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Caitlin Clark making impact on sports card market; Pistol Pete Maravich still a hobby hero
If you’ve seen Caitlin Clark play basketball, you know there just aren’t enough superlatives to describe her. If you haven’t watched her play, your assignment is to go directly to YouTube, search her name, and watch some highlights. You’ll be wowed by her shooting, passing, rebounding, court sense and pure savvy.
A star for four years at Iowa, the Hawkeyes guard broke not only the NCAA Division I all-time scoring record for women, but for men. On March 3 vs. Ohio State, she broke a long-held mark— 3,667 points—set by Pete Maravich from 1966 through 1970.
Clark, who recently signed an exclusive trading card and memorabilia deal with Panini, was a college star from the get-go, averaging 27 points per game as a freshman and sophomore, and 27.8 as a junior. And with just a handful of games left, she’ll finish her senior year with a scoring average of around 32 points to go with nearly 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Clark is headed for the WNBA, destined to become the No. 1 overall pick in the April 15 draft.
Her eye-opening hoop exploits have attracted legions of new followers who suddenly started watching women’s basketball. The collecting marketplace, too, is on board. We’ve seen Clark cards sell for four- and even five-figure prices, with a 2022 Bowman University 1/1 Superfractor recently selling for $78,000, a record for female basketball cards. And they’re bound to continue soaring as Clark makes the transition to the pro game.
For now, here’s a look at the prices being paid for Clark collectibles:
• $13,433 on 61 bids for a signed 2022-23 Bowman University Chrome “Prime Signature” Superfractor. This 1-of-1 card was graded PSA 9, with a 10 autograph.
• $7,596 on 92 bids for a 2022-23 Bowman’s Best University Red Lava Refractor. Also an autographed card, this Gem-Mint was graded PSA 10 and marked #5/5. Another collector paid $6,767 on 65 bids for a Red Refractor variation marked #9/10 and graded PSA 10.
• $6,206 on 52 bids for a signed 1-of-1 2023-24 Bowman University Chrome Superfractor graded PSA 10.
• $4,072 on 43 bids for an 2023-24 Bowman University Chrome Prospects autographed Orange card graded PSA 10 and marked #3/25.
We’ve also seen Clark-signed photographs sell for prices higher than you’d expect. As examples, an 8x10 posed portrait brought $231, and a signed game-action shot fetched $150.
PISTOL PETE
Even with his longtime college points record having been broken by Clark, Peter Press Maravich (yes, “Press” is his middle name) remains a hobby hero.
Maravich’s rookie issue, from Topps’ 1970-71 set, is iconic. A tall-boy card (2 ½-by-4 11/16 inches), it features a collegiate photo of a mop-haired, baby-faced Maravich kneeling with his arms clutching a basketball.
The reverse is awesome—it gives us one of those classic cartoon factoids (“Pete’s coach at LSU was his father”) along with statistics that are downright gaudy. Maravich averaged more than 40 points in each of his four years at LSU. His final scoring average: 44.2 ppg. Whew! And he did it before the advent of the 3-point shot.
Top-condition Maravich rookie cards usually mean a grade of 8 because 10s are rare. In fact, PSA’s population report shows zero 10-grade Maravich rookies, compared to 86 that have been graded 9. And those are holding their value: PSA 9 Maravich rookies can command $20,000 to $30,000.
What have we seen in terms of Pistol Pete rookies on eBay in recent weeks? We can report a number of deals and steals that reflect a precipitous drop from 9-grade to 8-plus, 8 or 7 grades. Consider these auction prices:
• $2,375 on 27 bids for an SGC 8.5.
• $1,847 on 46 bids for a PSA 8.
• $1,402 on 17 bids for an ungraded example.
• $870 on 21 bids and $830 on 38 bids for two PSA 7 examples.
• $541 on 39 bids for a BVG 7.
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