For the uninitiated, sports card collecting may have never been hotter than it is right now (other than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone was trapped inside). Between a heightened interest in collecting as investing along with the creation of some ultra-rare, highly desirable chase cards, hobbyists of all levels are buying up cards at a rate that is pretty impressive.
The biggest players in the space right now are Fanatics/Topps, which are set to own the rights to the NFL, NBA and MLB very soon, but that doesn't mean that they are the only beneficiaries of this current boom. For example, PSA is a card grading company that is currently experiencing, by their own admission, unprecedented demand for their services that has led the company to try to expand to accommodate that growth. However, it appears as though PSA isn't just focused on just expanding their grading operations.
At the moment, the collecting industry is very driven by chase cards. Case in point: There was a frenzy to buy boxes of 2024 Topps Chrome Update as collectors searched for Paul Skenes' rookie logo 1/1 autographed card that ended up selling at auction for a whopping $1.11 million last March. While PSA's newest partnership with MLB Players, Inc., called the Players Collection, probably won't fetch that kind of money per card, it will afford collectors the opportunity to buy high-end cards that their favorite players have pulled themselves on video.
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PSA and MLB Players, Inc. announce Players Collection, which will add a whole new dimension to collecting cards
First of all, the above video is good stuff for those that like watching absolute heat getting pulled out of boxes. While it is unclear what ALL the products that were opened were exactly, we know for certain that Luminaries, Definitive and Diamond Icons (all very high-end products) were among them — and that led to some crazy pulls here.
Here's how the Players Collection works: Starting on Sept. 30, 2025, 60 cards will go up for auction that all were opened by current MLB players (in select cases, with video of the player opening said card to be made available for viewing). Just in the video above, players like Corbin Carroll, Justin Turner, Bobby Witt Jr., Travis Bazzana and many others pulled some huge cards. Aaron Judge collectors in particular may want to make note of this auction, because there are some really nice cards of his pulled in the above video.
The videos will include the players' reactions, exclusive insights and their commentary, which will almost certainly be hilarious.
Again, this is just a really novel and fun twist on what has already become an integral part of the hobby these days. Yes, these cards, especially the already scarce and valuable ones, are going to go for quite a bit of cash, and select cards will have an additional memory of the player(s) that opened it that the owner and fans can watch whenever they want to.
It is unclear whether or not PSA will expand this idea to other sports down the line, but this is one of those innovations that could completely change the game if it goes well. Super collectors will almost certainly be ponying up big-time dollars for some of these cards, and even for those fans that can't afford them or don't want to spend that kind of coin, they will still want to know just how high the bidding can go.