A rare Victor Wembanyama rookie card has topped half-a-million dollars. Wemby’s 2023 Panini Prizm Black Shimmer First Off The Line 1/1, graded PSA 9, sold for $516,000 in a PWCC Marketplace Premier auction on Thursday night, setting a record for the most expensive card of the San Antonio Spurs phenom.
The previous record was the Frenchman’s 2022-23 Bowman University Best of ’22 Autographs Superfractor 1/1 that went for $67,333 by Goldin Auctions last August. Wemby’s Prizm Black Shimmer FOTL 1/1 rookie sold a whopping 87 percent higher than his autographed superfractor. The reason why? It’s because the rookie sensation was in his Spurs NBA uniform.
“Much like the anticipation surrounding the supersized Spur’s NBA debut, basketball collectors eagerly await the arrival of each season’s Panini Prizm release,” PWCC Marketplace wrote in its description lot. “A pillar of hoops collecting since its 2012-13 debut, Prizm rookies and their parallels remain some hoops stars’ most sought-after printings. Wembanyama’s first mainstream Prizm card was met with fervent fanfare and global chases for the dozens of serial-numbered parallels on offer. That extensive rainbow includes three one-of-a-kind masterpieces: the 1/1 Black Prizm, 1/1 Choice Nebula Prizm, and this 1/1 Black Shimmer FOTL exclusive Prizm.”
It’s not yet known who’s purchased the card.
However, if Wemby’s 2023 Panini Prizm True Black 1/1 rookie card hits the market, it could potentially sail past the $516,000 sale. Social media influencer The Collectibles Guru believes that specific card could get $1 million at auction. Only 12 other basketball cards have hit the seven-figure mark.
This isn’t the only Wemby item to set a record this week. A 1/1 Wembanyama NBA Top Shot non-fungible token sold for $145,000 — making it the most expensive NFT ever sold of the future superstar. It’s also the fifth-most expensive NBA Top Shot of all-time. The NBA Top Shot beat out an NFT trading card from licensed fantasy basketball game Solare which fetched over $110,000 last November.
On the memorabilia side, Wembanyama’s Spurs jersey he wore in his NBA debut game against the Dallas Mavericks sold for $762,000 in a Sotheby’s auction last year, setting the record for most expensive NBA debut jersey.
The 7-foot-4 star is expected to be named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds in his first season.