Leaf releases 'SI For Kids' themed sports cards for a limited time
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Leaf has released cards that tug at the nostalgic heart strings. They've come out with a set that emulates the Sports Illustarted for Kids cards. The ones kids can punch out in the back, that are now for sale on Leaf's website.
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Cards are available for collegiate football players Bryce Underwood, Diego Pavia, Fernando Mendoza, and Jeremiyah Love. Also available is one for pickleball player Anna Leigh Waters.
The cards, according to the product pages, are available for one week for purchase. After that Leaf will start printing them and shipping in one to two weeks. Buyers will find that the cards they receive will have serial numbers, in accordance with how many are ordered. Leaf said they'll release new players every week.
Sports Illustrated for Kids started in 1989 and have had one sheet of perforated cards per edition. While most don't hold any value outside of being fun for the kids, some of well-known athletes have done well on the market. Victor Wembenyama, for example, is one athlete who's SI for Kids cards did well. His cards ballooned in value due to his hype. Before he was even drafted he was making highlight reels, and his only card available was his SI for Kids. The card still goes for north of $200 sometimes in graded slabs, according to eBay sold listings.
One of the most famous, however, is of Tiger Woods. His card was issued in 1996, and still continues to sell for hundreds in a graded slab. On Fanatics Collect a PSA 8 sold for $690 on November 9, 2025, according to 130 Point.
Leaf certainly picked a design that will cover a wide range of generations. Starting all the way back in 1989, collectors in their 40s will understand the gravity of a card design like those in Sports Illustrated for Kids.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz