“Precious Metal Gems” have been three of the most essential words in trading cards going back to the late 1990s, when the rare and eye-catching Skybox Metal Universe set parallels first debuted.
Since then, the cards have fueled long-standing interest and excitement among collectors that other brands have tried to emulate. They have also helped shape a thriving modern trading card landscape that’s emerged from the destructive overproduction of the 1980s and early ‘90s, by popularizing concepts of colorful parallels (different versions of a given base card), true rarity and transparency in production through printed serial numbers right on the cards.
Precious Metal Gems (or “PMG” for short) first arrived in 1997 with Skybox Metal Universe basketball cards, a debut that Grant Sandground, Upper Deck’s vice president of product development, considered integral to bringing an end to the junk wax era of large print runs, lots of products made and very little scarcity among trading cards at that time.
“The (‘90s) Precious Metal Gems inserts within Metal Universe Basketball, the red versions were limited to 90 copies and the greens were limited to 10,” Sandground said. “They were serial numbered. Serial numbering was sort of a pretty new concept in the mid-’90s and serial numbering to such low quantities, specifically the greens of 10, was sort of unheard of in basketball collecting at the time.”
The vibrant green and red concept for PMGs was conceived by Jean MacLeod, now Upper Deck’s senior director of design, as an idea born of looking at the competition.
“We would open up another product of a competitor to see what the difference was, what it felt like to open those products, and one thing that came out of it was that we felt as though that parallel needed a change once it came to basketball. So once we went to basketball, they called it the ‘Precious Metal Gems,’ ” MacLeod said. “I decided to do ruby and emerald, because I love emeralds, it’s my birthstone. …
“It was supposed to be 100 emeralds and then at the last minute (we) split it and kind of (did) an easter egg. We’ll still number to 100 but we’ll take 10 of them and we’ll keep those green. We’ll make the others another color, so I picked ruby as the other color. So going forward, we used that.”
🚨Most ever paid for a Kobe card🚨
This record-setting Kobe Bryant Green PMG sold for $2 Million in a private sale!🔥 pic.twitter.com/1o7cFJA5um
— Fanatics Collect (@FanaticsCollect) February 22, 2022
As a result of that decision to keep production so limited, PMGS have remained some of the most valuable trading cards on the market over the years. There have been 91 known sales of PMG cards for six figures or more on the secondary market (with several more just shy of that threshold), according to the Card Ladder sales database.
The three highest publicly known PMG sales to date are a 1997 Kobe Bryant Green PMG in a BGS 8.5 grade, which sold for $2 million in February 2022, another ‘97 Bryant Green in a BGS 7.5 grade that sold three days later for $1.75 million and a ‘97 Michael Jordan Green that sold in December 2020 for $915,000.
However, when The Athletic recently asked industry experts what cards could surpass the $12.9 million record sale for any sports card ever, one said a ‘97 Jordan Green PMG would come close if it were to come up for sale again.
Since that initial basketball set in 1997, PMGs have branched out into various realms. They added additional parallels numbered to 50 and, with 2021’s NHL set, a gold 1/1. There have been football (record sale: 1997 Barry Sanders Green PMG for $372,000 in August 2025), hockey (2020 Sidney Crosby Gold 1/1 PMG for $164,400 in March 2022), baseball (1998 Ken Griffey Jr. /50 for $72,500 in September 2023) and Marvel characters (2013 Spider-Man Green PMG for $168,000 in May 2022).
Now Precious Metal Gems are on their way to Gotham City.
Upper Deck’s Skybox Metal Universe Batman was released on Nov. 12, continuing the trading card company’s transition from Marvel to DC that started earlier this year with DC Annuals and Fleer Brilliants Superman. This is its first DC product to utilize the Skybox Metal Universe brand. However, it’s also the first to get PMGs.
It’s the crown jewel of the Skybox Metal Universe Batman trading card set! Chase the Precious Metal Gems before the Dark Knight’s rogue gallery gets their hands on them! pic.twitter.com/v3VmZbnBJZ
— Upper Deck Entertainment (@UpperDeckEnt) November 13, 2025
Batman’s first Skybox Metal Universe arrival includes a set of 200 trading cards featuring 100 heroes and 100 villains and four levels of Precious Metal Gems (PMG) parallels. Red (/100), Blue (/50), Green (/10) and an ultra-rare Gold (1/1) are all exclusive to hobby boxes and Upper Deck’s ePack program. There are also autographed cards from famed Batman creators, including artist Jock, DC Comics legend Marv Wolfman and Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini.
“Obviously, the DC publishing universe has arguably two of the three most iconic superhero characters in the history of the medium in the form of Superman and Batman,” Sandground said. “To say that, hey, we have a chance to release PMGs for an iconic character, a truly culturally influential, iconic, all-time character like Batman, (had) a lot of collectors holding their breath a little bit in anticipation for the release of this product.”
Fleer/Skybox’s bankruptcy was the prelude to a nine-year absence of PMGs starting in 1999. Upper Deck purchased the rights to Fleer and Skybox in 2005. PMGs would return in 2008, and the parallels could be found across Upper Deck’s licenses for the NBA, NCAA and NHL at the time. Upper Deck acquired the Marvel license in 2011, and the first Marvel PMGs premiered in 2013.
Sandground said Upper Deck’s Marvel experience, creating products for both the comics and movie divisions, provides a template for how Upper Deck envisions upcoming products with DC. Just like when Upper Deck had the Marvel license (which now resides with Topps/Fanatics), Skybox Metal Universe offerings for DC, starting with Batman, will be based on art directly pulled from the comics.
“They’re demonstratively different areas. A cinematic product versus publishing,” Sandground said. “Metal Universe and that brand lives in the publishing area. It’s interesting to note, dating all the way back to 2013 and 2015 when PMGs made their debut within the area of Marvel publishing IP, that product has always used imagery taken directly from Marvel Comics themselves. … Whereas other brands that we produced for Marvel, like Fleer Ultra or Marvel Masterpieces, featured original art. Metal Universe Batman, staying true to its brand, is grounded in DC Comics published art. It’s not original art. It’s art taken from the pages of DC Comics, but it works.
“We’ve got a staff of comic book aficionados of the highest order, and we have like eagle award judges on our staff picking checklists and helping pick images. They’re going to get the images right to make sure that that Batman card is going to be a satisfying card for hardcore comic readers and casual comic fans alike that are hardcore card collectors. You get a mixture of both of those worlds together.”
Two other cards in the Batman Skybox Metal Universe set. (Courtesy of Upper Deck)
Sandground does foresee Upper Deck releases based on DC Studios movies now that DC’s theatrical machine is being run by co-studio head James Gunn, but hasn’t had anything new to report on upcoming DC movie-based products yet.
Like every PMG card before, the ones included in the Batman Skybox Metal Universe set will be very condition-sensitive and tough to achieve high grades due to the material used to create their unique foil-esque design. Over the years, PMG-graded cards with a perfect PSA 10 grade have been scarce. Upper Deck is aware of the storied, delicate nature of the cards and is working to improve them.
“We’re constantly trying to correct some of the issues that have happened with the older PMGs. The problem is that that particular foil, which makes the PMGs what they are, is also a very sensitive foil,” MacLeod said. “It’s hard to get completely away from it, but we are absolutely trying all the time. It’s also etched all the way to the edge of the card, so that also increases the sensitivity of that foil.
“But yes, we’re always trying new coatings, new manufacturers of foil. We’re trying everything that we can to get it the best that we can. And I think it is much better than what the originals are if I look back at some of those that are graded. I mean, some of it is hard to get away from and still keep the look of the card.”
As important a factor as art is to a card set that is reliant on comic book panels, Sandground points to the artist,
“With certain characters, certain artists are known as the iconic type of artist for that character. Those considerations should also come into play that, hey, if you’ve got a character like Nightwing, do we feature a piece of art by Bruno Redondo, who is one of the more noted popular artists for that character,” Sandground said. “Those sort of levels of detail and attention to the characters and the artist and those relationships, definitely don’t go unnoticed by our team and the DC team.”
Sandground emphasized that every card in this 200-card set is a Batman hero or villain, a decision that leaves the door open for other DC characters to get the Skybox Metal Universe treatment in the future.
“It’s very deliberate that the checklist for the base set within Metal Universe Batman deliberately focuses only on Batman’s universe of character or primary character appearances and avoids huge characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Darkseid, all these huge characters,” Sandground said. “A couple of years from now, we can come back to deliver another Metal Universe DC publishing product that could have a different focus.
“Perhaps on Superman’s world or the Justice League or other parts of the DC publishing universe, where we could then debut very significant Precious Metal Gems cards for huge characters to help draw and push interest into a forthcoming release.”
So will Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman one day challenge Bryant and Jordan for PMG value supremacy? First, they’ll have to top Spider-Man.
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