Utkarsh Ambudkar Shows Off His INSANE Card Collection

Utkarsh Ambudkar came to the show ready to talk about one thing above all others, and it was not a movie. It was his trading cards, a collection so absurd that the running joke became a warning that he probably should not be walking around with them.

He started at the top, pulling out a Wembanyama gold Panini one-of-one graded PSA 10, the kind of card that draws gasps before anyone even knows what they are looking at. From there it only escalated. Ambudkar produced the only two Shaq and Kobe Nebula one-of-ones in existence, both out of Spectra, and confirmed he owns them both. He called them his boys.

He kept reaching. There was a Steph Curry signed timeless moment from the 2022-23 set, because, as he put it, everybody needs a Steph. There was a Star Wars superfractor of a Japanese global poster he grabbed simply because it looked cool. And there was a triple autograph carrying Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett together on one card.

Some of the collection is personal. Ambudkar collects his friends, including a Star Trek signed card from his Ghosts co-star Rebecca Wisocky and a sapphire card of Randall Park, whom he hailed as the best rapper in Hollywood. The crown jewels, though, kept coming: a card with both Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant signatures, which he called immaculate and an authentic auto 10, and a one-of-one superfractor of Spider-Man in the claw, fitting for a self-described big Marvel guy.

His actual favorite, he admitted, is the goofiest of the bunch, and he knew it. It is a Jean-Claude Van Damme card, and Ambudkar did not hide his love, even pitching Van Damme on the spot to revive Double Team, the movie he made with Dennis Rodman. He would play whatever role they wanted.

That, Ambudkar explained, is the whole point of how he collects. He chases the people he loves, which makes the cardboard worth far more than its grade.