Trading cards are currently experiencing a massive, sustained boom. Younger generations are starting to take up the hobby, and those who traded long ago are rekindling their interest. Whether it’s sports (MLB, NFL, NBA) or non-sports cards (Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering), the sensory driving, nostalgic experience of opening a trading card pack spans all ages and demographics.
Trading cards originated in the late 19th century as promotional inserts in cigarette packs and tea products in the United States and Britain. Known in the early days as “tobacco cards,” these featured athletes, military leaders, and actresses. Topps revolutionized the baseball trading card industry with a 1952 set that established the standard format for modern cards. Now under Fanatics, Topps continues to innovate, making baseball card trading more engaging by blending physical, digital, and on-demand experiences.
David Aven, a native of Batesville, MS, began collecting baseball cards in the 80s and 90s.
“It was a fun hobby to do in the late 80s and early 90s,” shared Aven. “But after I got married and started a family, I quit. Every now and then, I would still buy other people’s collections.”
A few years back, a friend reintroduced Aven to the trading card world and explained how it had changed.
“A good buddy of mine, Brad Mason, walked me through the new style of cards,” Aven explained. “For the last three years, I’ve been collecting the new cards. And it’s always something good in there.”
Aven has been purchasing and collecting baseball trading cards nearly weekly for the last three years.
“If it were up to my wife, I wouldn’t buy them as near as often as I do,” chuckled Aven. “If I ever go to Walmart, or Target, or into town where there’s a GameStop, I’m coming home with some trading cards.”
Aven couldn’t imagine what would be waiting for him after a routine stop to pick up a few packs of trading cards in Grenada, MS, before heading back home.
“That day, I was in Grenada, and went by Walmart and had no luck finding any cards,” shared Aven. “So I went by GameStop, and they had five packs, and I bought four of them. I think I bought $200 worth.”
Aven didn’t open them until he made it back home to Batesville, but vividly remembers when he realized that, finally, after all these years, he had hit a gold mine.
“It was in the second box of four I opened when I got home, and I knew what I had found,” shared Aven. “I started celebrating, and my wife had no clue what was wrong with me. I thought she was going to call an ambulance.”
Aven had found a redemption for the Paul Skenes Gold Major League Baseball Logoman Patch. And it didn’t take him long before he put it up for auction.
“The card sold for $49,000,” exclaimed Aven. “I would get that, and then 15% of the buyer’s fee. But it was valued by Fanatics at $125,000.”
It was the first card Aven ever put up for auction, and he will put the money to good use.
“A big portion of it is going to go to my daughter’s student loans to help her out, and the rest is going into the bank,” shared Aven.
As for Aven, he has no plans of stopping buying trading cards any time soon. It’s the “thrill of the chase” that connects collectors to their youth, favorite characters or teams, and sometimes to the chance of a potential financial gain.
“Topps is inserting an authentic, PSA-graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card as a redemption ticket into a single, random pack of 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball,” shared Aven. “I’d like to find that.”
