Best rookie auto cards?

[Jeter1020]

I’m new to football still and I wanted to ask what the best brands/sets for rookie autos are besides flawless and national treasures? Any help is appreciated


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[Siberian13]

I’m new to football still and I wanted to ask what the best brands/sets for rookie autos are besides flawless and national treasures? Any help is appreciated


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Contenders autos were considered top autos.

Prizm and Optic autos are the shiny ones. Prizm usually has sticker autos and Opitc may have more on card autos.

Obviously it will change as Panini gets pushed out

[nabzy28]

You're going to get all kinds of different answers for this one. Depending on how long someone has been collecting NFL, you'll have arguments for: SP Authentic, Contenders, Exquisite and I remember when there was argument of Five Star vs. NT in the very beginning.

If anything, just try to stick to 'true' RC autos - no subsets/insert sets - and on-card autographs. If you don't absolutely have to have any of the current or recent NFL RC's, all I know is the full force of the hobby hype influencer machine will be behind Topps next year, once they have the NFL license again. The 'top' RC autos in football will be from high end Topps, whatever that ends up being. Think Definitive and Chrome Superfractors type stuff. Oh, and Debut Patch autos, because you know that's coming.

[slyguy]

It depends... if you want on-card, Donruss Elite (Pen Pals) and Prestige (Passports) are very affordable.

A lot of more expensive sets have mostly sticker autos (Mosaic, Black, Prizm, Optic, etc). Topps will flood the market when they get the license.

In then end, if a rookie (QBs mainly) eventually hits it real big, the high tide carries all ships. Their cards all go way up.

If you want to swing for the fences, the more expensive sets are "better," but just realize 90% of rookies flop, maybe 7% are solid starter, 2% stars... and less than 1% are superstars. Superstars/HOF quality is about all that'll matter in the end; the semistars will just have a relatively small number of PC collectors or collectors who chase that particular player or NFL team. But yeah, the Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Herbert type players will be pretty low value in the end... Mahomes will rise and rise. It's a SUPERstar system.

So yeah, it's more about ID'ing the right player(s) than what set the cards of them are from.
Mahomes non-auto base RCs you could pull in Walmart or Target packs sell for $200-300+ raw.
Auto RCs from high end sets for many other rooks from that year (Watson, Trubisky, Kizer, etc) are basically free.

[TheVolta]

I’m a big fan of Flawless Collegiate. I don’t do the “jersey” cards so that cuts down my options but the cards with ONLY an auto are some of my favorites

[Jeter1020]

You're going to get all kinds of different answers for this one. Depending on how long someone has been collecting NFL, you'll have arguments for: SP Authentic, Contenders, Exquisite and I remember when there was argument of Five Star vs. NT in the very beginning.

If anything, just try to stick to 'true' RC autos - no subsets/insert sets - and on-card autographs. If you don't absolutely have to have any of the current or recent NFL RC's, all I know is the full force of the hobby hype influencer machine will be behind Topps next year, once they have the NFL license again. The 'top' RC autos in football will be from high end Topps, whatever that ends up being. Think Definitive and Chrome Superfractors type stuff. Oh, and Debut Patch autos, because you know that's coming.


I’m looking at mainly trying to stick to on card autos. Prizm is nice but they are all sticker autos unfortunately. I’m primarily looking at draft classes before 2021


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[Jeter1020]

It depends... if you want on-card, Donruss Elite (Pen Pals) and Prestige (Passports) are very affordable.

A lot of more expensive sets have mostly sticker autos (Mosaic, Black, Prizm, Optic, etc). Topps will flood the market when they get the license.

In then end, if a rookie (QBs mainly) eventually hits it real big, the high tide carries all ships. Their cards all go way up.

If you want to swing for the fences, the more expensive sets are "better," but just realize 90% of rookies flop, maybe 7% are solid starter, 2% stars... and less than 1% are superstars. Superstars/HOF quality is about all that'll matter in the end; the semistars will just have a relatively small number of PC collectors or collectors who chase that particular player or NFL team. But yeah, the Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Herbert type players will be pretty low value in the end... Mahomes will rise and rise. It's a SUPERstar system.

So yeah, it's more about ID'ing the right player(s) than what set the cards of them are from.
Mahomes non-auto base RCs you could pull in Walmart or Target packs sell for $200-300+ raw.
Auto RCs from high end sets for many other rooks from that year (Watson, Trubisky, Kizer, etc) are basically free.


I’m trying to stick primarily with the tier below Mahomes/Brady/P. Manning. So Josh Allen, Lamar, Burrow and Hurts. NT and flawless are just too out of my price range with those players but I’d ideally like an on card auto


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[Jeter1020]

I’m a big fan of Flawless Collegiate. I don’t do the “jersey” cards so that cuts down my options but the cards with ONLY an auto are some of my favorites


I could maybe look into college but would want to try professional uniforms first


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[slyguy]

I’m trying to stick primarily with the tier below Mahomes/Brady/P. Manning. So Josh Allen, Lamar, Burrow and Hurts. NT and flawless are just too out of my price range with those players but I’d ideally like an on card auto You can take that strategy if you want, but those guys will end up being the also-rans of the Mahomes era. They won't be worth much.

They seem like a bargain, and they appear to have similar stats... but there's a reason they're priced lower. They'll be MUCH lower as time passes by.
Look at Farvre, Manning, Brees, Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Big Ben, whoever in the Tom Brady era. The prices of the "other guys" are not even close to Brady. Superstar system.

...It'd almost be better to try some Caleb or Maye or even Dart or whoever and hope they might get to superstar status (Mahomes level or even better?). The ones you mention are already into their prime with little to show (Lamar has MVPs but craps out in playoffs repeatedly) or they're even past their prime (window closed fast for the runners or with multiple major injuries). They have already shown they're stars... but not superstars. Allen is close, but that matters little. He won't catch Mahomes, who is his main peer he'll always be compared to. No way Allen suddenly rips off 4 SuperBowl wins all of the sudden. He's a great player - and so is Lamar Jackson... but at best, they'll be an also-ran to Pat like Brees or Aaron Rodgers were always in Tom's shadow. That is why the others are pretty cheap - relative to Mahomes or Brady. In addition to not being as valued, they're also harder to sell (much lower volume on their cards). GL

[Jeter1020]

You can take that strategy if you want, but those guys will end up being the also-rans of the Mahomes era. They won't be worth much.

They seem like a bargain, and they appear to have similar stats... but there's a reason they're priced lower. They'll be MUCH lower as time passes by.
Look at Farvre, Manning, Brees, Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Big Ben, whoever in the Tom Brady era. The prices of the "other guys" are not even close to Brady. Superstar system.

...It'd almost be better to try some Caleb or Maye or even Dart or whoever and hope they might get to superstar status (Mahomes level or even better?). The ones you mention are already into their prime with little to show (Lamar has MVPs but craps out in playoffs repeatedly) or they're even past their prime (window closed fast for the runners or with multiple major injuries). They have already shown they're stars... but not superstars. Allen is close, but that matters little. He won't catch Mahomes, who is his main peer he'll always be compared to. No way Allen suddenly rips off 4 SuperBowl wins all of the sudden. He's a great player - and so is Lamar Jackson... but at best, they'll be an also-ran to Pat like Brees or Aaron Rodgers were always in Tom's shadow. That is why the others are pretty cheap - relative to Mahomes or Brady. In addition to not being as valued, they're also harder to sell (much lower volume on their cards). GL


Jalen Hurts just won a Super Bowl and he’s only 26


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[majestik101]

All the cool kids I know are buying into 2025 Wild Card Pre-Historic football. They're the "bee's knees" I overheard one of them say.

[slyguy]

Jalen Hurts just won a Super Bowl and he’s only 26...That's true. And he was also MVP of that SB... and he was league MVP runner up one year (2022). He puts up good fantasy FB stats with all the rushing and QB sneak TDs. He's on the cover of Mens Health mag this month too.

But if you think he'll ever be considered as good a Mahomes or valued nearly as much, not sure what to tell you. Hurts is not even the most popular guy on his own team (https://973espn.com/the-best-selling-eagles-jerseys-for-the-2024-nfl-season/).

The "discount" you get for buying second and third tier guys is likely to end up very costly in the grand scheme. Price is what you pay, value's what you get. Again, you'd almost be better trying JJ McCarthy or Cam Ward or someone over guys who have been in the league for years and are pretty clearly settled into 2nd or 3rd tier. Look at the historical values for retired QB guys mentioned above... or maybe peep MJ values versus Isiah and Malone and Drexler values.

...And yeah, to your orig question, if you want cheaper on-card autos, PenPals and Passports or some others are affordable. I'm just not sure you're getting value there due to the player(s) whose autos they are, but anything's possible. GLuck

[Jaysabz]

That's true. And he was also MVP of that SB... and he was league MVP runner up one year (2022). He puts up good fantasy FB stats with all the rushing and QB sneak TDs. He's on the cover of Mens Health mag this month too.

But if you think he'll ever be considered as good a Mahomes or valued nearly as much, not sure what to tell you. Hurts is not even the most popular guy on his own team (https://973espn.com/the-best-selling-eagles-jerseys-for-the-2024-nfl-season/).

The "discount" you get for buying second and third tier guys is likely to end up very costly in the grand scheme. Price is what you pay, value's what you get. Again, you'd almost be better trying JJ McCarthy or Cam Ward or someone over guys who have been in the league for years and are pretty clearly settled into 2nd or 3rd tier. Look at the historical values for retired QB guys mentioned above... or maybe peep MJ values versus Isiah and Malone and Drexler values.

...And yeah, to your orig question, if you want cheaper on-card autos, PenPals and Passports or some others are affordable. I'm just not sure you're getting value there due to the player(s) whose autos they are, but anything's possible. GLuck

I've had this back-and-forth with you once before. Hurts took over as the full-time starter in 2021. Fans have had since 2021 to buy Hurts jerseys.

I'm from Philadelphia. Stop citing 2024's jersey sales to say "he's not even the most popular guy on his team..."

Barkley is immensely popular, and his jersey sold a ton because he had an awesome season and was a big part of their success this year and why they're Super Bowl Champions. He might be more popular in Philadelphia than Hurts. But you'd need to do a survey, not look at the jersey sales from one record-breaking season.

Eagles fans don't buy a new Hurts jersey every season. I'll bet you any amount of money that you'd be willing to put on the table that there are more Hurts jerseys in circulation in Philly than Barkley jerseys.

I have both - but I've had Hurts longer. I bought a Barkley in 2024, because that's the year he joined the team. But by citing this year's jersey sales as the reason for Hurts "not even being the most popular guy on his team" is flawed on so many levels.

Maybe he's not - but one years' jersey sales isn't the litmus test for "who's most popular on his team." Especially in a city with rabid fans - many of whom have a ritual of buying a new jersey at the start of every season.

By the way - OP was asking about which BRAND of cards were best for rookie autos besides Flawless and N.T. We appreciate your thoughts on the QB card market, but he was just looking for brands. He didn't ask about 8-year-old Mahomes non-auto base rookie card values from off-brands. :rolleyes:

[Jaysabz]

Hurts is not even the most popular guy on his own team (https://973espn.com/the-best-selling-eagles-jerseys-for-the-2024-nfl-season/).

PS - On top of everything else I said, you're the king of irrelevant links. The date of your linked article is September 18, 2024. Barkley had played in two games as an Eagle at that point.

:doh:

[JPSportshack]

Depending on how long someone has been collecting NFL, you'll have arguments for: SP Authentic, Contenders, Exquisite and I remember when there was argument of Five Star vs. NT in the very beginning. SPX was seen as SPA's "little brother" at the turn of the century. Their RPAs had the game used jersey as part of the "X". I was a big Urlacher collector and thought his SPX card was his best RC followed by his autographed SPA insert card.

[GrailChase]

I’m new to football still and I wanted to ask what the best brands/sets for rookie autos are besides flawless and national treasures? Any help is appreciated


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Which year?

[Jeter1020]

Which year?


2020 and 2018. Mostly because of Baker and Hurts because they are Oklahoma QBs


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[daveyc1]

Contenders rookie ticket had that reputation for 25 years. that is about to come to an end now with topps taking over.

[jcp2]

I stick to on card stuff for the most part. Sometimes i have no choice like Joe Alt. I can't find a single on card with the exception of Topps. I like the origin on card autos, pen pals, some of the other prestite on cards and the donruss optic and contenders optic seem to be the big dogs money wise. If you collect someone get their contenders on card, optic or otherwise.

[livfreely]

Topps chrome will take over now


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[Siberian13]

Topps chrome will take over now


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If we get on card Topps chrome autos with nfl logos, I’ll be so happy.

[Jeter1020]

I stick to on card stuff for the most part. Sometimes i have no choice like Joe Alt. I can't find a single on card with the exception of Topps. I like the origin on card autos, pen pals, some of the other prestite on cards and the donruss optic and contenders optic seem to be the big dogs money wise. If you collect someone get their contenders on card, optic or otherwise.


I’m going to stick to contenders. Thank you!


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