Dick's Gets Paul Skenes Topps 1/1 Autographed Patch Card For $1.1M

By Barry Janoff

UPDATED March 21, 2025: Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes' 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB debut patch autograph card — highly sought by many, including the Pirates — has found its home in Pittsburgh.

The card sold for $1.11 million, including buyer's premium list night to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

It's a record paid for a Topps MLB debut patch autograph card. The 1-of-1 numbered card with an on-card autograph includes a patch Skenes wore on his Pirates uniform during his MLB debut,

Fanatics Collectibles is based in Los Angeles, and all Fanatics Collect proceeds will go toward L.A. fire relief.

The Pittsburgh-headquartered national retailer said the card would be displayed in a new collectors' space in the suburban Pittsburgh Ross Park House of Sport, which will feature a trading cards and memorabilia experience.

Dick’s said these specialty shops will be rolled out to select House of Sport stores nationwide, including Pittsburgh, in Spring 2025.

“Acquiring the Paul Skenes MLB debut patch card enables us to celebrate his incredible talent while giving our athletes a unique opportunity to experience a piece of baseball history up close,” Ed Stack, Dick’s executive chairman, said via the company.

“We’re thrilled to bring this special card home and display it in our Pittsburgh House of Sport store where it can inspire the next generation of athletes and collectors.”

UPDATED January 25, 2025: MLB.com: The young collector who pulled the Paul Skenes 1-of-1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card has decided to sell the card at auction — and it will help out a good cause. The Skenes card will be sold at the Fanatics Collect March Premier auction.

All of Fanatics Collect's proceeds from the Skenes card will be donated directly to Los Angeles fire relief funds. The card is expected to have an estimated value in the six figures.

The Pirates themselves had offered a trade to whoever found the Skenes card. “We had a lot of fun with the idea of a bounty, but we couldn’t be happier for this young baseball fan and his family,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said via the team. (Full story here.)


November 15, 2024: Paul Skenes had quite an impact this past season as a rookie pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

One of his rookie cards is now making an impact in the collectable community. His team and his high-profile girlfriend, Livvy Dunn, are in on the action.

Topps this week released its 2024 Chrome Update Series, which among others includes a 1/1 Skenes Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card with the Debut patch from his first MLB game May 11 with the Pirates.

Launched in 2023, the 1/1 Pro Rookie Debut patch cards feature a patch worn by players on their jersey in their first MLB game. Topps said the respective game-worn patches and autographs are authenticated.

Given its 1/1 status, tied with his stellar rookie season, Skenes’ card is attracting some stellar offers.

Industry analysts put a six-figure value on the card.

To put that in perspective, retailer Dave & Adam’s last year offered $150,000 for Anthony Volpe’s 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph, which was paid to the person who found it, according to Baseball America.

In addition to Skenes, Topps said the list of this year’s 251 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph cards includes Elly De La Cruz, Jackson Holliday, Wyatt Langford, Jackson Merrill and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Topps itself has limited-time offer of $50,000 for the first 50 Debut Patch cards ($1,000 per card) pulled from the Chrome Update release.

That pales compared to the offer made by the Pirates.

In exchange for the Skenes card, the team is offering a Pirates-specific reward to the person who has it:

• Two season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years

• A meet-and-greet with Skenes

• Two autographed Skenes jerseys

• A softball game at PNC Park with coaching from Pirates alumni

• A private tour of the Pirates’ Spring Training facilities of Pirates City and LECOM Park, plus other unique experiences at their Florida homes

• Taking batting practice and warming up with the team

Topps chimed in: “Would you accept this offer??”

Dunne, Skenes’ girlfriend, social media influencer (ten million-plus followers) and competition-winning LSU gymnast, added to the ante: “The person who finds the card can sit with me at a Pirates game in my suite.”

Topps then responded, “Livvy Dunne just upper the ante. Who’s taking the deal now???”

Topps is supporting the 2024 Rookie Debut Patch with a promo spot.

We see players in action wearing jerseys with their Rookie Debut Patches as well as the autographed cards themselves.

A voiceover offers, “There is only one first. Those moments that mark history. That capture an instant — forever, Leaving a trade, a relic of a legacy born in real time. There is only one. It’s the ultimate rookie card. And it can be yours.”

Skenes in 2023 was the No. 1 overall pick by the Pirates out of LSU. He made his MLB debut on May 11, 2024 in PNC Park against the Chicago Cubs.

Following a two hour, 20-minute rain delay, Skenes pitched four-plus innings, threw 84 pitches and had seven strikeouts, two walks, a hit batter and gave up six hits. He did not earn a victory n the Pirates’ 10-9 win.

The 22-year-old was named to the All-MLB First Team and is a finalist for NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young after compiling stats that included a 11-3 record, 133 innings pitched, 170 strikeouts and a 1.96 ERA.

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