There’s a new champion in the trading card sale market, and it’s all thanks to a kid from Commerce, Oklahoma.
Rob Gough, the entrepreneur/actor behind the brand DOPE, has purchased a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 PSA Mint 9 baseball card for $5.2 million, setting a new record a trading card sale.
“I've dreamt of owning a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle since I was a kid collecting cards,” Gough said in a statement. “It's the Mona Lisa of sports cards, and I’ve been searching for this high graded example, talking to industry experts, dealers, auction houses, and friends. I’m ecstatic that I’m now the proud owner of this iconic card.”
The deal, brokered privately through PWCC Marketplace, is more than a million dollars larger than the previous record card sale: a Mike Trout 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Superfactor BSF 9 card, which sold for $3.93 million last August.
The Mick pic is one of only six PSA 9 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Cards currently in existence, and is “the nicest looking” of the six, according to PWCC Marketplace Director of Business Development Jesse Craig.
Topps’ 1952 set was their first foray into sports cards, making it a popular set to own part of, and according to the sale release, “even common cards in mint condition can fetch over $1,000.”
This particular card last sold in 2018 for $2.88 million, purchased by an unidentified buyer through Heritage Auctions.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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