Hobby education: Traits that smart buyers evaluate before buying cards (part 2)

Card collectors check out the items for sale during Cards on the Coast Sports Card and TCG Show Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025 at Sanders Beach Corrine Jones Resource Center. | John Blackie/Pensacola News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Welcome to Part Two in this short series where we explore multiple elements, beyond just a cards grade, that smart buyers should consider before they pull the trigger.

Part One can be found at Hobby Education: What Smart Buyers Look for Before Buying Cards (Part 1) which analyzed how card grades are important, but so too are other elements and features that make a card feel right for a buyer and collectors. These include color match, cameos, player pairings, and the jersey the player is wearing.

In Part Two addresses four additional factors, but these are elements that make a card feel special. These distinguishing features can dramatically impact the value of low-grade cards or make a card that only appears average on a listing turn out to be fantastic.

Jersey Number Match

A jersey number match happens when the serial number of a card matches the player's jersey number. For any player with a non-zero jersey number, you can find jersey match serial numbered cards that frequently sell for a premium.

One card that demonstrates the jersey number effect perfectly is LeBron James' 2003-04 Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch autograph card (#78). At the October 25, 2021 Goldin Auction, two BGS 8.5 copies numbered to 99 were sold. One had serial number 23/99, the other was numbered 32/99.

Two BGS 8.5 Lebron James rookie cards numbered to 99 that sold on the same day for vastly different price due to the serial number | Conor B. McGrath

The one serial numbered to 23, which matched LeBron's rookie Cavs jersey number, sold for nearly double what the other one sold for. The 23 sold for $2.64M, while the 32 sold for roughly $1.27M. The same grade and the same digits, reordered, yet the price difference was staggering!

Patch Traits

For cards with game-worn elements, typically in the form of patches, the patch traits themselves can have a big impact on the card's value, since not all patches are created equally. Patch traits can have an impact on eye appeal as well, for better or worse.

There are two general rules of thumb with game worn elements and patch traits:

1. More 'Patch Colors' Is Better

Joe Burrow three-color autograph patch rookie vs a two-color autograph patch rookie | Card Ladder

Collectors tend to love color, variety, and complexity. When you look at a patch or other game used element, look for two, three, or more color elements.

For example, the above Joe Burrow autograph patch rookie card on the left, with a three-color patch sold for $103K, while the exact same card on the right with just two colors didn't even get half that. Just a slight sliver of additional color can double a card's value.

2. Unique elements fetch a premium

But one of the best extras is on the Tom Brady Bowman baseball card (12/50), where he includes "If baseball doesn't work out, there's always football."

2023 Bowman Chrome Tom Brady Draft Refractor Montreal Expos #95B-TB (12/50) | Card Ladder

Brady has a few extras he likes to throw in, and those little extras can go a long way in the eyes of a collector. Case in point, a Tom Brady and Peyton Manning dual autograph card recently sold on eBay for $32K, more than $14K higher than the next highest-selling dual auto featuring these two legends. One clear reason why was the extra inscriptions from both players.

Eye Appeal

Eye appeal might be the hardest one to explain since it's also the most subjective. Generally speaking, eye appeal is the overall visual attractiveness of a card.

Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder, so eye appeal can vary significantly from one collector to the next.

Some PSA 1 Ruth cards still have excellent eye appeal. | Card Ladder

However, there are some generally accepted principles that lead to higher eye appeal including the card's centering, crisp images (as opposed to blurry or faded), color, and damage type (assuming there is damage to some degree).

Eye appeal is a hotly debated topic, especially among vintage collectors. For more on eye appeal, check out The Art of Eye Appeal.

Collectors who understand these details, however small, can consistently spot value others may miss.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/collectibles as Hobby Education: Traits That Smart Buyers Evaluate Before Buying Cards (Part 2).