CGC Cards Hot List – March 2025

It’s the CGC Hot List, and we’re sharing the current rankings of the most submitted athletes among CGC's sports card collecting community, including players from the past and present that are driving the current market. Utilizing comprehensive insights from CGC submission data, these are the top five players submitted in recent weeks.

1) Michael Jordan

Click images to enlarge.

A staple of card collecting for decades, NBA legend Michael Jordan is the only retired player on our list, but he still takes the top spot for the most submissions to the CGC Cards grading room. Submissions range from some of his earliest cards of the 1980s to his championship-winning years of the 1990s to post-retirement issues. One fan favorite is the 1996-97 SkyBox Premium #16, which features an iconic image of Jordan dunking as teammate Scottie Pippen looks on. This card and numerous other submissions featuring Air Jordan made the six-time NBA champion the No. 1 athlete on the CGC Cards Hot List.

2) Shohei Ohtani

Click images to enlarge.

Shohei Ohtani and his fans couldn't have asked for much more from his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Another superb season earned the superstar slugger his third MVP and he won his first World Series, as well. Ohtani also became the first-ever player to have a 50-50 season (50 or more home runs and 50 or more stolen bases in the same season). Topps commemorated the Dodgers star's incredible year with a special Ohtani 50-50 baseball card set, featuring cards of every home run hit and every base stolen throughout the 2024 season. These and other Ohtani cards helped drive his collectibles to the No. 2 ranking on our Hot List.

3) Paul Skenes

Click images to enlarge.

The young pitching phenom out of LSU took the MLB by storm during the 2024 regular season, more than earning all the hype that came along with Paul Skenes being the first overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Skenes has immediately become one of the most collected players in baseball, with collectors flocking to every set and series that includes the pitcher's cards. While his 1st Bowman issues are particularly popular submissions, autographed versions like the one above are rarer and highly sought after. Whether base cards, inserts, numbered parallels, relic or signature cards, high volumes of Skenes' cards are passing through the CGC Cards grading room.

4) Cooper Flagg

Click images to enlarge.

It's a rarity for an athlete to not even be in the pros yet but still have such a presence within the collectibles community. Like Caitlin Clark during her college career, Duke's top recruit Cooper Flagg has made waves as a newcomer to sports cards while still in college. There still aren't many sets out there that feature Flagg's cards, but that hasn't stopped collectors from submitting the handful of available cards that are on the market in droves. If the young basketball star from Maine continues to live up to the hype, collectors could see Flagg on many future Hot Lists for years to come.

5) LeBron James

Click images to enlarge.

Here's another iconic player who is no stranger to being included on various top basketball lists, and that includes sports cards, as well. LeBron James is in the twilight of his playing career, but he continues to break records while maintaining an elite level of play at 40 years old. One of the biggest storylines of the 2024-25 NBA regular season was the Lakers addition of James' son, Bronny James. Topps Now commemorated the father-son duo with a special issue earlier in the season, which, along with numerous other card submissions spanning LeBron's more-than-20-season pro career, places the four-time NBA champion at fifth place on the CGC Cards Hot List.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.