Article
You Could Have Bought a Roman Anthony Auto for $45
Published Jun 10 2025
That time is long gone. The Roman reign has officially begun.
Baseball’s number one prospect has made his big league debut. It wasn’t perfect, but the market doesn’t seem to care. He showed poise, and he’ll undoubtedly get many more chances to prove why he was (or still is) #1.
As is tradition, eBay was immediately flooded with listings from savvy collectors looking to unload their Roman Anthony cards to the highest bidder. With the exception of generational talents like Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, or Ronald Acuña Jr., it’s well known that a player’s MLB call-up is often the best time to sell their 1st Bowman cards. A player’s 1st Bowman auto is usually their very first licensed autograph or card in a big-league uniform, and for many, it's the grail.
With rumors swirling about his call-up, Wilyer Abreu’s injury hitting the news, and that grand slam clip going viral, Anthony’s card prices have been steadily trending up for the past two weeks. His PSA 10 1st Bowman base auto is now hovering around $800–$900, with sales reaching as high as $949 in the past 24 hours, a significant jump from the $450 it commanded just three months ago. (Buy on eBay)
If that feels like a big leap, wait until you see what he was selling for in the early days.
According to Big Bob’s Cards on Twitter, one month after 2023 Bowman was released, 1st Bowman autos of Roman Anthony were going for a measly $45—down $20 from the month before, on release day.
That’s a staggering 1,900% increase to where we are today.
This is the kind of story we all chase in the hobby: a $45 card turning into nearly $1,000. It’s the perfect encapsulation of why prospecting is both exhilarating and brutally difficult. No one would’ve blamed you back then for investing in Cam Collier, Druw Jones, or Matt Mervis—at least two of whom might still pan out.
If you’ve held Anthony through all the ups and downs over the past two years, a big pat on the back is in order. It’s a picture-perfect hobby ending.
And for those still holding? Godspeed.
