Analysis Of The LeBron James & Kevin Durant Topps/Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 Markets

Two of the best players in the NBA, two of the top trending Topps Chrome and Topps paper RC PSA 10s over the last 10 months. The other day, someone reached out to me wondering how the Topps paper grows in relation to the Topps Chrome for LeBron and KD. After doing a bit of research, here’s what I came up with: for both players, the LeBron and KD Chrome/paper have grown at virtually the same rate. Let’s dig a bit deeper into the numbers.

LEBRON: On April 2, 2019, you could buy a Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 for $1,000. On that day if you were to buy $1,000 worth of Topps #221 RC PSA 10s, you’d have 3.88 cards. As of February 24, 2020, the Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 is worth $5,289 while the (3.88) Topps #221 RC PSA 10s are worth $5,262. The Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 value increased 429%, while the Topps #221 RC PSA 10 increased 426%. Generally, they followed the same path; however, there were a few times the gap was large and then closed.

KD: On April 2, 2019, you could buy a Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 for $350. On that day if you were to buy $350 worth of Topps #2 RC PSA 10s, you’d have 8.53 cards. As of February 24, 2020, the Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 is worth $860 while the (8.53) Topps #2 PSA 10s are worth $887. The Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 value increased 145% while the Topps #2 RC PSA 10 increased 154%. There was a massive gap for KD’s Topps RCs as of two weeks ago, but the Topps #2 PSA 10 caught up and surpassed the value of the Topps Chrome PSA 10.What does this information mean? It tells us that an equal monetary investment in Topps Chrome vs. Topps paper has netted almost the exact same gains over the past 10 months. Now, the question lies in buying one more expensive card or a bunch of less valuable cards. That is up to you on how you want to manage your inventory, or if you have more confidence in one version versus the other. To you, which would be the better buy going forward?