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Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant signed card sells for $12.392 million, becomes highest-priced auctioned sports card
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant signed sports card sells for $12.392 million, becoming the second-most expensive collectable.
A sports collectable featuring the signatures of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant broke records when it sold for $12.392 million to an unnamed buyer on Saturday (23 August).
Breaking records
Numbered 1-of-1, the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs Jordan & Bryant card overtook the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, which sold for $12.6 million in late August 2022, as reported by ABC.
This makes the Jordan/Bryant card the second-most expensive sports collectable of all time behind Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series “called shot” jersey, which sold for $24.12 million almost a year ago to the day.
Director Chris Ivy weighs in
Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions for Heritage Auctions, spoke about when Upper Deck first released the collection and charged $500 for one five-card pack/box for the 2003-04 release. "[They were] kind of mocked, but it tapped into a demographic that wasn't interested in gimmicks: They just wanted the best of the best," he said, as reported by ABC. "They were adding patches and signatures, Logomen -- this was [one of] the first times logos from the jersey were used in this manner."
Speaking about the company’s competitor, Panini's National Treasures & Flawless lines, Ivy said, “But Exquisite was first, Exquisite paved the way. It's the pinnacle as far as modern card collectors are concerned, and this is the only time there's been Jordan and Kobe autographed Logomans. Another one can't be created. It's always been looked at by modern basketball collectors as a holy grail.”
Ivy then opened up about the card’s presale process and estimated value, saying that the previous owner had high hopes the item would do well in an open auction. "The pre-auction estimate was $6 million-plus, so sometimes if a piece is unique like this, it's really beneficial to let it have its day," Ivy said. “[Where] you can have new collectors come out of the woodwork or people willing to participate and pay more.”
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High-end collector Matt Allen shared, on social media, that he privately spent $4 million on Bryant 1-of-1 signed Panini Flawless Logoman cards: one from 2017-18 for $1.7 million and one from 2015-16 for $2.3 million, which was the record paid for a Bryant card until this sale
Stuti Gupta contributed to this story
