I have always been a fan of Peyton Manning, as his play and personality have continually been impressive over the course of his long career. He is also a frequent signer, and has regularly been a hobby all star since he was drafted back in 1998 with the first pick. Seeing his performance on thursday night was especially exciting, not only because it marked one of the best of all time, but because it means football is back! However, when you look at the price of his cards, I have always wondered why he isnt worth more.

Since Thursday, his rookie stuff has seen some action:

1998 Bowman Peyton Manning Auto RC PSA 10

1998 Bowman's Best Peyton Manning RC Auto

1998 Upper Deck SP Authentic Peyton Manning RC

1998 Stadium Club Manning/Marino Dual Co Signers Auto

Yet, as mentioned above, his later stuff is still incredibly undervalued:

2009 Upper Deck Black Peyton Manning Lustrous Dual Patch Auto

2007 National Treasures Peyton Manning Triple Patch Auto

Its easy to site his only Super Bowl as a reason for his lack of elite value outside of his gem graded rookie cards, or the fact that the market is pretty saturated. However, I dont think that says everything about a guy who owns pretty much every record in the book, or will own the records when all is said and done. He has already passed 420 TD passes for his career, and will have zero issue moving past Favre to take the all time crown. He should also finish with the most passing yards and quite possibly another championship.

All of that being said, he is still under valued, especially in his on card stuff from over the years. The only card that is relatively impossible to find is his 1998 Contenders rookie auto, which is one of the most valuable from the entire run of the product. Due to pen quality, many of the autographs have faded over the years, leaving a rare card even more difficult to obtain. Other than that, his cards rarely sell for more than 200 bucks, something that completely shocks me for the one of the best of all time.

I have often said that comparative value is non-existent in this hobby, as we frequently see unproven rookies sell for astronomical amounts, despite not having half the resume that Manning has. People are fine paying hundreds of dollars for a guy that could only dream to be Peyton Manning, and to think it happens every year is pretty insane. People would much rather have Andrew Luck than Manning in some cases – even the early autos – and even though Luck looks great, he has a long way to catch the man he succeeded. Could it be that today’s collectors feel disconnected from a guy who has played for as long as Peyton has?

When considering the face of the NFL, its tough to find someone more visible, with a possible exception for Tom Brady. Yet, we rarely see anyone of his caliber sell for so little in the grand scheme of things. Now that he has had a game of throwing 7 TDs, his value will spike temporarily, but that surge is fleeting. Then again, if the Broncos do win the title this year, Im curious to see if things change.