Record breaker: the one-of-one Jordan and Bryant dual Logoman that sold for 12.932 million
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Every collector has a personal grail, but the hobby also has a shared idea of perfection, a card that feels larger than cardboard. The 2007–08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sat in that space for years. It is a true one-of-one, it carries two hard-signed autographs, and it features the NBA Logoman patches for both players. When Heritage Auctions closed the bidding at 12.932 million, it became the most expensive sports card ever sold, slipping past the famed 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle that realized 12.6 million in 2022. Only one sports artifact, Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series called shot jersey at just over 24 million, sits higher in the broader collectibles world
The appeal starts with the names on the front. Michael Jordan is the measuring stick for greatness in basketball. Six championships with Chicago, six Finals MVPs, five regular season MVPs, ten scoring titles, a Defensive Player of the Year, and a reputation for competitive fire that still defines how pressure moments are judged. He turned a style of play into a global language, from the way he attacked space to the way he celebrated success, and he helped turn the NBA into a worldwide phenomenon. The Air Jordan brand traveled beyond sport, into music, fashion, film, and daily life. His signature on a card is ink, but it is also a signature on an era
Kobe Bryant arrived as the heir and became his own force of nature. Straight out of Lower Merion High School, traded to the Lakers on draft night, he built a twenty year career that produced five championships, two Finals MVPs, one regular season MVP, eighteen All-Star selections, and an endless reel of footwork, fadeaways, and closing bursts that felt inevitable. The phrase he popularized, the Mamba mentality, is now a shorthand for relentless preparation and self belief. After his playing career he moved into storytelling and won an Academy Award for Dear Basketball, a reminder that his curiosity matched his will. His loss in 2020 left a hole that statistics cannot explain, and fans still use his highlights and his quotes as small acts of remembrance
Putting both signatures and both logos on a single piece created a natural summit. Add the Exquisite pedigree and the card becomes a time capsule from the moment modern high end took shape. When Upper Deck launched Exquisite for basketball in 2003–04 at 500 dollars for a five card box, plenty of people laughed at the price, but the idea landed. Exquisite leaned into premium stock, on card autographs, and thick swatches that felt like artifacts. It treated the Logoman as centerpiece art rather than background texture. The line also produced the LeBron James rookie patch autograph that later sold for 5.2 million, and it set the path that Panini’s National Treasures and Flawless would travel later. You can see the DNA in today’s ultra premium products that start in the thousands per box. Exquisite came first, and collectors still treat it that way
The Dual Logoman is not pristine by the numbers. PSA graded it a 6. With a regular issue, grade drives price. With a one-of-one that combines the right players, on card autographs, and iconic patches, content and uniqueness overwhelm the number on the label. This is the only example with Jordan and Bryant together in this exact format. Another one cannot be produced. That is why the market treated it like a piece of modern basketball art rather than a line item in a population report
Provenance and authentication matter more than ever. The hobby has dealt with periodic stories about fraudulent memorabilia, and collectors reward items with ironclad sourcing. Upper Deck had a long standing contract with Jordan and worked directly with Bryant through 2009. The card arrives with Upper Deck guarantees and third party certification, which gives bidders confidence that the autographs and the materials are exactly what they should be. Heritage said the owner held the card for more than a decade, fielded seven figure private offers, and chose the auction block because a unique item deserves a public stage. A conservative estimate in the six million range set the floor. Demand did the rest
The timing carried its own emotion. The sale landed on the weekend that would have marked Bryant’s 47th birthday, and the hobby was already watching high end Kobe material closely. A prominent collector recently shared that he spent a combined four million privately on two Kobe one-of-one Flawless Logoman autograph cards, one at 1.7 million and another at 2.3 million. Those were landmark numbers for Bryant until the dual Logoman result arrived. It is a reminder that when provenance, scarcity, and cultural weight meet, the ceiling can move quickly
Why did this single card pass the Mantle rookie that so many consider the king of vintage cardboard. Part of the answer is simple supply. The Mantle exists in multiple copies across grades, which gives bidders choices and builds a price ladder. This dual Logoman offers exactly one choice. Part of the answer is story. The Mantle connects to baseball’s golden age. The Jordan and Bryant pairing connects to a global era when basketball crossed borders and screens and became a constant presence. Part of the answer is the format. The Logoman has become the visual symbol of modern basketball cards. Place two of them together with two signatures, and you have a focal point even someone outside the hobby can understand
For Jordan, the card adds a line to a list of firsts. He still frames how clutch is narrated, how legacies are debated, and how winning is celebrated. His influence shows up in the way players market themselves, the way brands borrow from sports, and the way sneakers define eras. For Bryant, the card underlines how influence can grow after the final buzzer. Players talk about his habits, kids who never saw him live study his angles and footwork, and fans keep retelling the stories that made them stay up late on weeknights. The sale did not create that meaning. It reflected it
There is also a practical lesson for collectors and investors who watch the very top of the market to guide decisions below it. A record like this tends to lift related categories. Important Jordan autographs with clear provenance look stronger. True one-of-one Bryant cards, especially with on card signatures and meaningful patches, find better comparables. Duals that pair historically connected stars feel more credible as anchors. Rarity drives the engine, iconic subjects provide the torque, and verified authenticity keeps the road smooth
The history of Exquisite explains some of the result. The 2003–04 launch taught the hobby that a few cards, produced at the highest possible standard, could carry an entire release. It showed that on card autographs matter, that a logo patch can be art, and that limited production can be a feature instead of a flaw. Panini’s National Treasures and Flawless later proved the model could scale, with box prices that now start at several thousand at release. Yet when collectors talk about the true top of modern basketball, Exquisite still earns a special tone in the voice
Heritage’s director of sports auctions has said before that Exquisite was the product that opened the door. The early price was mocked, then accepted, then copied. The dual Logoman format became a north star, and this specific pairing became the dream. The consignor waited years, turned down large private offers, then opted for a public sale because a card like this deserves a moment. A pre auction figure in the six million range feels modest in hindsight. Bidders pushed past that number, past the Mantle, and into a new line on the hobby’s record book
The identity of the buyer remains private. The card will probably disappear into a vault or a museum wall, and that is fine. Collectors had a chance to see it, talk about it, argue about it, and measure their own memories against it. A price can feel cold, but sometimes it is a useful way to quantify how much a pair of signatures and a pair of logos can mean to people. The number will live in headlines. The reason behind it will live in highlights, in newspaper clippings saved in drawers, in grainy videos shared between friends, and in a habit of staying to shoot just ten more free throws because that is what your heroes would have done.
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