RUNNEMEDE, N.J. – Even though she has been retired for 17 years, U.S. women’s national team legend Mia Hamm keeps setting records.
Hamm’s rookie card sold for $34,440, a record for the most expensive female athlete trading card ever, at Goldin Auctions’ June Premium Card and Memorabilia Auction.
The auction also featured some of the most expensive soccer items, the most expensive box of unopened Fleer basketball cards and more than half a million dollars paid for a trading card of NBA legend Kobe Bryant. The auction broke the record for the most bids ever placed in a sports collectibles auction.
Sales totaled more than $21 million at the auction and featured several highly sought-after soccer cards in the hobby among international collectors. In addition to the record-setting Hamm card, an autographed trading card of up-and-coming international soccer star Erling Haaland sold for a record-breaking $442,800 — the most expensive soccer card ever sold. A Lionel Messi rookie card also sold for $344,400.
In addition to soccer records, basketball items also wound up in the spotlight:
An unopened box of 1961-62 Fleer Basketball cards (with possible Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson rookie card) sold for a new record $461,250. A Kobe Bryant NBA Logo Mania autographed card also fetched $555,960, the second-highest price ever for a standalone Kobe card.
“Over the last year we’ve seen a massive surge in items for sports that have international appeal including soccer, hockey and lately, Formula 1,” said Goldin Auctions executive chairman and founder Ken Goldin said in a statement. “We’ve also seen huge and sustained demand for collectibles outside of sports, with enthusiasm for Pokémon cards leading the way. At Goldin Auctions we’re always taking cues from what our customers want and with that in mind, we plan to expand more into the pop culture and comic arena by soon debuting a brand-new category: video games! We look forward to helping collectors experience the nostalgia of finding rare and legendary video games they haven’t seen since unwrapping them on Christmas morning 20 years ago.”
