One of the most sought after modern sports cards of the decade just sold at auction for a whopping $2.4M.
The LeBron James “triple logoman” card, numbered 1 of 1 fetched the eye popping sum at Goldin auctions this week, following months of box breaks on the parts of collectors that ranged from Mom & Pop card shops, to rap moguls and wall street investors.
Part of the 2020-21 Panini Flawless set, the card featured NBA logo patches from 3 different game used LeBron jerseys. The three logos highlighted his stints with the Cavaliers, Heat, and Lakers, making it one of the more unique LeBron related collectibles to hit the marketplace.
The winning bid came in at $2M, but featured a $400K buyer’s premium, bringing the total to $2.4M to an anonymous new owner. Graded simply “Authentic” by PSA, the winning bid fell well short of what many in the industry believed could fetch north of $5M.
While $2.4M is certainly nothing to scoff at, it didn’t even come close to being the most expensive LeBron James card to hit the auction block in recent years. A 2003-2004 RPA (rookie patch auto) card featuring James sold for $5.2M just last year.
The card was one of five “triple logoman” cards on the 2020-21 Panini Flawless checklist, however LeBron’s card was the only one to feature just one athlete. Each of the other four variations featured logoman patches from multiple players.
Investors and celebrities alike tried their hands at pulling the one of a kind card from cases throughout the year, however Drake was certainly the most ambitious of the group when it came to putting money where his mouth was. The rapper posted an Instagram story back in March where he stood in front of a pile of boxes which totalled roughly $200,000 USD.
Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t be the one to pull the highly sought after collectible. That honour went instead to JMo from Backyard Rips who pulled it on a livestream via Whatnot.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.