Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.com.

You are here: Home / Sports Card News / Modern Sports Card News / Olympic Stars Created A Buzz With Collectors, Fans

Olympic Stars Created A Buzz With Collectors, Fans

By

It was another banner year for the U.S. Olympic team. Americans grabbed 40 gold medals to tie China and had 126 medals overall at the Paris Games to lead all nations.

Sure, there were household names like Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Ryan Crouser and members of the U.S. men’s basketball team. But some other Olympians grabbed the spotlight, like track star Masai Russell, rugby player Ilona Maher, weightlifter Olivia Reeves and surfer Caroline Marks.

Several of these athletes have generated some buzz among card collectors, with competition for premium cards on eBay sending prices soaring.

For example, an ungraded, 1/1 Superfractor autograph card of Maher from the 2024 Topps Chrome U.S. Olympics and Paralympics Hopefuls fetched $1.742.58 on eBay in an auction that ended on Aug. 2. That is a staggering amount for a card from a set that was issued on the day that the Olympic cauldron was lit in Paris. There were 48 bids before the card sold.

From the same set — and on the same day — a Superfractor Patch 1/1 card of Maher sold for $1,499 on eBay.

The 1/1 Ledecky Legacy Superfractor from the Topps Chrome set is currently priced at $3,999 or “best offer.” It’s one of more than 1,600 listings for Ledecky cards. Topps went all in on Ledecky in its Chrome U.S. Olympics and Paralympic Hopefuls product, designating her as card No. 1 in the base set (She also appears on card No. 101). She is present in the base autograph set, the eight-card Olympic Champions insert set, has 10 signature cards in the Katie Ledecky Legacy Autograph set and three cards in the Topps Dynasty Autograph Patch set. She is represented nearly four dozen times in the set.

Another Ledecky card — a Topps Chrome Olympics Dynasty Athlete Worn Patch autograph card, numbered 5/5, is being offered for $3,500 on eBay — or, the buyer would accept a “best offer.”

Interest in items featuring Olympic athletes extended right up until the very end of the games.  eBay says global searches for ‘Team USA’ increased over 80%  on the day of the Closing Ceremony (August 11) compared to the Opening Ceremony (July 26).

On Aug 1, when Biles won Olympic gold in the all-around women’s gymnastics competition, global searches for her on eBay increased by 140% over the previous week.  The average price for a Biles card sold since July 1 is over $49. There are currently more than 650 listings for Biles cards on eBay.

It may not be selling for a lot of money, but the Topps NOW card depicting Steph Curry’s “Night Night” pose after he led the U.S. men’s basketball team to victory in the gold medal game against France has been a popular item.

Searches for Curry’s card increased nearly 150% over the previous week after that Aug. 10 game. That is when Curry scored half of his 24 points against France in the final three minutes of the game to lock down gold for the U.S. squad.

Several Curry cards have sold in the four-figure range, and one of them — a PSA 10 refractor rookie card numbered to 500 from the 2009 Topps Chrome set — sold for $68,000 on June 24.

LeBron James cards also shot up during the run-up to the Olympics and during the Games. In a eBay auction that ended on Aug. 15, a 2003 Topps Chrome X-Fractor card of King James that was graded a 9 by Beckett sold for $18,000. On the same day, a 2003-04 SP Authentic rookie autographed card — it was graded 9.5 and the signature was a 10, according to Beckett — sold for $8,800.

The men’s tennis competition also had collectors and fans looking online for two of the sport’s biggest stars. Novak Djokovic faced young rival Carlos Alcaraz again for the gold medal – and this time, the veteran beat out the youngster at Roland Garros on August 4, sending global searches for ‘Novak Djokovic’ up over 450% on eBay compared to average daily searches during the week prior (July 28-August 3). Global searches for ‘Carlos Alcaraz’ increased nearly 70% during the same time period.

For card collectors looking for Olympic heroes, the Paris Games was golden. The 2028 Games will be held in Los Angeles and if the Hobby continues on its current trend, look for more cards, more stars and plenty of interest.

Related Stories:

Notes: 2024 Topps Factory Sets; Olympic Set Goes Chrome; Upper Deck Cards at The Sphere Notes: Special Chrome Boxes at Fanatics Event; Durant Back on Topps; New Midwest Shop Notes: Holliday’s 1st HR Ball Returned; Top ’69 Topps Set Hits Block; Girl Power in Paris; Trading Card Day Notes: Commanders Collector Hoping to Sell to Team; CGC at Fanatics Fest; Topps Olympic Tally Topps NOW Gold Medal Basketball Card Includes Chance to Score a 1-1 Steph/LeBron/KD Autograph Notes: Mountain of NOW; Wemby Bounty; Mahomes Record; Signed NBA Draft Balls; Auction Updates

About Bob D'Angelo

Bob has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 45 years and a blogger for two decades. He is celebrating his 60th year of card collecting, and still counts his 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle as his favorite. You can reach him at [email protected].