A few days back I covered what has become an annual tradition where I discuss what my favorite autograph pulls from sealed product were over the course of the year. Today's list is an altered version of that (though there will be some overlap) as I want to go over my 15 favorite adds to my collection over the course of 2025. There is usually some added weight to the provenance of obtaining specific items which is used as tie breakers quite often.
Starting with 15...
15. JJ Wehterholt
I'm going with this card at 15 over bigger historical names strictly due to the fact I feel like I purchased this card for a cost that will soon be far surpassed in value. This is a 1st Bowman /150 auto of one of the best prospects in baseball, and as mentioned multiple times on this blog, Bowman cards can go for big money. I had to put this card on my 2025 top 15 list strictly to me thinking it was a smart business move if I ever I tend to sell. This is similar to when I bought a Lamine Yamal Rookie auto for $170 which now sells close to $1k.
14. Gianluigi Buffon
I love blue shimmer parallel autos. These are often SSP (super short printed) versions of each player with maybe 8-15 total copies made of each auto. They are commonly only available in specific 1st off the line boxes as well, as an added bonus. Adding one of the greatest keepers all time to my collection on a beautiful card was one of my favorite adds.
13. David Robinson
First and foremost, I try to stick to collecting Hall of Famers. When I see a very price friendly deal on an NBA great like David Robinson, I'll pounce. My goal is to get most hall of famers in any sport into my collection some day. This Prizm auto is numbered /35.
12. Roberto Carlos
The thinking on this one making the list is similar to the reasoning behind David Robinson being on it. Roberto Carlos is considered amongst the all time great legends at left back and plied his trade with Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. I shopped around for a Carlos auto for over a year before pulling the trigger on this one from FIFA select.
11. Kon Knueppel
The first carryover from the biggest pulls list finds itself at 11th on this list. I don't need to rehash a bunch here but pulling a rookie on card auto of one of the most hyped rookies in the NBA in the first licensed NBA product Topps has put out in years is a huge hit.
10. Jackson Merrill
For the first time in a long time, I attended an in person, public signing. This was for Padres stud youngster, center fielder Jackson Merrill. It was a fee hour wait but I got both of my cards signed. The one down side was I am not overly thrilled with the yellow paint pen I chose so it is a bit lighter than I was hoping it would look. Overall, the aesthetic wasn't enough to push it out of the top 10. I got two rookie cards signed at this event and Jackson was super cool. It's something I'll attend again if he does another one locally.
9. Dr Jay Julius Erving
I met Dr Jay years ago and got him to sign an 11x14 thst came out great but I wanted to add him on a card as well. This was a private signing that I submitted my card to using my tried and true method of posted signings on sportscollectors.net. This card came out great and the signature really pops.
8. Larry Bird
Another successful private signing for me. I sent this 86 Fleer card to the signing because I really like the way these look signed. This is my second Larry Bird autograph but the first on a card. I've become very card heavy over the last few years since it's so much easier to collect, store, and display these.
7. George Kittle
The story about getting this George Kittle on card auto /25 is nuts and needed to be told again. Essentially, this was my replacement card for a redemption that ended up not being fulfilled in time. Panini sent me this card as a direct replacement for an Erick All Jr /299 rookie auto redemption that they weren't able to get done. When my waiting period ended, they asked if I wanted to keep waiting, get points instead, or take a replacement of "at least" equal value. I went with the latter option and somehow lucked into getting this Kittle card sent to me which is probably 20x the value of the card they couldn't redeem for me. This was a huge come up.
6. Jude Bellingham
I attended a few card trade shows in 2025 after never having really attended one since 2012. I came prepared to sell some stuff to get autos I really liked. During one show in May, I sold a dual downtown of Marvin Harrison Jr and an Ethan Nwaneri rookie auto /50 which I flipped for a Vinicius Jr auto /99 as well as this Jude Belligham rookie auto /99. I also came out a couple hundred bucks ahead in those deals. I'd much rather have the two autos I obtained with the funds I generated from the two sales. This is a formula you will see pop up twice more on this list.
5. Zinedine Zidane
Soccer tends to take up big chunks of my lists because there are just so many globally known superstars, legends, and icons to obtain. The thing about it is also that in the US, soccer still isn't as big as it can be so I do assume some day that prices on guys will go up. It's still some of the most cost efficient ways of adding big names. Even opening product is cheaper soccer than in the traditionally more popular sports in this country. This Zidane auto is numbered to /25.
4. Miguel Cabrera
This signed Miguel Cabrera rookie card is another one of the big signings I participated during 2025. I'm very happy with how this turned out, and Cabrera is one of the most unheralded elite players of his era. He and Albert Pujols pretty much went toe to toe. I highly recommend keeping an eye on all the happenings going on across the country from and autograph signings perspective at sportscollectors.net
3. Kylian Mbappe
As mentioned previously, I attended some card shows this year and was able to flip cards for cash and use that cash on some big names. One show in late August in particular netted me the next two names on this list. I'd been wanting to add Mbappe to my soccer case for awhile and was able to obtain this card. I sold a two cards (including one Cristiano Ronaldo auto) totalling close to $1k and was able to add both this Mbappe and the next card for a couple hundred less than that. Ideally, I keep most of my autographs but when there is a lot of hype around young players, sometimes I gotta take a leap and cash on high in order to add different names. I also still have another Ronaldo auto so it was okay for me to move one.
2. Steph Curry
The other huge autograph I obtained that day was the above Steph Curry autograph. I've been trying to consolidate some of my collection into bigger, long term names and I think 2025 was a great start to this process.
1. Patrick Mahomes
Hitting autos in sealed product will always have a different kind of high than making smart buys via eBay or card shows. Yes, the latter strategy is smarter because you know what you're investing in and you aren't going in blind. With sealed product, you can spend $500 on a box thst nets less than $50 in value. In that case, you're way better off buying a card you want for $500. However, when you find a card like this Mahomes auto /15 and you weren't expecting to see it, that just hits entirely differently. That's why my biggest add in 2025 was this Mahomes Christmas pull.
Comments
Post a Comment