The 10 Must-Have Caitlin Clark Trading Cards

It’s not hyperbole to say that the impending arrival of the Nike Caitlin 1 is a big deal. With Nike in a slump, there’s a non-zero chance that there will be headlines stating that this sneaker “saved” the brand and led it back to prominence. It sounds like a very bold claim until you see the effect that Clark has had on other extensions of her brand, including the market for her Panini trading cards.

Clark could not have arrived at a better time for Panini, as they were losing their biggest licenses, like the NBA and the NFL, to rival Topps, but they are the exclusive rights holder of WNBA trading cards. With Clark in tow, they have managed to maintain a certain level of premium pricing for their products, not unlike what we see with Tiger Woods whenever Upper Deck drops a new golf product with or without the backing of the PGA Tour. There is a market for trading cards featuring the best players in the worlds of golf and the WNBA, but when you add a Tiger or a Caitlin into the mix, the delta in attention is considerably wide.

With hundreds of cards already available for collectors to chase thanks to an early start from Bowman and then Panini releasing dedicated Clark-only sets during her college and pro eras, it would be impossible to own every card. Just like how there are player exclusives and one-of-ones made for Nike athletes only, there are some cards that are going to be out of reach for most Clark fans, and there are going to be gems flying under the radar that could become untouchable in a few years.

The First Card - 2022-23 Bowman U Chrome (#50)

Caitlin Clark’s cardboard debut came in 2022-23 Bowman University. Gone are the days when athletes only appeared in cards rocking their college gear when they were about to be drafted or in retrospective sets. The NIL era meant that Iowa fans have a healthy collection of Clark pieces to chase after, and the first one, which smartly has a “1st Bowman” label on the top right corner, can be had for around $10.

The Breakout Moment - 2024 Bowman U Now (#49) and 2024 Panini Caitlin Clark Collection Record Breaker (#RB-CC)

Clark becoming the all-time leading women’s and eventually women’s and men’s scorer in NCAA history is captured on multiple cards. When she passed Kelsey Plum with 3,528 points, Bowman U dropped an open edition on-demand Now card that ended with a print run of 47,962, while both Bowman and Panini celebrated Clark breaking Pete Maravich’s all-time record with commemorative cards a few weeks later. While the base cards are relatively affordable in the $3-$10 range, autographs and rare parallels of the same card also exist, and they are not cheap.

The Base Rookie - 2024 Panini Prizm (#22 and #145)

While Clark has multiple “true” rookie cards across various Panini sets, history tells us the two cards that will eventually battle for the title of most iconic will be between her two base cards in the 2024 Panini Prizm. While you can’t really lose between #22 and #145 as they were printed in relatively similar numbers and sell in the $15-$25 range in ungraded form, the slight upper hand would go with #22 because it comes first when the set is listed in chronological order.

The Shiny - 2024 Panini Select Concourse Level Silver Prizm (#72)

If you’re operating under a budget, don’t even bother looking at the going rates for the Silver Prizm or the rarer parallel versions of Clark’s 2024 Panini Prizm cards. For less than $100 and with similar eye appeal, the Silver Prizms from 2024 Panini Select offer the same shiny vibe for substantially less. Think of it as opting for the Black Toe Jordan 1s instead of the Chicagos or Breds.

The Relic Piece - 2024 Bowman U Now Collegiate Campaign Relics

With language like “the enclosed officially licensed material is not associated with any specific player, game, or event,” it’s hard to recommend a Caitlin Clark Panini trading card that features a piece of a jersey that may or may not even be hers. With that in mind, Bowman U Now released a limited number of cards with pieces of Clark’s Iowa gear. The prices go for between $300 to $500, depending on the rarity, but what you’re paying for is peace of mind. Topps - which owns the Bowman brand - might not be perfect, but we’ll take “the relic contained in this card was worn by the featured player” any day over Panini’s nebulous wording.

The Autograph - 2025 Panini Select Courtside Action Signatures (#8)

Not surprisingly, Caitlin Clark autographs are not affordable and not easy to pull from packs. However, if Clark continues on her trajectory towards becoming one of the greats of the game and a cultural icon, her non-rookie year autographs might never be as “cheap” as they are right now. In 2026 Donruss, redemption cards for Clark autographs are selling for between $700 to $1,000, while lower-end Bowman autographs go for a similar range. Should the Indiana Fever win the WNBA Championship in a few weeks with Clark leading the way with a Finals MVP award, those numbers will be laughably low in hindsight.

The Case Hit - Panini Downtowns

Panini’s Downtown series of inserts has made whichever products that happen to feature them one of the biggest chases every year. Clark’s first Downtowns were a pair that features her both in her Indiana and WNBA All-Star kits from the ultra-exclusive Panini Rookie Royalty, while her subsequent entries in the set were from the more reasonably priced 2025 and 2026 Donruss WNBA products. Featuring artwork that highlights her home team, the cards are a great representation of her fanbase and a great example of what sets Panini apart from its competition.

The Hidden Gem - Donruss Pinnacle Retros

Through their Donruss label, Panini paid homage to the WNBA’s inaugural season last year by bringing back the designs of the 1997 debut trading card set by Pinnacle with today’s players. Labeled case hits for their extreme rarity, Clark was among the players featured alongside last year’s WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers. This year, Donruss once again honored Pinnacle’s history with a retro of the 1998 design that once again features Clark along with Bueckers, Napheesa Collier, and many others. With other Clark case hits selling in the thousands of dollars, this new yearly card to chase after in base Donruss is a nice alternative that has historical significance.

The One-of-One - 2024-25 Panini Instant Rookie Royalty Kaboom! Green 1/1

Last year, the highest recorded sale price for a Caitlin Clark card was $660,000 for a one-of-one Flawless Logowoman Rookie Autograph card. Like other Clark autograph cards, that price might be considered a steal someday should she become an all-time legend. Unfortunately, we can’t recommend it because of Panini’s verbiage on the back of the card that puts a hint of doubt on the authenticity of the patch. If there was ever a case for Panini to replace their standard disclaimer with a guarantee of the patch and the date of the game that Clark wore it, this would be the card.

Until Panini fixes this very real issue, their most “authentic” cards are the ones that do not rely on memorabilia, like this one-of-one Green Kaboom from their ultra-expensive Rookie Royalty drop that featured only two cards in every box. Kaboom was already one of Panini’s more iconic inserts; Clark’s inclusion in the set, on top of the extremely high buy-in to even have a chance to pull, makes this card even more appealing.

The Grail - 2023 Bowman U Best Triple Autograph Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers (#TACAP)

Team USA’s run to the FIBA Women’s World Cup this past month featured the future of the program with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers, not unlike what they tried to do in 2004 with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately for the latter, their experience ended with a bronze medal, but the former delivered not only on the court with the gold, but off the court with shenanigans that shattered the myth every ragebaiting YouTuber likes to perpetuate that these kids hate each other. While we wait for the inevitable triple auto of Clark, Reese, and Bueckers in their WNBA threads, Bowman has the college equivalent from 2023.

Bonus: The Dream Card - Panini Sneaker Spotlight with the Nike Caitlin 1

Panini’s Sneaker Spotlight autograph cards have become one of their most chased-after insert sets with good reason. Like the Downtown cards, Sneaker Spotlight gives each player a layer of personality that isn’t possible when they are featured in sets with the same background. It’s not unlike what Sole Retriever does on social media when a WNBA star like Clark rocks a new player exclusive of the Nike Kobe 6 Protro and now the Nike Caitlin 1. A Sneaker Spotlight of the Caitlin 1 with her signature is inevitable at this point (we just inserted that Caitlin 1 pic for illustrative purporses), but which colorway will make the cut is probably the biggest question of them all.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. His current hot take is that people are really underrating the Psyduck trading card market. Email: juan@soleretriever.com Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Threads : @ezyville