Toronto Maple Leafs

The Three Most Expensive Maple Leafs’ Hockey Cards Since April 2021

Since COVID-19, there has been a resurgence in hockey card collecting. What have been the highest priced Maple Leafs hockey cards this Spring?

by
Old Prof
July 3, 2021

For sports card collectors, there’s never been a better time to sell their cards. That can be “blamed” squarely on the pandemic, which has worked to revive an old hobby by injecting new profits. One veteran sports card collector noted that “I have just never seen the value of cards be this high ever.”

The proof is in the pudding. Specifically, in December, 2020, a Wayne Gretzky rookie card, which was rated as a 10 on the card grading system sold for $1.29 million USD.

Hockey Cards Have Increased Almost 700 Percent

Brad Hartling, a representative from Professional Sports Authentification Canada (a company that grades sports cards in Canada), reported that the value of more expensive cards (usually higher-grade cards) has increased 700 per cent during the past year. Why? Because there are a lot of people with a lot of money who, with the onset of COVID-19, simply had too few places to spend it.

In a way, it’s a form of gambling that’s legal for a 12-year-old collector; but, it’s gambling in a bit of a different way. With sports cards, there’s a sense of investing by speculating on a pack of cards – looking for a treasure. For high-end collectors, there’s that possibility that a particular card can be bought at a value that allows speculation.

That’s why young and old collectors alike open a box of cards and unwrap individual packs. They’re hoping to find that one “big” card. Not many people can buy these cards at an auction, but those who can sometimes do. Mostly however it’s the fun of being surprised with what comes out of a pack.

The Most Expensive Maple Leafs Cards from the Past Few Months

So, just using eBay as a source, what Maple Leafs’ hockey cards have sold for the highest amount of money? Here’s guessing that people cracked a pack of Upper Deck hockey cards and pulled these treasures.

Number #1 Most Expensive Maple Leafs Hockey Card

The most expensive Maple Leafs hockey card sold on eBay since April 2021 was a 2016-17 Upper Deck Auston Matthews Young Guns Rookie Card #201. It sold for $3,050.00 CAD. It’s the card on the right.

The card on the left is a Young Guns’ Canvas Insert #C211 that sold for $1,400.00. CAD It was the third most expensive Auston Matthews hockey card.

Two High Selling Auston Matthews Hockey Cards from Upper Deck

Number #2 Second Most Expensive Maple Leafs Hockey Card

The second most-expensive Maple Leafs hockey card was also an Auston Matthews card. It was Matthews’ 2016-17 “The Cup RC Autograph” from SP Renditions. This card, which you can see more of on the lead photo, sold for $1,858.65 CAD.

Auston Matthews Hockey Card from Upper Deck

It Is Possible to Get Lucky Opening a Pack of Cards!

A lot of youngsters open packs of Upper Deck hockey cards just to see if they can pull a treasure such as these. Someone, in these three cases did exactly that. Can you imagine the joy if it were a 12-year-old collector. That’s a lot of treasure for taking a chance on a $5 pack of hockey cards.