A rare sports card featuring the late Kobe Bryant during his second NBA season sold this week for $3.15 million, setting a record for one of the Lower Merion product’s premium cards. <\/p>\n
The 1997 Kobe Bryant Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Green \u2014 one of only 10 that were produced \u2014 is part of an ultra-rare set that includes similar cards for Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and two of Bryant’s Lakers teammates, Shaquille O’Neal and Derek Fisher. <\/p>\n
The purchase was made by the collectors marketplace Alt, which has an investment fund dedicated solely to acquiring the world’s rarest, most valuable and culturally significant cards. The back of the Bryant card says “009\/100,” but PMGs numbered 11-100 were made with red backgrounds instead of green. The first set was released in 1997, featuring NBA players only, before the series later expanded to other sports. <\/p>\n
“Growing up, the Kobe PMG Green was the card you dreamed about. It was on every collector’s wall, in every price guide, at the top of every wish list,” Leore Avidar, founder and CEO of Alt, said<\/a> in statement “Acquiring it for our fund is personal, but it’s also a reflection of where this market has gone. The best cards in the world are now recognized as serious assets, and we’ve been building the infrastructure to support that belief since day one.”<\/p>\n The Bryant card is one of only three that have been graded by Professional Sports Authenticator, a company that assigns 1-10 scores based on condition and authenticity. Alt’s card is a PSA 5 and surpasses the previous record sale of $2.4 million<\/a> for a solo Kobe Bryant card in September.\u00a0Four Kobe Bryant solo cards have sold for more than $1 million in recent years, including another 1997 PGM Green that\u00a0sold for a then-record $2 million in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n High-end cards \u2014 spanning sports, trading and entertainment categories \u2014 are increasingly being valued as investments similar to fine art. CardBiz, a collectibles market analyst, values the global sports trading card market at $14.9 billion today<\/a> and expects it will grow to $52.1 billion by 2034. <\/p>\n One reason for the bullish outlook is a growing number of cards that are now worth more than $1 million and a steady stream of record-breaking sales. The world’s rarest Pok\u00e9mon card, a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator featuring art from early creator Atsuko Nishida, sold for a record $16.5 million<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n Bryant’s signature is featured alongside Jordan’s on the most valuable sports card ever sold<\/a>. The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Dual Logoman was sold at a public auction last August \u2014 on what would have been Bryant’s 47th birthday \u2014 for $12.93 million. Bryant was 41 when he and eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash in California in January 2020. <\/p>\n Some of Bryant’s rookie cards feature him wearing his Lower Merion uniform<\/a>. They tend to vary widely in value depending on whether they have been graded, how many were made and where they’re listed for sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n