Collectibles On SI

$10,000 Mike Trout Rookie Card Found In Goodwill Pallet

Beau Thompson paid $700 for 700 pounds of sports cards at Goodwill, and ended up with what is likely a $10,000 Mike Trout prospect autograph card from 2009 Bowman Chrome

Mike J.W.H.

Jun 3, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout watches from the dugout during the game against the San Diego Padres at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jun 3, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout watches from the dugout during the game against the San Diego Padres at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Beau Thompson, of One Million Cubs Project on YouTube and social media, says he recently bought a Goodwill pallet of sports cards, and made the discovery of a lifetime: a 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects Mike Trout Blue Refractor Autograph, serial-numbered to 150. He posted a photo to Twitter and it blew up:

Thompson told me that the Goodwill pallets cost around $1 per pound, and this one was around 700 pounds. "The pallet was filled with similar boxes inside. Appeared to be a collector that ripped wax and then put all of the cards in storage boxes including all hits."

Goodwill pallet of sports cards that a Mike Trout pre-rookie card was found in
Goodwill pallet of sports cards that a Mike Trout pre-rookie card was found in / Beau Thompson, Twitter

This was the 21st pallet Thompson has purchased from Goodwill. In his first pallet purchase a few years ago, he found a 2011 Topps Traded Mike Trout rookie card in his first pallet that he sold ungraded for $600 during the pandemic boom. He paid $450 for that pallet.

"There’s a lot of cards and a lot of junk in these," Thompson said. "I typically throw away 10,000 cards out of each pallet." He says it's usually easy to make his investment back, though. "There are a surprising amount of modern cards that get donated. The good stuff is always hidden so you have to go through everything."

Thompson thinks this card will grade a 9, and he's going to send it to PSA.

2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects Mike Trout Autograph Blue Refractor
2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects Mike Trout Autograph Blue Refractor / Beau Thompson, Twitter

The card, serial numbered to 150, doesn't pop up for sale very often. The last one to sell publicly in a PSA slab sold for just shy of $20,000 via Goldin Auctions. That one was graded a 9. The 9 peaked at $78,177 in an eBay sale in early 2021, but the Trout market is down considerably since then due to injuries, and the sports card market is also down since that time, when it peaked due to the pandemic.

PSA has only graded 27 of this parallel version. The last PSA 10 sold via eBay auction for $71,802 in 2019, before the pandemic boom started.

Thompson recently found hobby fame when he completed his project to collect one million Chicago Cubs cards, and was honored by a Topps 1/1 Superfractor of himself while throwing out the first pitch at a Cubs game.

Thompson plans to hold onto the card until baseball season starts up again next year.

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Mike J.W.H.
MIKE J.W.H.

Mike runs the hobby YouTube channel Junk Wax Hero, where he talks about a lot of different aspects of the hobby from a collector’s perspective. His most popular series is Attic Find Friday. He also writes a free weekly hobby recap newsletter at junkwaxhero.com. It’s a cliche, but his favorite card is the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.

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