Bidder Up: $12.6M Mickey Mantle Passes Honus Wagner For Trading Card Supremacy

By Barry Janoff

Photo: HeritageUPDATED August 27, 2022: Heritage Auctions said the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, graded at 9.5,  it had on auction sold today for a sports memorabilia category record $12.6 million.

That tops the previous record of $7.25 million, held for less than a month, for a T206 Honus Wagner card which Goldin Auction handled in a private sale.

The seller was Anthony Giordano, who purchased the card for $50,000 at a New York card show in 1991.

The Mantle card also surpassed the $9.3 million received earlier this year for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” goal in soccer’s 1986 World Cup, according to AP Sports.

"This card is arguably the finest-condition example of the most iconic post-war card in the world," Chris Ivy, Heritage Auctions director of sports auctions, said via the company. "That grade, plus the fact it has documented provenance from the most storied find in hobby history, puts this card in a category of its own."

Mantle, a Hall of Famer, could not have purchased his own card.

He earned just over $1.1 million during his MLB career (all with the New York Yankees) from 1951-1968, with a yearly top earning of $100,000 (1963-1968). The $1.1 million becomes about $9 million today adjusted for inflation, according to industry analysts.

August 4, 2022: With all the talk of and spending on NFT’s, actual cardboard baseball cards are still unparalleled.

And, for now, there’s a new leader in the category of “Most Expensive Trading Card of All Time.”

Goldin said it has broken the record for the most expensive trading card of all time, facilitating the private sale of a Honus Wagner T-206 trading card for $7.25 million.

Goldin said the card, which received a grade of 2 from Sportscard Guaranty Corp., broke the $6.6 million record also previously held by a T-206 Wagner card, which sold in August 2021 and had a grade of 3 from SGC.

Photo: Goldin“I’ve been in this business for a very long time and seen a lot of incredible trading cards and pieces of memorabilia, but there is nothing on earth like a T-206 card,” Ken Goldin, Goldin executive chairman and founder, said via the company.
 
The record may be short-lived. Heritage Auctions is currently overseeing the auction of a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card rated at 9.5, which has a current bid of $7.08 million but runs thru Aug. 28.

The current owner purchased it in 1991 for $50,000, according to Heritage.

The action is not limited to baseball.

In June, Goldin oversaw the auction of a 1-of-1 LeBron James 2020-21 “Triple Logan” card from Panini that went for $2.6 million. The card contains a NBA logo patch from each of his three pro teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.

Trading card companies are also having a resurgence.

In January, Fanatics signed a deal to acquire the iconic Topps trading card and collectibles business divisions from private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners and Tornante, run under the auspices of former Disney chairman Michael Eisner.

Financial terms were put at $500 million by industry analysts.

Fanatics Trading Cards, launched in 2021,  now has alliances that include MLB, the MLB Players Association, the NBA, National Basketball Players Association,  the NFL Players Association, F1 and UEFA Champions League.

In an organic move, Fanatics said it would join with sports retailer Lids to put Topps products in stores nationwide. Fanatics has minority stake in FanzzLids, which owns Lids.

Fanatics On Topps With $500M Acquisition

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