Million-Dollar Cards Are Exploding Again: Could 2026 Shatter the Hobby Record?
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Last year collectors got renewed faith in the state of the hobby with multiple million-dollar sales and records being set across sports cards and comics. Enthusiasm looks to be even stronger this year with over a dozen million-dollar card sales to date, a new record for TCG, and other indicators like multi-million-dollar guitar sales realized through Jim Irsay's collection.
If you were following the hobby and other alternative assets during the first year of the pandemic, you may have assumed there was a correlation between tangible collectibles (like cards) and digital assets like Bored Ape NFTs. By now the dust has settled and it looks like the "collvestor" (collector-investor) has chosen collectibles as their asset of choice.
How the $1M+ Card Market Started in 2025
The first half of 2025 was quiet compared to how the back half of the year played out. The graph below highlights the number of sales from January through June 2025. As you can see, February and March both had three sales at $1 million or more, the maximum seen for that six-month period.
No sale in that period cleared $2 million. The three biggest sales during that time were:
#3 - A PSA 7 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth Blank Back rookie card (#151) that sold for just shy of $1.4 million on February 23, 2025.
#2 - A PSA 10 2003 Upper Deck Exquisite Michael Jordan Number Pieces Autograph serial numbered 15/23 that sold for $1.6 million on April 6, 2025.
#1 - A PSA Authentic T206 Sweet Corporal restored Honus Wagner that sold for $1.98 million on April 27, 2025.
How the $1M+ Card Market Finished in 2025
The back half of 2025 was jam-packed with card news and an abundance of million-dollar sales, including the highest sports card sale ever. August was the hottest month of the year with seven sales of $1 million or more but September held that heat with six monster sales. Things cooled in early fall, but the million-dollar market picked up again in December with four $1M+ sales. In total, there were 19 sales of $1 million or more during the back half of 2025.
Two of the top three $1M+ sales during the back half of last year were $10 million or more, and all three of the top sales last year were basketball logoman cards, which highlights the continued strength and global impact of basketball. The three biggest sales for the back half of 2025 were:
#3 - An ungraded one-of-one 2018-19 Panini Flawless Luka Doncic autographed logoman rookie card that sold for $4.7 million on September 26, 2025.
#2 - An ungraded one-of-one 2006-07 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan and LeBron James dual autograph logoman card that sold for $10 million on September 26, 2025.
#1 - A one-of-one PSA 6 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan dual autograph logoman card that sold for $12.9 million on August 23, 2025.
The Bryant/Jordan dual autograph logoman is the most expensive sports card of all time and the second-most expensive card of any kind. This card was recently in the news after Kevin O'Leary (aka Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank) bejeweled it and turned it into a necklace that he wore to the SAG Awards.
An Impressive Start for $1M+ Card Sales in 2026
Explosive, meteoric, soaring - pick your adjective. The collectibles market so far this year is already breaking records and shows no signs of slowing down. We aren't even a full three months in, and yet there have been 12 (and counting) sales of $1 million or more.
Things started off a bit slow in January with just one sale above $1 million, but February 2026 doubled up on the prior year with six sales of $1 million or more, including Logan Paul's record-setting Illustrator Pikachu.
The million-dollar sports card market so far this year has been dominated by vintage baseball, with four of the top six all featuring baseball players from sets printed in 1933 or earlier, including two T206 Honus Wagner cards. The top three highest-selling cards so far this year are:
#3 - A PSA 1 1909-11 T206 White Border Honus Wagner Sweet Corporal card from the Shields Family collection that sold for just over $5.1 million on February 21, 2026.
#2 - A one-of-one BGS 9.5 2013 Bowman Chrome Aaron Judge Autograph Superfractor rookie card that just sold for $5.2 million on March 12, 2026.
#1 - The highest selling card of 2026 so far is also the highest selling card of all time. That card, of course, is Logan Paul's World-Record PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card that was featured on the Netflix show King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch. This Pikachu card stunned the collectibles market when it sold for just shy of $16.5 million on February 16, 2026, making it the most expensive card of any kind.
Could 2026 Set a New $1M+ Sales Record?
No doubt! For the highest end of the collectibles spectrum, it looks like it's full steam ahead for the $1 million and up "collvesting"-style collector.
This year could easily surpass the 2021 record of 43 million-dollar-plus sales, especially if we see the same summer pop as we have in years past. We may be looking at 50 or more sales at or above $1 million in what is shaping up to be the best year the hobby has ever seen.
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.