Caitlin Clark Autographed Card Is Destroyed By Water, Still Sells for $512
Caitlin Clark, coming off one of the greatest rookie seasons in WNBA history and winning the Rookie of the Year award, is still seeing highs in her sports card market. So high, in fact, that one of her cards was found in a pond, destroyed by water, and still sold on eBay for $512, as reported by Annemarie of women.on.topps on Instagram:
The eBay seller, dynastycards, who has 100% feedback on more than 1,700 sales, was very honest about the damage in the listing. They added "*READ*" at the very beginning and end of the title, and then wrote in the description:
"This is numbered 30/50 and was lost in transit on its way to be delivered to my home. It was later recovered in a retention pond, still sealed in the bubble mailer, but having taken on water in the card itself. This car has clear and obvious water damage, particularly on the edges and back. However, the front is well preserved and still shines. The autograph still looks perfect and this would be a cheaper alternative for a true collector seeking to add a Caitlin Clark autograph to their collection. The card was allowed to dry for several weeks before sealing in this one touch. You can see visible darkening on the edges of the card due to previous water logging."
They also listed the condition of the card as "Ungraded - Poor." Several photos clearly showing the damage were included.
Even with those warnings, the card sold for $512 after 27 bids.
The card, limited to just 50 copies, does not have another sale in recent months to compare against, but based on similar cards we can tell that this is a very low sale.
The same card, also ungraded, but in base refractor format and not numbered, sold in October for $1,000, as confirmed by 130point.com:
The closest comparable sale is probably the PSA 9 of the 2022-23 Bowman University (not Best, like the $512 sale, but very similar) gold refractor numbered to 50, selling for $6,207.77 in September:
The card, which looks decent on the front, may have been a real steal for a collector looking to add a nice-looking Caitlin Clark autograph on the cheap.
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.