AFL Footy Cards: A Collector's Guide

Nobody needs a lecture on why AFL footy cards are fun. What most collectors need is a hand with the practical side: what to buy, what to skip, how to sort the stash, and when grading is worth the postage. This is the guide I wish I'd had when I started.

Where to Start with AFL Footy Cards

The hobby is better when it's personal. Pick a club, a few players, or a single season and build around that. A small collection of cards you care about beats a thousand commons you bought because they were cheap.

I learned that the expensive way. I bought boxes before I had a plan, ended up with a shoebox of duplicates, and spent months trying to trade them for cards I actually wanted. Opening a sealed box is fun — no argument — but treat it as the price of entertainment, not an investment. Most boxes won't pay for themselves, and that's fine if you knew it before you tore the shrink wrap.

If you're brand new to the hobby, our earlier AFL guide walks through the basics. This one is about the habits that save money and heartache once you're properly in it.

What to Buy First (and What to Skip)

Buy singles first, boxes second. When you're starting out, buying individual cards of players you want means every dollar goes toward something you actually wanted. Sealed boxes are fun — the rip-and-sort is half the hobby — but the odds of pulling something that covers the cost of the box are longer than most people expect.

Skip the bulk lots of commons that get pushed at card fairs. You'll pay good money for a pile of cardboard you don't need. Skip anything advertised with photos so dark you can't see the corners, and skip sellers who won't answer a straight question about condition. If a seller is vague, they know something.

There's plenty of crossover in Australian collecting. Most of us also have a few NRL trading cards, and plenty of people keep NBA cards in the same boxes as the footy stuff. The habits carry over: buy what you like, check the condition, don't overpay for hype.

AFL Select Cards 2020: Why Everyone Asks

The 2020 Select release comes up in conversation more than almost any other modern footy set. Partly it's because of that strange, interrupted season, and partly because the design has aged well. It's also a set collectors have strong opinions about, which is half the fun.

The advice is the same as for any set. The commons stay cheap, the inserts and star players carry the money, and condition decides the difference. I've seen the same card from that year sell twice in the same week and land at wildly different prices purely because of corners and centering.

If you're chasing that release, buy the singles you want and upgrade them over time. It's cheaper than chasing boxes, and you end up with exactly the collection you wanted instead of a pile of leftovers.

The Rarest AFL Cards and What Actually Drives Them

The rarest AFL cards are usually the low-numbered inserts and signature cards tucked into premium sets. When a card is numbered out of ten, or produced for a single event, the supply is tiny, and collectors talk about that a lot.

Here's the thing nobody says enough: rarity and value are not the same thing. Rare AFL cards of players nobody wants will sit in cases for months. A less rare card of the most popular player in the game will out-sell them every time. The market runs on demand as much as supply.

I get asked which are the rarest at every card fair I go to. The honest answer is that rarity matters most when the player is someone collectors actually chase. Player profile, career moment, condition and the year all shape the price. That's what drives a card's value — not the print run alone.

Grading: When It's Worth the Postage

Grading is the part of the hobby Australians feel most keenly, because it usually means posting your card overseas. PSA, BGS and SGC are the names everyone knows, and our PSA vs BGS vs SGC comparison explains the differences properly. The short version: they all check corners, edges, surface and centering, and they all come with postage, fees and turnaround times that make you think twice.

The question isn't "should I grade?"; it's "should I grade this card?" Grade cards that are genuinely valuable and beautifully preserved. Don't grade commons, and don't grade a card with visible wear unless you're prepared to wear the low number.

Centering is the one thing you can check at home before you commit. Most graders want something like 60/40 front centering or better for a top grade, and even that can be stricter on older cards. If you're not sure a card is centred well enough to grade, run it through the centering calculator and save yourself the postage.

A few Australian submission services take care of the overseas leg for you, which removes a chunk of the anxiety. They're not a magic answer, though — grading still costs money and takes time either way.

Sort and Store Before It Becomes a Pile

Organising is boring until the day you can't find the one card you're looking for. Do it early and pick a scheme you'll stick with.

Sort by	Good for	Downside
Player	Pulling out your favourites fast	Duplicates multiply quickly
Team	The natural way footy fans think	Set-building gets messy
Set and year	Easy to match against checklists	Browsing by player is tedious
Rarity	Spotting your best cards instantly	The rest feels like a junk pile

Any of those works. The best scheme is the one you'll actually keep up with, so start with the simplest and refine later.

Storage basics:

• Penny sleeves first, always, before the card touches anything else.
• Top loaders for anything worth more than a few dollars.
• Binders for team sets; boxes for everything else.
• Australian summers are brutal. Keep cards out of sheds, out of direct sun and away from humidity.
• Keep a rough inventory, even a scrappy one, before you need it.

A Quick Condition Checklist

Corners, edges, surface, centering. That's the order most people check, and it's a good one. When you buy in person, ask to take the card out of the sleeve. A seller who hesitates is a seller who knows.

What to check	What good looks like	What to walk away from
Corners	Sharp, no white, no dents	Soft corners or any crease
Edges	Clean, no flaking or chipping	Chips you can feel with a fingertip
Surface	Clean, no scratches or print lines	Marks visible in the light
Centering	Even border all around	Noticeably heavier on one side

This matters even more if you're grading, since a high grade needs all four to be right. If a card fails the checklist, it's a binder card, not a grading candidate. Nothing wrong with that — just price it accordingly.

Where to Buy (and Where to Be Careful)

Card fairs are the best place to start in Australia. You get the card in your hand, you can haggle face to face, and you pick up the trade talk no website gives you. Hobby shops are the next best — fewer cards on offer, but you can inspect everything before you pay.

Online is where most of the buying happens these days. Marketplaces and selling groups are full of genuine collectors, but the golden rules are simple: check the seller's feedback, ask for photos out of the sleeve, and pay with something that protects you. If you're not sure which set a card belongs to, browse the catalogue here and match it up before you buy. Fakes exist, and they're usually priced just convincingly enough.

Your eyes are the best tool you've got. If you're not sure what you're looking at, hold it next to a card you know is real — the thickness, gloss and feel of the card stock tell the truth quickly. If you collect NBA basketball cards as well, all of this transfers. Cardboard is cardboard; the hype just wears a different jersey.

Common Questions

What are the rarest AFL cards? The rarest AFL cards are usually the low-numbered inserts and signature cards from premium sets. Rarity alone doesn't make a card valuable, though — a card numbered out of ten for a player nobody follows won't sell for much. Condition and demand matter just as much as the print run.

Are AFL Select cards from 2020 worth anything? AFL Select cards from 2020 are worth checking because that release gets plenty of attention from collectors. Like any set, the commons stay cheap while key inserts and star players in top condition carry the value. Collect the players people actually chase and look after the condition.

How do I know what my footy cards are worth? Look at recently sold listings for the exact same card in similar condition, and compare corners, edges and centering. Graded cards have clearer values because the condition is confirmed. If a price sounds too good to be true, it is.

Should I get my AFL cards graded? Grade a card if it's genuinely valuable and you want protection or a better sale price. Don't grade commons, and don't grade a card with obvious wear unless you're fine with a low number. The cost of postage and grading only makes sense on cards with real value.

Where can I buy footy cards in Australia? Card fairs, local hobby shops and online marketplaces are the main places Australian collectors buy footy cards. Fairs let you inspect cards in hand, which is worth the trip on its own. Online, buy from sellers with good feedback and clear photos.