Fanatics Collect Auction Results - Weekly Auction #237 Recap

This week’s Fanatics Collect auction featured a compact, football-heavy lineup led by one clear standout: a 2025 Select Premier Level Zebra Shock Tetairoa McMillan rookie PSA 10, which finished at a $410 hammer price and $492 buyer price after 32 bids.

Across 17 completed listings, the auction generated 171 total bids, with an average buyer price of $55.34 and a median of $20.40. The large gap between the average and median reflects how heavily the McMillan result influenced the overall numbers. Eleven of the 17 listings finished at $30 or less, while six sold for $18 or less.

For transparency, Fanatics Collect displays completed auction results by hammer price. Buyer prices referenced below include the 20% buyer’s premium.

At a Glance

• 17 listings sold
• 171 total bids
• 10.1 bids per listing
• $55.34 average buyer price
• $20.40 median buyer price
• 11 listings sold for $30 or less
• 6 listings sold for $18 or less

Featured Results

Tetairoa McMillan Zebra Shock PSA 10 Leads the Auction

The top result belonged to the 2025 Select Premier Level Zebra Shock Tetairoa McMillan rookie PSA 10, which drew 32 bids and finished at a $410 hammer price and $492 buyer price.

The result stood far above the rest of the lineup and accounted for more than half of the auction’s total buyer-price volume by itself. That kind of separation highlights the market’s willingness to pay aggressively when several desirable traits come together: a prominent rookie, a popular Select level, a recognizable case-hit-style parallel, and a Gem Mint grade.

It was also a reminder that scarcity and visual identity can matter more than traditional serial numbering. Zebra parallels are immediately recognizable, and collectors generally understand that they are not ordinary base-card variations even without a stamped print run.

Bo Nix Holo Prizm Draws Strong Competition

The 2024 Donruss Optic Holo Prizm Bo Nix rookie CGC 10 also attracted 32 bids, tying McMillan for the most active bidding of the night.

It closed at an $82 hammer price and $98.40 buyer price, making it the auction’s second-highest result.

That performance is notable because the card is not a numbered parallel or ultra-short print. Instead, the value came from the combination of Optic’s established chromium appeal, the Holo Prizm finish, a Gem Mint grade, and sustained collector interest in Nix.

A second Nix card, the 2024 Topps Chrome Refractor CGC 9.5, finished much lower at a $17 hammer and $20.40 buyer price despite receiving 13 bids. The comparison shows how strongly collectors differentiated between licensing, product identity, and grade. The Optic CGC 10 brought nearly five times the buyer price of the unlicensed Topps Chrome CGC 9.5.

Caleb Williams Remains a Liquid Rookie Name

The 2024 Topps Signature Class Gridiron Ambassadors Caleb Williams rookie CGC 10 finished at a $49 hammer and $58.80 buyer price after 20 bids.

Signature Class is not generally viewed in the same tier as Prizm, Optic, Select, or licensed flagship products, but the result shows that a recognizable rookie in a top grade can still produce meaningful demand in a lower-priced product.

Williams’ name helped overcome the product’s more modest position in the hobby hierarchy. The card offered an accessible alternative for collectors who wanted a Gem Mint rookie without paying the premium attached to his most established releases.

Matching Cooper Flagg Pristines Finish at the Same Price

Two copies of the 2025 Topps Now Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg CGC 10 Pristine each sold for an identical $38 hammer and $45.60 buyer price.

One received six bids and the other seven, but the final results were the same. That consistency provides a useful market reference and suggests the cards found a fairly stable price level within this auction.

The results also show that the CGC Pristine designation can create additional appeal, although the effect is still limited by the underlying card. Topps Now cards are produced around a specific event and can carry strong player interest, but they typically do not have the same market depth as traditional pack-issued rookie cards.

Colston Loveland Blue Scope Reaches $36

The 2025 Mosaic Variation Blue Scope Colston Loveland rookie CGC 10 drew 13 bids and closed at a $30 hammer price and $36 buyer price.

This was a solid outcome for a player outside the very top tier of rookie hobby demand. The colorful Blue Scope parallel, variation designation, and Gem Mint grade gave the card enough visual and scarcity appeal to separate it from more ordinary rookie issues.

Additional Results

• Cam Skattebo Donruss rookie CGC 10: $19 hammer / $22.80 buyer, 9 bids
• Drake Maye Prizm Draft Picks rookie CGC 10: $18 / $21.60, 7 bids
• Luke Kuechly Score Electric 1/99 PSA 7: $16 / $19.20, 5 bids
• Drake Maye Topps Chrome rookie CGC 10: $16 / $19.20, 10 bids
• Rob Gronkowski Signature Class Star Cast CGC 10: $14 / $16.80, 2 bids
• Sam LaPorta Contenders Ticket Variation rookie patch CGC 9: $11 / $13.20, 5 bids
• Brock Bowers Signature Class Fluidity CGC 8.5: $10 / $12, 6 bids
• Bo Jackson Battle Arena Battlefoil PSA 8: $6 / $7.20, 2 bids
• Josh Donaldson 2010 Topps Chrome rookie CGC 8: $5 / $6, 1 bid
• Jeff Conine 1994 Score Gold Rush CGC 3: $5 / $6, 1 bid

Market Notes

One Premium Result Can Reshape a Small Auction

The McMillan sale accounted for approximately 52% of the total buyer-price value across all 17 listings. The top three cards—McMillan, Nix, and Williams—accounted for roughly 69%.

That concentration matters when evaluating the overall average. Although the auction averaged $55.34 per listing, the median was only $20.40 and nearly two-thirds of the cards sold for $30 or less.

For smaller auction groups, one premium result can make the full lineup appear much stronger than the typical listing actually performed.

The PSA Premium Remains Significant

The Bo Nix and Colston Loveland results showed collectors paying a sizable premium for PSA 10 examples over comparable CGC 10s.

During July, seven verified sales of the 2024 Panini Donruss Optic Rated Rookie Bo Nix Holo PSA 10 ranged from $175 to $199. Two verified CGC 10 sales ranged from $75 to $98.40, including the example sold in this auction.

The 2025 Panini Mosaic Colston Loveland Blue Scope Rookie Variation PSA 10 sold for $90 and $130 across two verified transactions in late June and July. Our CGC 10 example finished at a $36 buyer price.

In both cases, collectors paid roughly twice as much—or more—for the PSA 10.

That does not necessarily mean the cards inside the PSA holders were materially better. The difference reflects the market’s continued preference for PSA, along with its larger collector base, registry participation, perceived resale liquidity, and the expectation that future buyers may pay the same premium.

PSA often commands the higher sale price, but its higher grading costs can leave sellers with a similar net return to CGC. For collectors primarily interested in owning the card, these results suggest CGC 10 examples can provide significantly better value.

Bidding Activity Did Not Always Translate Directly to Price

Several affordable cards attracted active bidding:

• Nix Topps Chrome Refractor: 13 bids, $20.40 buyer price
• Loveland Blue Scope: 13 bids, $36
• Drake Maye Topps Chrome: 10 bids, $19.20
• Cam Skattebo Donruss: 9 bids, $22.80

These results suggest healthy interest at lower price points, but they also show that bid count alone does not necessarily indicate a high final value. Many collectors were willing to participate, yet remained disciplined about where they stopped.

NFL Licensing Still Mattered

The two Bo Nix results offered one of the clearest examples of how NFL licensing affected collector demand.

The 2024 Donruss Optic Rated Rookie Holo CGC 10 reached a $98.40 buyer price, while the 2024 Topps Chrome Refractor CGC 9.5 sold for $20.40. Because the player was the same, the gap had more to do with the cards themselves than with player demand.

At the time these products were released, Panini held the NFL license and could show official team logos, uniforms, and branding. Topps could feature NFL players through its separate player rights, but its football cards were unlicensed by the league and had to remove or obscure team branding.

Collectors therefore received two very different versions of a Bo Nix rookie card:

• Donruss Optic showed Nix in his official Broncos uniform and carried the established Rated Rookie identity.
• Topps Chrome offered a familiar chromium design and Refractor finish, but without official NFL team branding.
• The Optic card also carried a full Gem Mint grade, while the Topps Chrome example was graded CGC 9.5.

All of those factors likely contributed to the price gap, but the licensing difference should not be overlooked. Football collectors have traditionally placed a substantial premium on cards that show players in their official NFL uniforms with recognizable team logos.

The licensing landscape has now flipped. Fanatics-owned Topps became the NFL’s exclusive licensed trading-card producer in 2026, giving Topps access to official team names, logos, and uniforms while Panini lost the licensing advantage that helped products such as Donruss Optic.

That makes this comparison especially interesting in hindsight. The 2024 Optic card benefited from official NFL branding that Topps Chrome lacked. Future comparisons may look very different now that Topps holds the license.

The Market Still Favors Quarterbacks

The Luke Kuechly Score Electric 01/99 PSA 7 finished at a $16 hammer price and $19.20 buyer price.

To be fair, both the Score brand and the PSA 7 grade likely limited the card’s ceiling. Score generally does not carry the same hobby weight as premium chromium products, and a PSA 7 is unlikely to command a strong grading premium in today’s grading-focused market.

Even so, the result still says something broader about football cards. This was a bookend 01/99 parallel of a recently inducted Hall of Famer and one of the defining defensive players of his era, yet it still finished well below several modern quarterback rookies and far behind the Bo Nix Optic Holo.

That reflects a larger market reality: football-card demand remains heavily concentrated around quarterbacks. Skill-position players can still build strong followings, but defensive players—even elite, accomplished, Hall of Fame-caliber names—are often overlooked unless the card is a major rookie, autograph, iconic insert, or exceptionally scarce parallel.

For collectors willing to look beyond quarterbacks, that imbalance can create opportunity. Accomplished defensive stars are often available at prices that look modest relative to their careers, scarcity, and importance to the sport.

We think this is the kind of card that could age well. We have seen similar appreciation develop with players such as Brian Urlacher, whose cards have received more attention as collectors have gained greater appreciation for his career. At a $19.20 buyer price, this was a great purchase. Congratulations to its new owner.

Final Takeaway

Auction #237 was defined by a single premium rookie result, but the rest of the lineup provided a useful look at the broader football-card market.

Collectors showed they were willing to compete aggressively for a scarce, visually distinctive Gem Mint rookie such as the Tetairoa McMillan Zebra Shock. They also rewarded established chromium brands, recognizable quarterbacks, and top numerical grades.

Below that level, the market remained selective. Many cards attracted multiple bidders, but final prices stayed accessible when the product, grade, or player lacked one of those premium drivers.

The overall takeaway was clear: player demand gets a card noticed, but licensing, product identity, scarcity, grade, position, and visual appeal help determine how far bidders are willing to go.