Mickey Mantleโs iconic 1952 Topps rookie card has long been coveted by collectors in the real world. Now the same can be said about the Yankee slugger in the digital world as well.
Topps Timeless announced on Friday that it had completed a sale of a 1 of 1 NFT of Mantleโs rookie card on the Open Sea platform for a staggering $470K. The figure makes it the highest priced baseball NFT ever sold, and third most expensive sports related NFT sold on any platform.
Topps Digital VP Tobin Lent stated “The excitement and prestige surrounding the Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle card cannot be overstated, and we’re honored to see that legacy continued with this next evolution throughout the auction conclusion and value expressed by all interested bidders. One passionate fan and collector now has this piece of sports history, unique to their digital collection and sure to be highly prized for generations to come.”
MLB partnered with Topps and Mantleโs estate to help broker the deal with Open Sea. Open Sea is an online NFT marketplace headquartered in New York City which debuted in 2017. The sale is one of the highest profile sports items in company history, one which the organization hopes leads to more unique items in the future.
Last year a physical copy of Mantleโs rookie card, graded a 9 by PSA, sold for a then record $5.2M at auction. Which is why collectors werenโt surprised to see the NFT version of the card fetch such a handsome sum on the open market as well. Comparatively speaking, the price paid for the digital card is roughly what a collector would pay in the real world for a PSA 7 version of Mantleโs 1952 card.
27 years after his passing, Mantle remains a legend not only in the world of baseball, but in the collecting community as well. A 20x All-Star, the Yankee legend captured 7 World Series titles, as well as 3 AL MVP Awards during his time in New York.