Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant Sports Card Achieves Record Price
A sports trading card signed by Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant reached $12.932 million on Saturday night, setting a new record for a sports card. The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card of Jordan and Bryant, numbered 1 of 1, surpassed the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, which sold for $12.6 million at the end of August 2022. The Jordan/Bryant card was sold by Heritage Auctions, without revealing the buyer’s identity. This card is positioned as the second most expensive sports collection item in history, only behind Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series jersey, known as the “called shot”, which sold for $24.12 million almost a year ago.Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, recalled that Upper Deck launched Exquisite, charging $500 for a five-card pack/box for the 2003-04 edition. This set was responsible for a LeBron James rookie card that reached $5.2 million, which held the record for the most expensive basketball card until Saturday. Ivy also noted that, following the fraudulent memorabilia scandal involving Brett Lemieux, the authenticity of the Bryant and Jordan card is “bulletproof.” Lemieux claimed to have flooded the market with fraudulent Kobe items after his death in 2020.[They were] a bit ridiculed, but they reached a demographic that wasn’t interested in gimmicks: they just wanted the best of the best.
Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage
Ivy commented that the card had been in the consignment process since February. The previous owner rejected private offers of “high seven figures” in favor of a public auction, where Heritage believed it would exceed $5 million. The estimated value before the auction was over $6 million. The authenticity of the card is guaranteed by Upper Deck and PSA. Matt Allen, a collector known as Shyne on social media, revealed that he spent $4 million on signed 1-of-1 Logoman cards of Bryant: one from 2017-18 for $1.7 million and another from 2015-16 for $2.3 million, which was the record for a Bryant card until Saturday night’s sale. Saturday would have been Bryant’s 47th birthday.A 1986 Fleer Jordan in a grade of 6 sells for a couple of thousand, while a [grade] 10 currently sells for almost $200,000.
Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage
