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Auctioneers in New York are speculating that a one-of-a-kind LeBron James trading card can be worth more than $6 million when it goes up for sale this month. The card is a special "Triple Logoman" card, which is a single-issue piece that has patches taken from jerseys of LeBron James which he wore during his time at the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.
These sports cards are issued by Italian trading card company Panini in the 2020-21 edition of the "Flawless" collection, These cards are highly coveted by the collectors and created a frenzy among avid fans like Canadian rapper Drake, who bought 10 cases of these basketball cards in a but failed attempt to locate any.
Explaining the value of the card to Reuters, Ken Goldin, executive chairman of auctioneers Goldin said, “The best comparison that I can use for the modern reader is imagine Willy Wonka (and) the Chocolate Factory, looking for that gold ticket and then imagine there was only one golden ticket instead of five.”
Goldin has deemed this card as the "Holy Grail" of sports collectables and also expressed it could go for the record of being the most expensive sports trading card, overtaking the $6.6 million price for the Honus Wagner T-206 baseball card.
Similarly in April 2021, an "ultra-rare" signed rookie card of LeBron James sold for $5.2 million, breaking the then-record for the most expensive basketball card ever sold. The PWCC Marketplace released a statement about the card on social media.
The statement said, "At the heart of every collector in 2003 was the hope of pulling the ultra-rare LeBron James Rookie Patch Auto Parallel numbered to 23 copies. With so few ever becoming available and demand increasing by the day, this card is quickly becoming the crown jewel of all sports card investing."
But in terms of global sports, the LeBron James rookie card is second-most expensive for any sports trading card, tying the amount paid for a 1952 rookie card for baseball great Mickey Mantle. The auction for this rare "Triple Logoman" card will start on Wednesday and ends on 25 June.