the best late bloomers

2014 Panini Totally Certified

The hobby has been waiting on a worthy successor to the iconic 1997 Precious Metal Gems set for nearly a quarter century, but has the answer been right before our eyes for almost a decade? In the blink of an eye, the 2014 Panini Totally Certified parallels have become etched in hobby history, because of — you guessed it — the etching. The card’s design isn’t a complete takeoff of the classic PMG set, but these cards are certainly taking off. Nearly 10 years after the set’s release, limited versions of hobby favorites like LeBron, Giannis, Kobe, Curry, Manning and Brady are skyrocketing in price.

1992 STADIUM CLUB MICHAEL JORDAN #1 BEAM TEAM

Once among the most popular cards in hobby history, the OG Beam Team was lost in the sands of time for years as other Jordan inserts and parallels — particularly numbered inserts and parallels — dominated message boards and social media. People now forget, but upon release, Beam Team cards were some of the hottest cards in the market and one of the first reasonably hard-to-find insert sets. Within a few years, collectors would be introduced to what is now the equivalent of the "case hit," relegating the Beam Team insert to lower-tier status. But one of the defining sets of the '90s has regained its popularity as Jordan collectors look at second- and third-tier price points, without quite so many digits in the dollar figure.

2008 TOPPS CHROME KOBE BRYANT #24

How this card went unnoticed for years is mind-boggling, but the interest in card cameos has only grown in recent years. And as far as cameos go, they don’t get much better than LeBron. PSA 10 versions of numbered parallels including Orange Refractors and XFractors have sold in recent months for more than $7,000.

1989 FLEER RANDY JOHNSON #381

While not quite on par with the vaunted Honus Wagner T206 card, the Big Unit's rookie card also has a unique tobacco tie-in that boosts its popularity. Johnson's Fleer rookie card features a Marlboro sign in the background, though the sign was caught early in production and later obscured in several different variations. PSA has four additional variations listed in addition to the regular version, including just three graded copies of the "Red Tinted Marlboro Ad" version. Lagging far behind the recognition of another early Fleer error card — good ol’ Billy Ripken and his famous bat — many collectors are only now learning about the lore of this Johnson rookie.