Manning Personal Collections Takes Center Stage in PSA’s Super Bowl Spotlight Auction
If you read our earlier breakdown of PSA’s Super Bowl Spotlight Auction—including inscribed cards from the personal collections of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Eli Manning—you already know the headline: this auction isn’t just a high-end sale. It’s a rare peek inside the collections of three quarterbacks who defined the modern NFL. (This explainer also gives you a broader look at how the PSA Vault and Spotlight Auctions work.)
Today, the focus tightens to the Manning side of the story as Peyton and Eli represent two very different types of greatness, and that contrast is exactly what makes their cards feel so compelling to collectors right now.
RELATED: 5 Things to Know About PSA Vault and Spotlight Auctions
PSA’s Super Bowl Spotlight Auction runs Jan. 28 through Feb. 7 on eBay, curated by PSA’s trading card specialists, with lots valued at $1,000+ and a Super Bowl-week crescendo. The key distinction: these aren’t simply Manning-themed cards. They’re Manning-owned cards, with autographs and inscriptions witnessed by PSA’s autograph team and provenance called out directly on the label.
This Auction Isn’t Just Premium—It’s Personal
High-end auctions always have great material. What separates this one is the storytelling. As Justin Wickizer, Director of PSA Marketplace, explained on the Sports Cards Nonsense podcast, Spotlight Auctions are designed to feel like an event: a place where collectors talk through why a card matters—scarcity, history, nostalgia, set value—not just the grade.
RELATED: Brady, Peyton, and Eli Manning Selling Personal Cards In PSA’s Super Bowl Auction
That philosophy becomes even more powerful when the consignors are the players themselves. Wickizer noted that some collectors love the idea of owning something straight from an athlete’s collection, while others gravitate toward inscriptions and career notes because “they make a card feel like a one-of-one, even if there are multiple copies out there.” The Manning lots offer both lanes.
Peyton Manning: The Prototype and the Records
Across 18 seasons with the Colts and Broncos, Peyton Manning threw for 71,940 yards and 539 touchdowns and retired holding the NFL’s all-time records in both categories, along with a record five MVP awards and 14 Pro Bowls. He remains the only quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different franchises and authored one of the most dominant seasons ever in 2013.
For collectors, Peyton's cards have always represented precision, preparation, and offensive mastery. Add the layer of “from Peyton’s personal collection,” and a great card becomes a direct link to the quarterback who redefined how the position is played.
Eli Manning: Big Games, Bigger Moments
Eli Manning’s market is driven less by cumulative volume and more by mythology. Over 16 seasons with the Giants, he threw for 57,023 yards and 366 touchdowns and won two Super Bowls, both against Tom Brady’s Patriots. He earned Super Bowl MVP honors each time. Across those two title runs, he boasted a 15:2 touchdown to interception ratio.
One of the cards from Eli's collection that will be featured in the PSA Vault Spotlight Auction is a 2008 Topps Chrome PSA 10, AUTO 10 card inscribed with the Full ‘Helmet Catch’ Play X&O Play Design. "That to me is the coolest card in this auction," said Sports Cards Nonsense podcast host Mike Gioseffi, who will co-host the final hour of the Spotlight Auction alongside Wickizer on the SCN eBay Live channel.
"It's a Tops Chrome, it's the Super Bowl throwback card, like the look back card. Him in the white jersey, it's a shot from the Super Bowl. and he inscribes the play where David Tyree runs the post route to the middle. Number one, the greatest quarterback scramble in the history of mankind. Rodney Harrison, one of my favorite players of all time, absolutely beats Tyree in midair. And somehow he catches the ball. That is the coolest inscription, and Eli actually drew that himself. I don't know of another card like that that exists. I think that's awesome," Gioseffi said.
Now a modern-era finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026, Eli’s biggest appeal in the hobby is simple: he authored some of the most unforgettable postseason moments of the 21st century. When he inscribes a card with a play diagram or Super Bowl reference, it’s not just an autograph; it’s the quarterback pointing directly to history.
The QB Rivalries That Shaped an Era
Brady vs. Peyton happened 17 times. Peyton vs. Eli played out as a family rivalry. And Eli vs. Brady produced two of the most famous Super Bowl upsets ever. That triangle essentially is the modern quarterback era, and the cards in this auction serve as physical bookmarks from those chapters.
Watch the Final Hour Live on SCN’s eBay Live Channel
Adding another layer to the experience, the final hour of the auction will move to alive broadcast on the Sports Cards Nonsense eBay Live channel, featuring cards from the TB12 Collection as well as Eli and Peyton Manning’s collections, with Gioseffi, PSA’s Wickizer, and a special guest on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. ET, all live from the eBay San Francisco HQ.
For collectors who care about quarterback legacies, provenance, and storytelling, the Manning Collection isn’t just another group of high-end lots. It’s a front-row seat to NFL history.
Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
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