YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Basketball sensation Caitlin Clark continues to break barriers as she begins to establish herself in the WNBA; after another historic purchase, her trading cards seem to be no different
"Her card is by far the hottest WNBA card that has ever been made," said Zachary Brietenback, manager of 7th Inning Sports Cards & Collectibles in Shrewsbury Township, York County. "People [have] made waves, but nothing like this. This wasn't a wave. It is like a tsunami."
Clark only played in her first pre-season WNBA game for the Indiana Fever on Friday, and her impact is already being felt in the card industry.
On Tuesday, Clark’s very first professional card sold for $10,000, the star's 6th most expensive sold. That’s just four months after a Clark card sold for $78,000, the second highest-ever for a female athlete, only behind Serena Williams.
It’s a Clark Craze that’s being felt all over, even in Central Pennsylvanian card shops.
"She's hot right now. I mean, all her stuff is on fire," said Brietenback. "We did have one here in the store. It sold for I think a little over $500 or $600."
Brietenback has been collecting cards since he was 13. He wasn’t as lucky to be the owner of the $78,000 Caitlin Clark card, but even his unsigned and less rare version is still worth at least $75. It's a reflection of just how big sports trading cards have become.
"I don't see this industry slowing down anytime soon," said Brietenback. "10 or 20 years ago, [her card] probably wouldn't have been as much as it [is] now because the trading card industry itself has evolved."
It’s a new era of sports card collecting that has captured the WNBA, and now a star-studded draft class that included Lancaster’s Kiki Jefferson, and of course Caitlin Clark.
The big question remains – who’s next?
"Who's the next one? [There's] untapped potential [of] who's going to come out, who's going to make that splash, who's going to be that popular person that everybody wants to look up to follow," asserted Brietenback. "That's pretty much what it comes down to be."