Does Josh Allen Need a Super Bowl Win to Raise His Card Values?
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Whether you're a member of the Bills Mafia or not, it's hard not to like Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback led his team to a last-minute Wild Card over Jacksonville. It was a critical win for Allen, as it proved he could win a playoff game on the road. He needs to play his best if Buffalo is going to have any chance at a Super Bowl this year. Winning that ring might be enough to cement his card values.
If you've been following Allen's hobby sales, you know that cards for the four-time Pro Bowler and 2024 MVP are wildly expensive, considering he's never won a Super Bowl. To justify those prices, he must add a ring to his resume.
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Josh Allen Card Sales
According to Card Ladder, there are 23 Allen card sales that top $100K, including five that have exceeded $200K. His highest selling card is a PSA 10 2018 Panini National Treasures Patch Autograph Holo Gold #163 (/10), that sold for $288K in May, 2022.
His high-end cards have come down slightly since the '21/'22 COVID card bubble, but some are still easily clearing six figures. In September 2025, a one-of-one autographed rookie of his sold for $183K.
Comparing to quarterbacks without a Super Bowl
No matter how you slice it, multiple six-figure sales for a quarterback without a Lombardi Trophy is absurd. Collectors across sports reward success in the form of titles and little else matters. To prove this, let's take a look at the top sales and six-figure sales counts for a few other unbelievable quarterbacks who never brought home the hardware.
Dan Marino Cards
The Miami Dolphins legend is arguably the best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. A member of the stacked 1983 NFL Draft class, Marino has plenty of accolades to his name, including 9 Pro Bowl selections, the 1984 MVP, 1998 NFL Man of the Year, and he led his team to the playoffs ten times, including one Super Bowl appearance. But despite all his success, he only has a single card that's cleared the six-figure mark.
That card was the one above, a PSA 7 E-X2001 Essential Credentials Now that sold for $108K in October, 2024. However, almost exactly a year later it was resold at half price, selling for $56.4K in October, 2025.
Jim Kelly Cards
Thirty years before Josh Allen, there was Jim Kelly. Kelly was in the same draft class as Marino and had an equally impressive career. His stats aren't as impressive as Marino's, but he helped lead the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990-93, although Buffalo came up short each time.
Kelly has zero card sales at or above $100K. In fact, the highest selling Kelly card is a PSA 10 1984 Topps USFL rookie card (#36) that sold for a humble $11K in February, 2025. Even when featured alongside Allen on extremely rare case hits like a PSA 10 Gold Downtown, Jim Kelly cards are not selling for much. That Allen/Kelly Downtown sold in March, 2025 for $5,452.
Philip Rivers Cards
Outside of the 1983 NFL class there's Philip Rivers, who was drafted fourth overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the Giants and promptly traded to the Chargers where he played from 2004-2019. Rivers was an outstanding QB and the hype around him at a young age was incredible. In 2006, Sports Illustrated named him the second best quarterback under 25. However, he always came up short in the playoffs, only appearing in a single AFC Championship game in 2008 against the Patriots.
Like Kelly, Rivers' card sales are unimpressive. The highest selling solo card of his is a PSA 10 2004 SP Authentic Autograph Rookie Patch #214 (/299) that sold for $6.1K in October 2024. The next highest seller is the one above, a BGS 8.5 one-of-one 2013 autograph NFL shield card that sold for $4,469 on October 16, 2025.
Basketball comps tell the same story
At the risk of belaboring the point, let's also look at basketball card sales. When you do you see the same story emerge. Basketball superstars including Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Elgin Baylor, and Vince Carter all had incredible careers, put up insane numbers, but never won a championship, which is reflected in their card values.
As a result, their card values are stunted relative to their title-toting peers. In fact, across all five of those guys there are only three total sales over $100K. Elgin Baylor has two of those, with a PSA 10 1969 Topps card (#35) that sold once in 2023 for $193.4K and again in 2024 for $120K. Karl Malone has the other, with a BGS 7.5 1997-98 Emerald Precious Metal Gem that sold for $127.4K in 2022.
Window is closing on Allen
Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes were both 24 when they got their first ring. Joe Montana was 25.
John Elway did not win his first Super Bowl until he was 37 years old. Matthew Stafford won at 34. Steve Young's first and only was at 33. Peyton Manning was 30.
Allen turns 30 in May. Sure, that's not old for quarterback standards, especially if he's on Brady's timeline. But still, collectors who have paid the big bucks for his cards want to see the Bills win their first Super Bowl as soon as possible.
Right now, Allen's card market is simple: win a ring and values shoot up, fail to do so and his cards may crash.
Conor is a life long sports card enthusiast who started collecting in the early ’90s, inspired by hometown heroes like Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz. Like many ’90s hoops fans, he also started building (and continues to build) a modest Michael Jordan collection.