An 11-year-old boy from Los Angeles who Paul Skenes MLB -debutpatch card will probably sell it for more money than Skenes will earn from his 2025 basic salary with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
With 56 bids from Wednesday evening, the gem-mint PSA 10 regulated signed one of one ROKIE card with the patch that SKENES wore on his Jersey sleeve during his major league debut has a High bid of $ 550,000 From this letter. That would mean with the premium of the auction house (to be donated to the Los Angeles fire brigade and the Red Cross), the new owner of the card should have $ 660,000 pony for one of the most hyped cards in the hobby.
And there is still enough time for more bids, because the auction for the card on fanatics ends on March 20.
At one point, SKENES can earn $ 44 million per season if he continues his current process. For now, the Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Pitcher will earn a basic salary of $ 800,000 this season this season, via Spotrac.
The SKENES MLB debutpatch card already has a price tag that is more than four times higher than the most expensive sale of one of its other cards. The previously high figure was determined by the unique 2023 Bowman Draft Prospect Superfractor card from the pitcher (PSA 7 Card Grade, 10 Auto Grade), which sold last September for $ 123.200 via Goldin auctions.
Since the beginning of 2024, there have been 29 sales of individual cards for at least $ 500,000 documented by the database of the card ladder. Only six tickets in that period have sold publicly for more than where the SKENES card is from Wednesday morning:
- $ 1.37 million: 1916 M101-4 Sports Babe Ruth Blanco Back Rookie PSA 7 degrees (Heritage)
- $ 1.2 million: 2003-04 Upper collection upper deck LeBron James Rookie patch signature numbered 18 of 23; Beckett 8.5 Card Grade, 10 Auto Grade (Goldin)
- $ 1.0 million: 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente PSA 9 (Heritage)
- $ 860.100: 2023-24 Panini Prizm Victor Wembanyama Nebula Choice Prizm, numbered 1 of 1, PSA 9 (Goldin)
- $ 701,500: 1997 Skybox Ex 2001 All iverson Essential references now, numbered 2 of 3, PSA 5 (Heritage)
- $ 579,500: 1997-98 Skybox EX 2001 Kobe Bryant Essential references now, numbered 1 of 8, Beckett 9 (Goldin)
(The record card sales of Shohei Ohtani came in November, when his Bowman Chrome Rookie signatures 2018 Oranje Refractor sold to 25 in an unspoilt BGS 10 degree for $ 533.140.)
The Skkenes MLB debut patch card will push the $ 500,000 card, a sign higher when the auction ends next week. But how high will this card eventually go? Here are some guesses of AthleticsStaff:
Larry Holder
I have registered that this card could reach the price tag of $ 1 million. Is that too low since we are more than halfway? What makes me believe that this could be the case is what Nick Bell, CEO of Fanatics Live Collection and Fanatics Live, told me just before the auction was opened in front of the card:
“I can clearly tell you that we get a lot of income from this, and the incoming we have received for this card is not only from large collectors who usually circle a kind of card, but also of a couple of non-collectors who are really interested in this card for their first type of large acquisition in space.”
The interest of the non-traditional crowd could make this card more unique than the top dollar Honus Wagner or Mickey Mantle cards. Those cards can sell for more, but there is only one Skkenes debut patch card and the hype around it can be unparalleled for a modern card.
So I am still bullish on a sale of seven digits. I will guess $ 1.1 million Will be the last bid.
Caleb Mezzy
When the Skenes MLB debut patch landed in the hands of an 11-year-old child who decreased the offers of everyone from the Pirates and Livvy Dunne to Ken Goldin, I predicted a healthy $ 2 million.
This is the reason: firstly, a chase was stimulated by the premium offer of the Pirates that Willy Wonka would applaud. Then there is Skenes himself, who is perhaps the most generation talent since Stephen Strasburg, when the sports card industry was much smaller. His talent and timing are the following ingredient.
SKENES also had an interesting path from a powerhouse from a college baseball in LSU, where he switched as a catcher at the Air Force. His story, 100-plus MPH Fastball, NL Rookie of the year-season and All-Star Game starts, are a different element. Then there is the story of the 11-year-old child who pulled the map and was held anonymously by Topps to protect his privacy.
But possibly the biggest element in this is the famous girlfriend of Paul Skenes. When he is the face of debut patches, she is the face of zero for the NCAA. Her status of celebrities has paid attention to their relationship and this card, which helps to attract eyeballs and probably bids.
Dan Uthman
Skenes looks like a generation can and he can get even better than he has shown in his professional career. But we are talking about a lot of money at a time when some financial portfolios have taken a hit. I see the ceiling as $ 1.5 million.
Craig Custance
There is just so much buzz about this card that I think it blows well past $ 1 million and ends up $ 1.7 million. But we are still talking about a pitcher, who is generally not a premium position in collecting, so I am not ready to push it more than $ 2 million.
Brooks Peck
I have to admit that I did not think that bidding on the map would be so high, but it has become clear that interest in this map has crossed the usual collecting circles thanks to all those factors that Caleb has laid above. But how high can those elements push it? Apart from the story, it is difficult to justify a value of seven digits on the map. Pitchers are generally not as appreciated as batters in the hobby and they also have a considerable risk of long -term injury. Although the MLB debut patch cards are incredibly unique items that are just starting to find their foot in space, no other debut patch card has been sold everywhere in the vicinity of where the Skkenes card has already been sold. But with all that said, you can no longer separate the story from the card. It is probably the most recognized and pop culture relevant baseball map of the past 25-30 years. For that reason, I now think that it will take more than $ 1 million, but $ 2 million still seems too far. So I will say it lands around $ 1.4 million.
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(Top photo: Joe Sargent/MLB photos via Getty images)