What’s WEMBY doing in a Baseball Product?

If I say the name Victor Wembanyama, there’s a strong chance you know who I’m talking about. Only five games into his NBA career, Wembanyama’s highlights have taken over social media, and it’s translated into his hobby value. I’d argue his hobby hype has been around for months, before he even touched the court in San Antonio. Let’s not forget the event in September put on to win the first card he signed.

Most recently, we’ve seen the emergence of unlicensed Wemby case hits and short prints in 2023/24 Panini Prizm Draft Picks with his first Color Wheels, Color Blasts black and white, Stained Glass, and Manga. Sold listings on eBay of these rare cards reflect the excitement every collector has for Wembanyama to start surfacing in hobby products. A Color Blast for more than $4,800, multiple Stained Glasses hovering around the $800 to $1,000 mark, an easy $1,500 for a Color Wheel, and consistent four figures for his Manga helps back up my hobby hype claim.

Believe it or not, that’s not why I’m here today. While those are some fun cards to start Wembanyama’s career, there’s no shot at an autograph. That’s because Victor Wembanyama is a Fanatics exclusive athlete. I want to talk about a product that you can find his signature in that’s flown under the radar since its release. Did you know you can pull Victor Wembanyama’s autograph in 2023 Allen & Ginter? Being exclusive to Fanatics means you can only find Wemby’s autograph in Topps products. While he won’t be in his Spurs jersey, he could be in his Metropolitans uniform like we’ve seen in Bowman or a generic jersey like we see within Allen & Ginter.

Collectors know Allen & Ginter as a baseball product, but it always brings a unique blend of foods, geography, celebrities, and athletes from other sports to the checklist, and Topps keeps the tradition alive with the incorporation of Wembanyama. I checked all facets of A&G hobby to see where he lands. The biggest Wembanyama chase in Allen & Ginter is the framed mini non-baseball autos. There are red auto and black framed out of 25 parallels. The base version consistently sold for $1000 to $1200 before the start of the NBA season, and now that he’s taking over the game at the professional level, we’re seeing sales of $2000 to almost $3000. There’s no sign of sold or listed mini framed red ink or black framed mini out of 25 autos on eBay.

2023 Topps Allen & Ginter Hobby

While having Wemby autographs in your product is a massive W, that’s not the only collectible aspect he has in this year’s Allen & Ginter. According to the checklist on Beckett, the #271 Victor Wembanyama card also has the full size and mini parallels, which include Foil, Allen & Ginter Back Mini, Black Border Mini, Silver Portrait, No Number Mini, Brooklyn Back Mini, Framed Mini Printing Plates, Glossy, Glossy Mini, and Wood Mini. Now, the Silver Portrait is exclusive to hot boxes, the No Number Mini has 50 copies, the Brooklyn Back Mini has 25 copies, and all the others mentioned are 1/1’s. 

eBay sales revealed what I’m sure a lot of people suspected. Let’s start with the foil. Those have multiple sold listings between $130 and $150. One No Number Mini sold — and with further investigation through 130point.com, it sold for $325. Recent sales of Brooklyn Mini’s include $350, $182, and $254, and as far as I can see, none of the 1/1’s have surfaced publicly yet.

The point is, on top of the loaded 2023 MLB Rookie class with the likes of Corbin Carroll, Adley Rutschman, and World Series winner Josh Jung, Allen & Ginter has some of the biggest hobby darlings to chase, collect, invest, and potentially flip like Wembanyama. It’s retailing on dacardworld.com for $115, with three hits per box. So if you come in contact with a Wemby auto, or short print, you’re making out handsomely, and the other cards add to the value of the hobby box. Grab a box right now, and if you hit a big Wemby, be sure to tag us on social media @dacardworld.