On Sunday, Goldin Auctions sold a 1-of-1 Victor Wembanyama autographed trading card (certification number 147398878), graded PSA 8.5 “Near Mint-Mint+”, for $488,000. The ultra-modern basketball card market had previously seen a Panini Prizm rookie card command $860,100.
According to an X post by Topps that surfaced on March 8,
“It breaks the record for the most expensive Wemby autograph card ever sold.”
Topps has produced the 2025 Chrome Superfractor and secured the highest price ever paid for a Wembanyama signature. That year, when they operated without an NBA team logo license, they still cornered the market through an exclusive multi-year Fanatics agreement.
In 2023, Wembanyama arrived in San Antonio, a market so eager for a generational star that fans treated his physical memorabilia like a holy grail, mirroring the historical weight of game-used artifacts.
Within a year, the reigning Rookie of the Year was dominating the court in his black Spurs uniform. He managed to electrify the fans by averaging 21.4 points, leading the league with 3.6 blocks per game and, after less than two years in Texas, dropping 29 points to rout the Houston Rockets 145-120.
Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan and Topps run the officially licensed autograph market to bring fans closer to the stars. Panini, whose brand still holds the NBA team logo license, runs the overall record books.
San Antonio, which just exercised a $13,376,880 team option before a Tuesday matchup against the Boston Celtics at the Frost Bank Center, runs the court, having won 15 of their last 16 games to take second place in the Western Conference. The NBA, which views these releases as a new way to engage fans, runs the narrative.
