For those in the sports card buy-sell-trade business, a new chart-topping sale is making the rounds. According to The Athletic, a professionally-graded 2007 dual-autograph Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant card sold for $12.9 million, a record-breaking number in the hobby.
The 1-of-1 logo man card out of Upper Deck Exquisite features two NBA logos, faces of Bryant and Jordan and on-card autographs from two of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
The auction ended for the card, graded a PSA 6, ended Sunday morning through Heritage Auctions’ special “Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction” and the buyer’s identity has not been revealed.
“The demand for this card is astronomical, which makes sense, because it has everything, including photos, jersey patches and signatures from two of the greatest players who ever stepped on the court,” Chris Ivy, Heritage’s director of sports auctions, said in a statement. “The Dual Logoman card offered in this auction is the only example created that includes only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant – making it the most sought-after example of the incredible Upper Deck Logoman series, and because of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in 2020, it always will be the only one.”
The pre-auction estimate for the card was $6 million, but that was eclipsed early during the listing with multiple bids exceeding that number. Per CNN, the previous sports card high was $12.6 million in 2022 for a mint condition 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card.
Before the Mantle rookie, a collector doled out $6.6 million for a Honus Wagner card in 2021. The Jordan-Bryant sale is more than double the previous most expensive basketball card — Steph Curry’s Logoman from his rookie season in 2009-10, which sold for $5.9 million previously.
In honor of “Mamba Day” on Sunday, Aug. 24, Nike restocked several of Bryant’s featured Protro edition sneakers from previous releases, including the Kobe VI Los Angeles Dodgers and the Kobe VIII What The Kobe colorways.