All (Cards) Rise: How Aaron Judge’s Record-Breaking Season Has Dominated the Hobby

It would be a disservice to Aaron Judge‘s card market to pretend that his key rookies went from nothing to something during his record-breaking 2022 season.

Judge’s 2017 Topps Chrome Base PSA 10, for example, was selling for around $70 back on April 8 for New York’s home-opener against the Red Sox. While that card didn’t feature a huge price tag, it’s still more expensive than what Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2019 Topps Chrome Base PSA 10 ($54) was selling for on the final day of the regular season, and just as expensive as Ronald Acuna Jr.’s 2018 Topps Chrome Base PSA 10 ($70).

That $70 Topps Chrome has been the card collectors have targeted during Judge’s run to an American League-record 62 home runs, with over 700 sales during the regular season, according to Market Movers. It’s important to note, however, that April 8’s price is not today’s price.

Since that $70 price point, Judge’s Topps Chrome PSA 10 has soared 382% across those 723 sales to a new average of $333 on the final day of the regular season. Over the last 180 days, only six baseball cards in a PSA 10 with a minimum price of $30 have sold more often than Judge’s Topps Chrome Base. And of those six cards, only Julio Rodriguez’s 2019 Bowman Chrome Prospects (1st) is selling for more than $100.

It hasn’t just been this Topps Chrome Base for Judge either. Almost his entire portfolio of cards tracked by Market Movers is up over the last six months. Over the last 180 days, Judge is sixth in PSA 10s sold among baseball players, and only Judge (+270%) and Pete Alonso (+4.5%) have managed to maintain positive price growth on those collections despite the massive volume.

Diving deeper into Judge’s Market Movers portfolio shows some expected winners from the last six months. The paper 2017 Topps Base PSA 10 has been Judge’s second-most popular card over the last 180 days, jumping 371% from a $61 average to $287.

Strictly looking at price growth, Judge’s biggest riser over the last six months has been his 2013 Bowman Draft Chrome Draft Picks PSA 10. That card has jumped 727% over the last 180 days from a $104 average to $860. And in terms of the biggest dollar riser, Judge’s 2013 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospect Auto PSA 10 has been the winner — that card has sold 19 times over the last 180 days while jumping 583% for a $7,255 price change. Originally selling for around $1,245, that card is now averaging $8,500.

And as expected, we see incredible positive price growth if we pull our view out even further using Market Movers’ Market Pulse Index. Using the Baseball (2010-2017) Index — Sports Card Investor’s curated list of the most important cards from that period — we can see Judge in the top spot in terms of price percentage growth over the last 180 days. In fact, Judge takes up the top four spots, and five of the top six.

Judge has clearly been king of the baseball market, but it’s fair to wonder how he’s stacked up against basketball, football and even the non-sports or TCG categories now tracked by Market Movers.

Looking at price growth percentage for all PSA 10s that have sold for more than $30 at least 10 times over the last 180 days, Judge owns every single card in the top 10, 15 of the top 20, and 24 of the top 40. So he’s pretty much king of those categories, too.

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