It's the Most Expensive Sports Card Ever Sold

A Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant basketball card just swooped in and dunked on sports memorabilia history. The one-of-a-kind 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection dual Logoman card—featuring both NBA legends' jersey patches and their autographs—fetched $12.9 million through Heritage Auctions, making it the most expensive sports card ever sold, per the New York Times. The card more than doubled its pre-auction estimate and leaped past two longstanding icons of the hobby: the T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card, sold for up to $7.25 million; and the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311, which topped out at $12.6 million in 2022.

The dual Logoman's new crown signals a shift from vintage baseball royalty to the modern NBA era, with Heritage's Chris Ivy hailing it as "the finest modern basketball card in the world." Before this, the top basketball card sale was a one-of-one Stephen Curry Logoman rookie card, which went for $5.9 million privately. The previous records for Jordan and Bryant cards were $2.93 million and $2.3 million, respectively. The new record holder card is the only one pairing Jordan and Bryant with Logoman jersey patches—the Jordan patch is even a gold variant from the NBA's 50th season. In the sports memorabilia world, only Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series "called shot" jersey has fetched more, selling for $24.12 million last year.