Luka Doncic Rookie Card Sells For Record $4.6 Million
(Photo via reddit)
I have a question for you: What is the most you would be willing to spend on a small, detailed piece of cardboard also known as a sports card?
The first time I ever dabbled in the sports collectable hobby I bought a Mike Trout autographed baseball which set me back quite a few bucks. However, what I spent on the ball is nothing compared to the record setting Luka Doncic rookie autographed card that was sold yesterday.
This card sold for $4.6 million recently. Let me say that again: $4.6 million. That’s a new record for an NBA sports card. One of these cards is worth about a fifth of JJ Watt’s guaranteed money in his new contract (23 million divided by 5 is $4.6 million).
One person spent nearly $5 million on an autographed 1/1 2018-19 Panini National Treasures Luka Doncic Rc Auto Logoman. I’ll admit that it looks pretty damn sweet but I’m flabbergasted.
Luka is one of the rising stars in the NBA and all of his memorabilia is rising in price alongside him. I remember looking in my Beckett magazine and seeing a Donruss base rookie card of Luka which was valued at $25 to $40 dollars. That’s not too bad if you think about it because he was a lottery pick and later won the ROY in 2019. That’s not my main concern.
I’m a fellow sports card collector, but this purchase worries me for the future of the market. It’s every card collector’s dream to own something of this rarity, however, it’s getting harder and harder for the regular joe to obtain one.
Every year new cards get released and every year they get more expensive, even for the basic sets. In 2020, a single Series One NHL Topps hobby box cost around $139.00. Fast forward to a year later and the same box cost me $159.00. It’s all becoming a money grab for these companies.
Having that Luka Doncic card would be cool and all, but I would love to have that 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card. Unfortunately for me, Mantle’s card sold for $5.2 million, which is the highest amount sold for a card. Maybe I’m an oldie at heart, but I can’t get enough of baseball cards.
However, I’m glad that card collecting is becoming more mainstream and popular again. The explosion and oversaturation of the market in the 1990s nearly decimated them.