we’re primarily focused on baseball, football, and hockey Atomic Refractors, which have gone under the radar.
Basketball, on the other hand, tends to achieve higher prices, with stars like Jason Williams, Chauncey Billups, and Tim Duncan Atomic Refractors having sold for hundreds (if not north of a thousand) of dollars over the last few years. Nonetheless, even those basketball cards sell for a bit less than some of their 1998 counterparts and could well be worth a peak.
As for non-basketball Atomics, they tend to sell for very fair prices considering they are an early, OG ’90s parallel that is serial numbered and stunning. We believe these cards make for a great PC addition, and hopefully a return on investment in coming years.
Here are some recent sales of affordable Atomic Refractors across sports:
| 1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractor | Sales Price |
| Karl Malone #80 (raw) | $140 |
| Mark Messier #5 (raw) | $140 |
| Mike Mussina #63 (raw) | $129 |
| Patrick Roy #28 (raw) | $109 |
| Antonio Freeman #75 (raw) | $103 |
| Andy Pettitte #39 PSA 9 | $93 |
As far as the Marshall Faulk shown above in Mint condition (pop 2), it’s listed for $279 on eBay. Not exactly a drop in the bucket, but for a premium HOF player? We think it’s not a bad price, and could sell for even cheaper given that’s the asking price.
Buyer Beware: when shopping for ’98 Atomic Refractors, be sure to stay away from cards that do not have a serial number stamped onto the card (e.g. xx/100). These are likely back-door copies which were intended to act as replacements for damaged cards, but somehow made it into the marketplace. Avoid them at all costs as they are less desirable, and sell for cheaper prices as a result.
2001 Ultra WNBA Rookie Cards
Wrapping up our list of underrated sports cards, let’s switch gears and highlight a league receiving considerable spotlight in recent months. A few weeks back, we highlighted why the WNBA might be having itself a moment and how that could positively affect the sports cards market. Our verdict was that if the so-called “Caitlin Effect” (named for Caitlin Clark, the much-hyped and much-fouled Indiana Fever rookie) extends to WNBA cards, collectors should get in now before the prices soar.
Among the sets that could be affected is the 2001 Ultra WNBA. It’s not necessarily the flashiest or packed with the most inserts, but in terms of star power, it’s tough to beat.
The 2001 WNBA draft class is often bandied about as one of the best ever. The “ridiculously talented” crop includes Lauren Jackson’s #129 card and Tamika Catchings’ #127 card. Additional stars from this set include Jackie Stiles, Deanna Nolan, and Penny Taylor.
Catchings’ PSA 10 card, for example, has sold for between $400 and $700 over the last few years, while ungraded versions of the same card typically sell for $30 to $50. With a good eye and a fortuitous grading process, a collector could reap significant reward with this card given its gem rate is almost 30% at PSA.
The case for 2001 Ultra WNBA is simple: the current attention on WNBA games and cards could extend retroactively to previous legends as more fans become acquainted with the sport.
Another big boon for the 2001 Ultra WNBA cards is a supremely low pop count. PSA has graded a total of 354 cards from this set, with nearly half being Jackson and Catchings’ cards. This low pop count suggests that these cards will certainly retain their values over time — although it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the counts to climb with WNBA exposure at its heights.
And if you’re looking for additional WNBA sets worth exploring, check out the 2016 Rittenhouse and the 2019 Donruss Signature Series Gold /10 cards (but they’re not nearly as underrated).
Summary: Underrated Sports Cards
All seven cards discussed on this list present an excellent opportunity for potential upside. But as with most topics we cover on this site, the cards you acquire largely depend on your individual goals.
For example, if you’re looking for quick flips, then waiting for Atomic Refractors to boost in value might not be for you. For those hunting for cards off the grid, or shiny additions for the personal collection, look no further.
And if our list spurs you to consider other underrated sports cards, consider the factors we evaluated:
- aesthetic quality (shiny & gold never gets old)
- serial-numbered cards (explicit print runs)
- pack odds, pop counts, & general rarity
- relative prices to other cards and sports
Remember that bargain finds are out there waiting to be discovered, but we shouldn’t forget the typical rules that govern the hobby. Just because a card sells for cheap now doesn’t mean it will jump down the line. Conversely (and the primary reason we wrote this post), just because a card sells for cheap now doesn’t mean it will sell cheap forever.
Are there underrated sports cards that you feel deserved a mention? Let us know in the comments below!
