Relic, Patch, and Memorabilia Trading Cards | Hobby 101

Relic and patch cards are cards that include some piece of memorabilia and are a staple of modern sports card collecting. .

These cards come in all shapes and sizes so here is what you should know if you’re new to card collecting:

Relic cards are the umbrella term to refer to all memorabilia cards. Relics can be almost anything you can think of: a piece of a jersey, floor, warm-up, bat, ball, even a piece of hair of a historical figure! The back of the card identifies where the relic on the front comes from, so look out for “player-used” vs. “game-used” relics as game-used are more valuable. Certified game-used relics come with the highest price premium for card collectors because they are genuine pieces of material that were used in a game.

Patch cards are the high-end relic cards. Think if all squares are rectangles, then all patch cards are relic cards. Any relic that includes a piece of a team’s logo, a multi-color swatch of a jersey, or logoman (the league’s logo from a game-used uniform) can be called a patch. Game-used patch cards are the most sought after for card collectors out of all memorabilia sports cards, and they can fetch over $1 million dollars at an auction like the famous triple-logoman Lebron James card.

If you have more questions about relics and patches, make sure to watch our Hobby 101 on Youtube.