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Rookie patch autograph

A rookie patch autograph, or RPA, is a card from a rookie set that carries both a patch and the player's signature.

Also called RPA, Rookie Auto Patch.

Sports cards
The two things on a rookie patch autograph A drawing of a generic sports card with a patch window and a signature, from a rookie set. A patch: Check that it is original; The player's signature: On the card or on a sticker; From a rookie set. From a rookie set A patch Check that it is original The player's signature On the card or on a sticker

In more detail

Checklist sites list the set by its full name. Breakninja's listing for 2025 Panini Prizm Football names Rookie Patch Autographs and uses RPAs for short, and Checklist Insider lists a Rookie Patch Autographs set in 2025 Donruss Optic Football. Upper Deck calls its version in The Cup hockey the Rookie Auto Patch.

Upper Deck's page on The Cup hockey says each card of its 2023-24 Rookie Auto Patch is slabbed, photographed and given a serial number and a QR code, so collectors can check it has not been altered by patch swapping. It also says each tin of 2024-25 The Cup holds one Rookie Auto Patch, slabbed during manufacturing in an Authority slab with an uncirculated designation.

An RPA carries two things for a buyer to check: whether the signature is on the card or on a sticker, and whether the patch is original. Upper Deck's slab and QR code for its Rookie Auto Patch cards address the second. Name the set and year in any listing.

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