The card market has experienced an unprecedented run through the summer and into the fall of 2025.
Collectors spent more than $400 million on cards online in August, the most ever tracked in a single month by Card Ladder, to deliver a third consecutive month of record sales.
At the high end, the market has been defined by sales for key grail cards, including the record $12.93 million paid for the 2007 Upper Deck Exquisite Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant Logoman Autograph 1/1 at Heritage in August.
The recent surge in price for Lionel Messi’s 2004 Panini Mega Cracks PSA 10 has captivated collectors, too, with a series of private sales driving the card’s record high from $336,000 all the way up to $1.5 million earlier this month.
Heritage’s sale of the Jordan-Bryant Logoman was a surprise to some, with vintage cards often dominating the highest ends of the market.
Vintage and pre-war vintage make up six of the top 10 sales and four of the top five all-time, according to Card Ladder’s database.
Some collectors have wondered if the Dual Logoman sale could signal a sentiment shift, especially with a younger generation now playing a bigger role on the secondary market. A review of the top 50 sales logged by Card Ladder each year dating back to 2020 shows there has been a definitive shift in where collectors are spending their money.
But it’s by sport, not era.
So far in 2025, more than half of the top 50 sales recorded by Card Ladder have been basketball cards, with collectors coveting the best of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Baseball, the second-most popular category this year, has featured 13 sales while football, soccer, TCG and Pokémon have made up just nine collectively.
Prior to 2025, baseball had been the top 50’s most popular category in all but one year dating back to 2020, and has accounted for 112 of the 250 sales over that period. Basketball, for comparison over that same period, has accounted for 92 sales.
With 2025 included, the delta closes to 125 sales for baseball and 120 for basketball dating back to 2020.
The shifting sentiment also appears to be felt over more than just the ultra high-end of the basketball and baseball markets. Card Ladder’s Basketball Index, which attempts to capture the overall health of the market, is currently up 29% in 2025 while the Baseball Index is up 17%.
Overall, 29 of Card Ladder’s 35 total indices are up in value in 2025, including the CL50, a hand-selected group of cards that aims to represent the overall card market, which is up roughly 28%.
Though vintage and pre-war vintage make up four of the top five sales of all time, the era is far less dominant when expanded to the top 50 sales of each year dating back to 2020.
So far in 2025, modern (1984-2008) and ultra-modern cards (2009 and newer) have accounted for 33 of the top 50 sales, while pre-war vintage (1945 and earlier) and vintage (1946-1983) have made up just 17.
Vintage and pre-war cards had a resurgence in 2024 with 29 of the top 50 sales, but made up just 81 of the 200 top-50 sales from 2020 through 2023. Pre-war vintage accounted for 14 of the top 50 sales in 2024, but has delivered just three so far in 2025.
Of the 300 top-50 sales from 2020 through 2025 so far, modern and ultra-modern cards have accounted for 173.
The strength of the modern and ultra-modern eras is again felt in Card Ladder’s indices, which capture more than the ultra high-end of the market. So far in 2025, the Modern and Ultra Modern Indices are up 49% and 28%, while Vintage and Pre-War Vintage are up 14% and 16%, respectively.
At the high end, some of that surge can likely be attributed to interest in modern stars such as Jordan, Bryant, James and now Messi. Some could also likely be due to the sizzling Pokémon market, which is up nearly 85% over the last year and 70% in 2025, according to Card Ladder.
Availability could be playing an unknown factor, too. As the market has recently seen with Messi’s Mega Cracks PSA 10, interest in specific cards can rise but not be publicly reflected without reported transactions.
For now, the Jordan-Bryant Dual Logoman is the most valuable sports card in the hobby, but general sentiment is it would be toppled by any of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 10 examples or key copies of the T206 Honus Wagner.
Collectors can’t spend money on cards that aren’t available, however, so it’s been modern basketball atop the market in 2025, and it’s hard to know when that might change.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.