The bidding craze around derivative products linked to the professional sports world continues to break records. This time, it is the universe of basketball player cards, also in full swing, which has been talked about following an auction organized by PWCC Marketplace.
A card of Bill Russell highlighting the Celtics legend, who died on July 31, 2022, during his rookie season in 1956/57, was sold for $660,000.
It is now one of the Top 3 most expensive vintage basketball cards (before 1980) in the world behind a card by Wilt Chamberlain (sold for $670,000 last June) and George Mikan ($800,000 in March 2022), the two also in their rookie season, in 1961 and 1948 respectively.
This new record sale also highlights the speculative aspect of this environment which is not only frequented by wealthy sports enthusiasts. The approach can also be more “business”, with the aim of realizing capital gains on resale, as is the case for this Bill Russell card which had already been the subject of an auction in March of 2021. It was then sold for $630,000, becoming the most expensive Bill Russell card in history at the time.
Due to their rarity, jerseys and other merchandise related to Bill Russell’s career have always been very valuable. In June 2021, the legend had confirmation of this when he brought out 700 of the most precious items from his personal collection for an exceptional sale, the funds raised from which would go to charities. This one, which was spread over several times, had thus brought in 9 million dollars!
