In March, Clark’s one-of-a-kind 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signature Gold Vinyl card sold for $366,000 at auction, setting a new all-time record for a women’s sports card (a Serena Williams 2003 NetPro rookie patch autograph card that sold in 2022 for $266,400 previously held the record). According to CardLadder, which tracks individual trading card sales across multiple marketplaces, each of the top 37 most valuable WNBA cards of all time are Clark cards even though it’s been less than a year since they first started appearing in WNBA releases.
So what are the best options when it comes to starting a collection of Clark trading cards? Here are our picks.
Top pick (full recommendations below)
2024 Panini Select WNBA #218 Courtside rookie card
This is my best recommendation based on its relatively low print run compared to traditional base rookie cards. The card’s significant demand combined with its affordable price tag in a gem-mint PSA 10 grade (currently about $200) makes it especially appealing to collectors who want a more limited Clark base rookie card.
Things to know before buying
The value of sports cards can fluctuate for various reasons such as condition, print runs, or graded population. Other factors that can cause prices to go up or down include player performance, market trends, and health of the wider economy. The secondary sales market for individual cards of a given sport generally hits its lowest point during the offseason (in other words, you can usually find better prices in the offseason than during the season). My recommendations are not an attempt to promote specific investment behavior or trading advice, but to guide and inform readers about popular and unique cards that are celebrated by the sports card community.
Ultimately, the best cards to collect are always the ones you will personally enjoy most, regardless of whether they go up or down in value. The recommendations below should serve as a starting point for cards to consider, but a big part of the fun in collecting is the hunt for the cards you like.
“Raw” cards vs. Graded cards
Cards can come out of the pack (their “raw” state) with a wide variety of imperfections that can impact their value. Card grading is a process in which an expert of the field determines the condition of a card based on a number of factors (including corner sharpness, image centering, print imperfections, and more) and assigns a numerical grade, usually on a scale of 1-10 (with the latter being close to ...
