'Holy grail' MJ-Kobe card sells for record $12.9M

A signed sports collectible card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for $12.932 million Saturday night, breaking the record for the most ever paid for a sports card.

The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs Jordan & Bryant card, numbered 1-of-1, surpassed the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, which sold for $12.6 million in late August 2022. The Jordan/Bryant card was sold with Heritage Auctions; the buyer's identity was not revealed.

The Jordan/Bryant card is the second-most expensive sports collectible 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.

Chris Ivy, Heritage's director of sports auctions, said he remembers when Upper Deck first released Exquisite, charging $500 for one five-card pack/box for the 2003-04 release. That was the set responsible for a $5.2 million LeBron James rookie card, which previously held the record for most expensive basketball card until Saturday.

"[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," Ivy says. "They were adding patches and signatures, Logomen -- this was [one of] the first times logos from the jersey were used in this manner."

In the years since, Panini's National Treasures & Flawless lines, both of which now run $3,000-plus per box upon release, have become the standard-bearer for basketball.

"But Exquisite was first, Exquisite paved the way," Ivy said. "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."

Such rarity explains the price tag, despite the card only receiving a 6 from card grader Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA).

"A 1986 Fleer Jordan in a grade 6 sells for a couple thousand while a [grade] 10 sells for almost $200,000 currently," Ivy said. "Grades matter as far as pricing goes for standard-issue cards, but this is a 1-of-1, so the grade is less important overall to how the card performed."

Ivy said the card's consignment had been in process since February. The previous owner had kept the card for more than a decade and turned down "high seven-figure" private offers in lieu of an open auction, where Heritage felt it would safely eclipse $5 million.

"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 says. "[Where] you can have new collectors come out of the woodwork or people willing to participate and pay more."

Ivy also noted that, in the wake of the ongoing Brett Lemieux fraudulent memorabilia scandal, the authenticity of Bryant and Jordan is "ironclad" with this card. Lemieux claimed to have flooded the market with fraudulent Kobe items following Bryant's death in 2020. The assistant chief of police in Westfield, Indiana, told ESPN on Friday that they have no updates on the case.

"[The scandal] makes items like this a little more desirable: Upper Deck has Jordan under contract; he's been with them for decades. Kobe was with Upper Deck until 2009," Ivy said. "They worked with these athletes directly to have this item signed. It's guaranteed by them as well as PSA. That's why you see a premium for items that have verified provenance and authentication."

It has been quite a month for Kobe Bryant cards. High-end collector Matt Allen, who goes by Shyne on social media, shared 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 Saturday night's sale.

Bryant's 47th birthday would have been Saturday.