Panini Price Index: Andrew Wiggins, Young QBs & High-End Heavyweights Dominate

Whether you tear into Panini America boxes to build your collection or to eventually sell new-found treasures, there have been plenty of impressive cards found by collectors in recent months. How can you tell?

Simply by searching online auctions — but the Panini Price Index is here to help.

While compiling this latest edition of the Index, it’s apparent that one athlete — Minnesota Timberwolves guard and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins — is boldly leading the way right now. One example? On September 4, a 2014-15 National Treasures Basketball Gold Rookie Patch Autograph sold for $16,222. One reason why this card went for so much? It was serial-numbered 22/25 — the only one matching his uniform number.

That’s not the only big sale of a Wiggins Rookie Card — a pair of National Treasures cards limited to 10 recently sold for $10,000 and $9,350, respectively; and he’s also led the way on cards found in boxes of 2014-15 Gala Basketball, 2014-15 Immaculate Basketball and the Target-only 2014-15 Excalibur Basketball. There, for example, his Kaboom! insert has sold for as much as $1,525 in recent auctions.

But that’s just the start of things with this latest PPI. Keep reading to see a sampling of all the real-world sales after the jump.

Over on the baseball diamond, the recent arrival of 2015 Immaculate Baseball has sparked many sales of game-changing memorabilia cards as well as rarities of retired players who simply haven’t signed much in recent years after leaving the game. This Kris Bryant 1/1 fielding glove card? It sold for $1,499 just a couple days ago. Trumping this impressive piece? There were a few, but one impressive sale was $1,725 paid for a 1/1 Andres Galarraga Immaculate Ink auto. Another was $2,025 for a Bryce Harper bat knob.

—

On the gridiron, recent notable sales are led by the NFL’s top quarterbacks of the last few years as well as this year’s rookie crop. This 2015 Spectra Football 1/1 of  Marcus Mariota sold for $1,900 on Friday, while sales have been noteworthy for Jameis Winston, Bryce Petty, Johnny Manziel and even a few older guys such as Tom Brady and John Elway. None of them touch the demand for Andrew Luck‘s high-end cardboard. How much? Find out in our gallery below.

—

With 2015 Donruss Soccer coming soon, collectors are clearly readying for new cards of international stars while also chasing greats from the landmark 2014 Prizm World Cup release. This Combo Signatures Prizms card of Pele and Cristiano Ronaldo limited to 10 copies sold for $6,300 on Thursday, while a Prizm Black 1/1 of Brazil’s Oscar recently sold for $1,809.

—

On the non-sports front, Miranda Lambert‘s autographs from 2014 Country Music continue to top the eBay charts. Her Authentic Signatures card has sold for $499 in recent weeks, while her Silhouette Materials Signatures cards (above) have done the same.

—

That’s just a small sampling of what’s been discovered in Panini America boxes and sold online. Check out our gallery of notable recent sales below.

Chris Olds is a Dallas-based freelance writer and former Beckett Baseball editor who has covered the sports card industry for more than 15 years. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisolds2009.