15 Must-Have Sneaker Trading Cards

For the past six years, sneakers and trading cards have gone through a whirlwind of change. Once pushed to the side as being too niche or too nerdy, both hobbies experienced massive growth during the pandemic era as people stuck at home with too much free time and a little too much disposable income found solace and joy in the chase for that next big hit.

Whether it was scoring a rare dub on the SNKRS app or winning an eBay auction with a critical last-second bid, sneakers and trading cards were no longer just trivial pursuits; they were mainstream and everybody wanted a piece. With resale culture playing an oversized role in making people believe that they too can become a star, platforms have made micro celebrities out of any eBay Live or Whatnot seller as long as they have the willingness to look like a fool trying to convince viewers that their Perfect Order Elite Trainer Box is worth hundreds of dollars when it’s really 20 bucks above retail at best.

That’s what happens when things that should be harmless childish pursuits are dubbed an asset class by the finance bros who think paying $12.9 million for a trading card signed by both Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant with the NBA logo embedded is a wise investment*.

The collaboration between sneakers and trading cards goes back decades to the days when trading cards were actually being traded amongst kids, never to be taken seriously. Nike, adidas, and Reebok all used the medium to grow their brand and make sure they maintained mindshare.

Not surprisingly, a lot of those cards from that era were thrown away as fast as they were printed because they had no value at the time. Those who kept them in good condition for nostalgic purposes are now reaping the rewards of their patience or forgetfulness, whichever makes for a good story.

Today, sneaker brands are collaborating with these companies as a way to draw people in with the hope that if they are lucky enough, not only will they end up with a sneaker that they like, but they might end up with a valuable card that might change their life. Never mind that a thousand or so other people might have the same card and the same dream, the fantasy is better than the reality.

With Upper Deck recently announcing that Michael Jordan would become their first Legacy Partner at the Nike House of Innovation, it coincides with several trading cards that prominently feature sneakers shooting up in value over the past several months. Here’s our picks for the 15 must-have sneaker-related cards and sets of the moment.

*It’s a wise investment for those bros because of the sad reality that there never will be another card quite like that Jordan/Kobe combo, but it’s also a destructive one because now everybody thinks their version that has Dillon Brooks and Ben Simmons will fetch a similar range someday.

15. MOJO Fest x adidas AE 1 (2024)

Most Recent Sale: Gold Variation numbered to 200 sold for $80

Co-founded by Edison Chen, MOJO Fest is a collectibles show in Shanghai that features some of the most valuable trading card collections on the planet. The festival has also attracted the biggest names in the industry, including Panini, Topps, and Chinese brand Kakawow. For the inaugural MOJO Fest in 2024, Kakawow teamed up with adidas for a special edition trading card featuring the adidas AE 1 Silver Metallic. Lucky collectors who were able to pull the gold variation of the card walked away with a pair of the sneakers signed by Anthony Edwards. For the 2025 follow-up, MOJO Fest dropped a full set featuring every colorway of the AE 1 with an opportunity to score a meet and greet with Edwards for a select few.

14. Upper Deck x The LeBrons (2006)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 8 Athlete LeBron Relic sold for $150

Much like his signature shoe line, LeBron James’ commercial personas have undergone different iterations and reinventions through the years. While he was blitzing through the league as a generational talent during his first few seasons, Nike and James unveiled a family of LeBrons in the mid-2000s. Showcasing the many aspects of James’ personality, the commercials showed off his acting and comedic chops, setting the stage for his roles in movies like Trainwreck and Space Jam: A New Legacy. Randomly inserted in packs of 2006-07 Upper Deck Basketball was a set featuring The LeBrons with some cards including pieces of Nike gear that James wore for the commercial shoots.

13. Skybox Metal Universe x Reebok (1997)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 8 1997-98 Metal Universe Reebok Promo Shaquille O’Neal sold for $90

Back in the 90s, when Reebok Basketball actually had enough players to field a full NBA team, trading card company Skybox released variations of their base cards with Reebok branding. Included in the iconic 1997-98 Skybox Metal Universe Basketball set at a pull rate of one per pack were the current President and Vice President of Reebok Basketball, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson, Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, and All-Stars like Steve Smith, Glenn Robinson, and Shawn Kemp. Each card also had bronze, silver, and gold versions with varying degrees of rarity and value in the secondary market.

12. Skybox Premium x Reebok (1997)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 7 Allen Iverson sold for $350

Unlike the Skybox Metal Reebok cards that were barely distinguishable from the regular base cards, Skybox designed a unique promo card featuring Allen Iverson to celebrate the release of the Reebok Answer 1. Inserted a relatively common rate, ungraded copies of the card go for no more than a few dollars. However, recent sales of cards graded in mint condition and above have started to rise in value, which is potentially a sign that these cards were condition-sensitive and easily damaged despite being pulled fresh from a pack.

11. CLOT x Kakawow x Nike (2023)

Most Recent Sale: Used pair of the Dunk with a sealed pack sold for $225

In what would turn out to be more peaceful and amicable days between Edison Chen and Nike, Kakawow inserted a one-card pack in every pair of the What The CLOT Nike Dunk purchased at Juice. The 17-card base set includes all of the collaborations that Nike and CLOT had worked on previously, including the Kiss of Death Air Max 1 and the CLOT x Air Jordan 14. The base What The Dunk CLOT card also had three different parallel versions to chase, including a one-of-one edition. And if you didn’t pull a sneaker card, you were treated to a card signed by Chen that was limited to 20 made.

10. Warner Bros. x Nike Aerospace Trading Card Stickers (1993)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 10 Scream Team card sold for $250

The world didn’t know Michael Jordan was going to retire in the summer of 1993 to pursue a lifelong dream of playing baseball. Nope, they thought if MJ was going anywhere, it would be outer space with Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes crew. To promote the Super Bowl commercial where MJ and Bugs searched for the missing Air Jordan 8s that Marvin the Martian stole, Warner Bros. released a 12-card sticker set featuring artwork from the campaign. Rocking the Air Jordan 8 Aqua, Jordan was featured in four of the cards. Not surprisingly, the most valuable of the four has Michael soaring through space in the Jumpman pose with the 8s prominently shown.

9. Nike Air Max 95 20th Anniversary Cards (2015)

Most Recent Sale: ?

In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Nike Air Max 95 in 2015, Nike Hong Kong teamed up with local artists to create special trading cards that tied the sneaker to various parts of their culture. The cards were placed in a modern version of trading card dispensers where fans were able to pull cards out of the machine after inserting some coins. Along with the base set that highlighted the Air Max 95’s past and present, there were rarer cards with a holographic finish that gave sneakerheads the opportunity to purchase the 2015 retro of the OG Neon colorway or the first edition of the Greedy Air Max 95. The biggest hit from the set was the NIKEiD card that let lucky collectors design their own pair of the 95 on-site. Considering the very limited and niche overseas release, stumbling across these cards might be more difficult than finding even the rarest of Air Maxes.

8. Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Signature Kicks

Most Recent Sale: Mike Tyson sold for $676

As we’ll explain later in this list, trading cards with game-worn footwear is difficult to produce for a number of logistical reasons. To satisfy demand, Upper Deck created a Signature Kicks set under their super-premium Exquisite Collection brand that included cards signed by Michael Jordan with pieces of Air Jordans. However, these are not Air Jordans MJ actually wore in the NBA. Instead, these are sneakers that Upper Deck probably bought at the mall or online and placed them on the card. In the back of the card, it explicitly states that “the piece of shoe is from the shoe brand typically worn by Michael Jordan.” And this is why you always read the fine print. Regardless, a signed Jordan card will always command a premium even if the attached "memorabilia" piece is far from memorable.

7. Nike Trading Cards (1991)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 10 Do You Know? sold for $1,000

In 1991, Nike released a set of six trading cards that collectors could purchase just about anywhere trading cards were sold. Unlike other products that randomize the cards to entice collectors to buy more packs, each pack of Nike Trading Cards contained the complete six-card set. Even though the product was called “Nike” Trading Cards, the only athlete featured in the set was Michael Jordan alongside Spike Lee. The set was a recreation of the different Air Jordan commercials and posters that MJ and Lee, as his alter ego Mars Blackmon, collaborated on through the years.

Because the cards were so overproduced with no rare editions to chase, full cases that contained the cards were relegated to the junk pile for a very long time. It would take a combination of the pandemic era, The Last Dance documentary, and the influx of big money into the trading card world searching for every last bit of MJ on cardboard to boost the value of the set to unimaginable heights.

6. Panini x Reebok Question (2022)

Most Recent Sale: Size 15 of the Friends and Family pair sold for $200 without the card

Looking to cash in on the trading card boom of the past few years, Panini lent its popular Prizm brand of cards to Allen Iverson’s most iconic signature, the Reebok Question. Each pair from the 3-pack was a reference to a popular parallel card that Panini uses in their Prizm sets, like Tiger Stripe and Black Pulsar. Included in each purchase was a pack that contained a limited edition card of Allen Iverson. Big hits from the collab included cards that featured clothing worn by Iverson, along with his signature and parallel versions of the base cards that were ultra-rare. For the friends and family edition that was limited to 100, the Question was based on a player-exclusive Iverson that he wore as a member of the Denver Nuggets, and it came with an accompanying Gold Vinyl card that was also limited to 100.

5. Yu-Gi-Oh! x Nike (2025)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 10 Red-Eyes Black Dragon sold for $2,000

First teased during San Diego Comic-Con last year, the iconic Air Muscle sneakers that Joey Wheeler wore in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime finally came to life last year, fulfilling the dreams of plenty of sneakerheads who also happened to be fans of the property. The three cards that were part of the collaboration - a Winds of Victory that was included in the global release, a Trap of the Poisonous Scorpion exclusive to the Japanese drop, and a special Red-Eyes Black Dragon promo that was given away during the 2025 Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship - have gone on to reach legendary status themselves. PSA 10 graded versions of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon have now broken the thousand-dollar mark.

4. Yu-Gi-Oh x adidas (2023)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 10 Dark Magician sold for $2,500

For all of the hoopla surrounding the collaboration between Nike and Yu-Gi-Oh, let’s not forget that adidas was actually first to the party and it wasn’t even that long ago. Back in the halcyon days of 2022 and 2023, adidas had released several pairs that channeled classic characters and creatures from the series, including Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician. For the adi2000 release, a promo card of Dark Magician was included with the adidas logo subtly located in the card’s text box. After hovering in the hundreds for the past few years, the PSA 10 graded version of the card is now selling in the thousands.

3. Upper Deck NBA Shoetime Cards

Most Recent Sale: Michael Jordan unsigned card sold for $1,800

In the early days of trading card companies embedding game-worn pieces into their products, it was the wild west in terms of the items that stretched the definition of memorabilia. For every game-worn jersey card that went on to become highly influential and still popular to this day, there were pieces of arena seats, towels sweated on by players, and torn ticket stubs to unimportant games that thankfully are more novelty than the norm today. Game-worn sneaker cards are relatively rare compared to jersey cards because they are tougher to attach to a trading card, the number of usable pieces is very limited in comparison, and inventory is scarce. Not surprisingly, Michael Jordan’s cards with pieces of game-worn Air Jordans are very rare and very expensive. The going rate for those are down payments for a future PlayStation 6 the way things are going in the gaming world.

And then there are signed Jordan cards. The going rate for those are down payments for a house.

2. Panini Noir Sneaker Spotlight Autograph Cards

Most Recent Sale: Cailtin Clark signed card limited to 10 copies sold for $7,000

Panini Noir was a high-end trading card set that was known for having a cinematic theme on thick card stock with premium glossy acetate material. One of the highlights of the product was called Sneaker Spotlight and it quite literally put a spotlight on the sneakers worn by the best in the NBA, WNBA, and the FIFA World Cup. The set was divided into unsigned and signed cards and their values fluctuated dramatically depending on whether the card was signed or not. NBA players with signed variations include Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and the late Kobe Bryant. To capitalize on the vaunted 2024 WNBA rookie class that included Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and others, Panini created a super-premium Rookie Royalty product that randomly included an autographed Clark Sneaker Spotlight card featuring the Nike Kobe 5 Protro Bruce Lee.

1. Nike Poster Cards (1985 and 1994)

Most Recent Sale: PSA 10 Michael Jordan sold for $30,000

Plastered in kids’ bedrooms all across the world in the 80s and 90s, Nike was the master of the cool athlete poster. Before highlights were readily available on the internet, let alone smartphones, all kids had was their imagination as they imitated Michael Jordan majestically flying through the Chicago skyline wearing the Air Jordan 1 Black Toe.

But for those who had parents who didn’t want their walls to be tattered with nails, glue, or tape residue, owning the miniature versions of the posters in cards was the next best thing. Unbeknownst to anybody, those cards that Nike practically gave away in the 1980s would turn out to be valuable collector’s items 40 years later. Other cards in the collection featured Nike stars of the era, including John McEnroe and Dwight Gooden. In 1994, Upper Deck would bring back the Jumpman alongside other poster cards in a boxed set where sealed tins can now go for as much as $200 a pop.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com