On New Year’s Day 2025, Topps put a sports card twist on an old holiday by turning Jan. 1 into “1 of 1 Day” — an occasion to celebrate one-of-a-kind cards across the hobby. It immediately took off on social media, with everyone from actress Emma Roberts to rival manufacturer Panini and thousands of collectors showing off their favorite 1/1s throughout the day.
So on this second annual 1 of 1 Day, The Athletic is looking back on some of our favorite 1/1 card stories from the last year. Given how highly coveted and valuable 1/1 cards can be, they tend to invite all the elements that make for a good story: controversy, mystery, shock, joy, humor, life-changing windfalls, and a variety of other twists and turns. The stories below had a bit of all of that and more.
Meeting the 11-year-old collector who pulled the Paul Skenes MLB Debut Patch: ‘I was shocked’ — The year started with what would be a running theme for the chronically online segment of the hobby: controversy born on social media. Some people doubted that an unnamed 11-year-old hit 2024’s most talked about card on Christmas morning, but The Athletic’s Larry Holder was able to speak to the boy and his parents before the card eventually sold at auction for more than $1 million this year.
What happens when you pull Jayden Daniels’ biggest rookie card: Navigating bounties and freak outs — Little did we know that Daniels’ 1/1 Panini Prizm Black Finite rookie card being hit by a collector known as “Dr. Moist Muffins” would only be the start of the journey this particular card would end up taking in 2025…
Commanders owner Josh Harris buys $500,000 Jayden Daniels card in record sale — Yep, a few months later, the same card ended up getting bought by Harris at Fanatics Fest with Daniels standing right beside him. We were there to witness the negotiation.
How friendship and $27 turned into a $274,500 Caitlin Clark card — “That was my first thought when I pulled the card. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can help so many people and animals with this,’” said Valerie Coleman, who hit a Clark 1/1 Prizm Black Finite rookie card. It’s a heartwarming sentiment from a wonderful story.
Someone spent $12,000 on a Jay Cutler football card in 2025 — why? — Another quote of the year contender begins with “Trust me … I don’t want to spend $12,107 on a Jay Cutler card,” and just gets better from there.
Meet the family that hit Shohei Ohtani’s most expensive card to date — Was a 1/1 Ohtani card that her family would go on to sell for $3 million enough to turn that mom into a sports card fan? We found out.
Karl-Anthony Towns sells Yoshinobu Yamamoto rookie card for $72,000 on record-breaking night — This might seem like a Mad Libs headline, but NBA players really are out here hitting valuable 1/1 cards of World Series MVPs now.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s valuable MLB Debut Patch rookie card still unclaimed — Speaking of the Dodgers starter, his Debut Patch card ended 2025 still waiting to be hit. It perhaps sets up one of 2026’s biggest 1/1 card stories.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant card becomes most expensive sports card ever — A 1/1 Upper Deck Jordan and Bryant card released in 2007 hit a new milestone for the industry last year, demonstrating just how valuable these types of cards can be.
The Bronny James ‘LEAVE’ card and the most unflattering sports cards of all time, ranked — The sale of a 1/1 Panini Select rookie card featuring an unfortunate out-of-context jersey swatch prompted us to examine the cruelest sports cards ever produced.
The Athletic Collectibles Staff’s favorite 1/1 stories of 2025 and the 1/1 cards we’d most like to own:
Larry Holder, senior writer
Favorite story: The Skenes MLB Debut Patch card and the story behind the 11-year-old boy’s Christmas pull has to top my list. From the boy asking his parents for one box of 2024 Topps Chrome Update; to the mom asking “Who’s Paul Skenes?”; to the journey of receiving the card because of complications due to the Los Angeles area wildfires; to the skepticism that the story was too perfect; to the boy writing out his story in a journal where he said, “My brain pooped” after hitting the card — this one had so many elements to it. It’s an incredible story for one of the more publicized cards in recent memory.
Favorite 1/1 card: How would anyone not say the 1/1 card they’d most like to possess would be the Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection dual Logoman patch autographed card that sold for nearly $13 million earlier this year? Duh!!!
On a more realistic side, let’s go with one that’s still not necessarily in my price range, but one that would bring some sentimental value. I’ll take a 2020 Panini Flawless Joe Burrow/Drew Brees dual autographed 1/1 card. This goes back to my days of covering the actual sport of football. Having covered Brees for his entire 15-year Saints career, as well as Burrow’s two seasons at LSU, it would be cool to have the best combo card for easily the best two players I’ve ever chronicled on a regular basis.
Larry Holder’s dream card. Photo: eBay
David Betancourt, editor
Favorite story: Mine was one that resulted in two great stories from Larry Holder involving the key piece to professional football in Washington remaining relevant for years to come, Jayden Daniels. Not even an injury-filled sophomore season can keep down my excitement for Daniels’ cards. Daniels’ 2024 Prizm Black Finite card went from the hands of a collector named Dr. Moist Muffins (perhaps the best name in the hobby), who eventually sold it to Josh Roth and Jacob Ramos of Rothcards, to the grasp of Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris in a half-million-dollar sale at a Topps trade night. My hope is that this card is on display at RFK Stadium 2.0 in the near future in Washington, D.C.
Favorite 1/1 card: Batman had a memorable 2025 in the world of collectibles. Absolute Batman is one of the hottest-selling comic books of the year (even raw, non-graded copies of the first issue are selling for premium prices), and Gotham City got the Precious Metal Gems treatment when Upper Deck’s Skybox Metal Universe Batman cards released in November. As has been the case with previous iterations of this brand from the NBA to the Marvel universe, PMGs of the top characters are a big deal. Landing the Batman 1/1 Gold PMG from this set would be quite the bat-pull.
It’s the crown jewel of the Skybox Metal Universe Batman trading card set! Chase the Precious Metal Gems before the Dark Knight’s rogue gallery gets their hands on them! pic.twitter.com/v3VmZbnBJZ
— Upper Deck Entertainment (@UpperDeckEnt) November 13, 2025
Brooks Peck, senior editor
Favorite story: I really enjoyed the story of Valerie Coleman’s Clark hit because it’s filled with so much kindness and speaks to the communities that form around this great hobby. It’s always nice to see someone like that rewarded with one of the year’s top chase cards.
Favorite 1/1 card: I was lucky enough to buy one of my favorite 1/1 cards in early 2025 — the 2024 Topps Transcendent Chase Utley patch autographed card, which includes a star that dotted an “i” in “Phillies” on one of his game-used jerseys. I wouldn’t mind pairing it with another star-patch autographed card, maybe a Bryce Harper or Jimmy Rollins, at some point, but this is one that’s never leaving my collection.
What are your favorite 1/1 cards and stories? Let us know in the comments!
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