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Justin Jefferson rookie card, young QBs set records in PWCC auction
It has taken just three years for Justin Jefferson to become the NFL’s top wide receiver and the Minnesota Vikings star is well on his way to becoming one of the all-time greats.
The former LSU star led the league with 128 receptions and 1,809 yards last year to become the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. The three-time All-Pro already has 324 catches for 4,825 yards and 25 touchdowns in just three years with the Vikings and was the top pick in many fantasy football drafts heading into the 2023 season.
Jefferson’s trading cards are also starting to get some love.
Jefferson’s 2020 Panini Prizm Black Finite 1/1 #398 rookie card sold for $57,600 Thursday night in the August Premier Auction at PWCC Marketplace. The card, graded PSA 9 Mint, is Jefferson’s highest-selling trading card to date and the most expensive NFL card sold this year for an active non-quarterback and the highest-selling card among any active wide receiver.
The sale also puts Jefferson in elite company — he climbs to No. 2 among wide receivers with the most expensive cards, trailing only football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, who holds the current record at $150,000. Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss round out the top four.
The Jefferson rookie card is one of several to set records in PWCC’s August auction, which netted more than $4.1 million in total sales.
Other young NFL stars also got in on the record-setting action, with cards of quarterbacks Jordan Love and C.J. Stroud both attracting big dollars.
Love’s 2020 Panini Prizm Black Finite Rookie Auto card (1/1, PSA 8, AUTO DNA 10) sold for $28,000, a record for Green Bay’s new starting QB. A father and son pulled the card from a Panini Prizm pack during the National Sports Card Convention in Chicago.
Stroud’s 2023 Panini Instant Premiere First Look Black Rookie Auto card (1/1, BGS 8.5) sold for $6,750 to become the rookie QB’s highest-selling card. It is the first licensed card to show the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft in his Houston Texans uniform. The Black parallel is the only copy in existence.
Other big sales in the auction include:
• 1990 Sports Illustrated for Kids Tony Hawk Rookie #152 (PSA 10 GEM MINT), which sold for $15,000 to become the highest-selling skateboarding trading card to date. The card is from a special nine-card sheet included in the May 1990 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids. It is one of only three examples to earn PSA’s top grade.
• 1997 Skybox Metal Universe Platinum Portraits Michael Jordan #1 (PSA 10 GEM MINT), which sold for $90,000, a record for the card. The Platinum Portraits issue is from a 15-card set featuring NBA stars in a Hall of Fame bust-like photo. It is extremely rare with a pull rate of one in every 4,320 packs. It is one of only 17 examples to earn a PSA 10 grade.
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
