The market for Kobe Bryant memorabilia just reached a new peak. A rare 1997 card recently fetched a record-shattering price in a private transaction.

A 1997 Kobe Bryant Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Green card was purchased by alternative trading platform Alt for a staggering $3.15 million, the most ever paid for a solo Bryant card.

"I'd argue this is the best Kobe Bryant card out there," Alt founder and CEO Leore Avidar said. "They only made 10 of them; it shines, and it's the first year of basketball PMGs -- which there's a collector base for. I've been trying to get one. It's always been my thing."

While heavyweight grading company Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) only graded the card a 5—a score the community usually frowns upon—the card’s rarity outweighs its grade.

The card’s USP comes from the lore surrounding green PMGs. Although the Kobe Bryant card is numbered 009/100, only cards numbered 1–10 feature the elusive green finish, while numbers 11–100 come in red.

The card becomes even more exclusive in the eyes of a hardcore collector, as PSA has graded only three out of those 10 in the shiny green. Only one other PMG green got a grade higher than 5 by PSA.

Alt announced on Instagram that their PMG green purchase makes it the most expensive Bryant card ever sold, surpassing a $2.4 million Panini Flawless 1/1 Logoman Patch Autograph from last August.

The overall record remains the 2007-08 Upper Deck Dual Logoman featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, which sold for $12.9 million.

Meanwhile, it also easily surpassed the price of the same 1997 Kobe Bryant Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Green card, which sold for $2 million on February 22, 2022—a record sale at the time.

Ironically, that particular green card received a BGS 8.5, a significantly higher grade than a PSA 5. This price surge clearly shows the increasingly strong demand for Kobe Bryant cards in the collector community.

This is not the first time the alternative trading platform has secured the rights to a multi-million dollar card, as it has previously won auctions for players of similar stature to the legendary Kobe Bryant.

What are Alt's Other Famous Card Acquisitions?

Alt previously acquired 51% rights of a one-of-one, on-card autographed Stephen Curry Logoman rookie card from 2009's Playoff National Treasures in 2021.

They purchased the remaining 49% of the card in February 2022, having paid a record $6.684 million in total.

Similarly, they have acquired record sales of a Giannis Antetokounmpo 1-of-1 rookie Logoman for $1.812 million in September 2020 and a Kevin Durant RPA for $780,000 in March 2021.

Till now, these purchases are still player records according to Card Ladder. Alt also added a LeBron James rookie patch autograph card for a record $1.8 million on July 19, 2020, a record at that time.

However, multiple sales have since broken it, pushing the current mark to $5.2 million.

So, which multi-million dollar card would you have liked to include in your personal collection?

Read more at Air Jordan Chronicles!

Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Utsav Gupta