Karl-Anthony Cities throughout a current recreation between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks. Photograph: Stacy Revere/Getty Pictures
The most costly baseball card sale ever for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto occurred Thursday evening. What makes this much more distinctive is the vendor of the cardboard: New York Knicks heart Karl-Anthony Cities.
Yamamoto’s 2024 Topps Inception MLB Logoman (the league brand patch from one among Yamamoto’s worn uniforms) one-of-a-kind rookie autographed card with a Gem-Mint 10 card and autograph grade via PSA (Skilled Sports activities Authenticator) bought for $72,000 through a Fanatics Accumulate public sale.
The value tag practically doubled the earlier most costly Yamamoto card sale. His 2024 Topps Chrome LogoFractor one-of-one Superfractor autographed rookie card with a PSA 9 grade bought for $40,260 in Dec. 2024 through Goldin.
The 1/1 Yamamoto rookie card bought by Cities. (Picture: PSA)
Cities has had a rising presence within the buying and selling card group over current months. He’s been concerned in dwell occasions with Topps the place he opens packs, together with the launch of licensed Topps NBA Basketball playing cards final month. He additionally opens packs and packing containers on his social media channels, together with an Instagram account he launched devoted to the pastime known as Large Bodegas Playing cards.
“This luck is the best! … Are you critical? Oh my god!” Cities stated throughout his stream when he first pulled the cardboard.
Cities included this in his ongoing video sequence the place he examines whether or not or not he’s in a position to pull equal worth out of the packing containers of sports activities playing cards he buys. In line with the video, he paid $300 for the field of 2024 Topps Inception Baseball wherein he discovered the Yamamoto card. Within the video, he speculated whether or not it will be a $10,000-plus card or not. The public sale outcomes clearly proved it was properly past that mark and fairly the return on his preliminary funding.
Yamamoto’s most coveted and useful rookie card nonetheless stays unclaimed, although.
His Topps MLB Debut Patch autographed one-of-one card nonetheless resides with the corporate as nobody has submitted the redemption code to assert it. Topps produces a redemption card bearing a particular code that goes right into a pack as an alternative of the Debut Patch card itself in an effort to maintain the distinctive and useful playing cards in high situation. The corporate stated the Yamamoto Debut Patch redemption card was randomly positioned in a pack of 2024 Topps Chrome Replace Sequence, which was launched practically a full yr in the past. It possible nonetheless stays in an unopened pack.
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Nov 21, 2025
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