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Writer's pictureMatthew Ransom

The Bounty Divide

In today’s market, there are many types of levels of price of card. There are the 5-cent common of a no name rookie that will never make it or never make the 40 man roster then there are the rare inserts and autos such as inscriptions and downtowns and kabooms. Then you move on to the rarer 1/1s or low numbered cards of stars and hall of famers and this area is where the hobby can become a convoluted and “non hobby” related place.


Why and where did I come up with this idea? The bounties. The bounties that have been placed on numerous cards throughout the post covid era. The newest of which is the team USA 1/1 triple auto of Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant. This card is an amazing looking piece of art. The card has great photos of all three players. Steph has his mouthpiece hanging out right before a shot, Durant is mid run and has a look of determination on his face, and LeBron has a look of command and leadership on his face. (one of his standard faces). The card has rings around the players similar to the Olympic rings. Also, right in the middle of the center player (LeBron) is a red circle with the American flag and Olympic rings inside of it which ties the card together. Overall the layout of the card is a great looking Topps now card.


Many people have offered bounties on this card. some are small and just a basic desire to want the card. Then there is the big dog bounty like the one from Geoff Wilson from Cards HQ located in Atlanta Georgia. He is a well-known and nice man to my knowledge but has raised his bounty to 250,000 dollars and a trip and visit to cards HQ. There have been many videos and statements regarding this bounty. Now according to a tweet from @ONLYATGRANDSLAM, he has doubled Geoff’s generous offer and made a $500,000 bounty for this one card. Is this a true offer? I don’t know, I just know that it is a half a million dollars and that can change the lives of the majority of collectors in this hobby.


 This isn’t the first time $500,000 was made as a bounty. Earlier in the baseball season a tom brady inscribed autograph from a baseball product was sought after and the bounty reached 500,000 dollars.


With all the bounties and amazing cards being brought out year after year and season after season, will bounties for cards be a more and more mainstream and accepted aspect of the hobby or will they be rejected due to their inability for the majority of collectors to ever achieve this amount of money or cards? For a lot of people in this hobby to buy cards and supplies they use extra money after bills and spare change from other necessities they need throughout the month. Then there are those that budget and have an allotment towards breaks and extra singles such as those found on eBay, X, and card shows. Then of course there are those that have brick and mortar shops, travel and sell high-end cards and live off the money made from the hobby. This of course is the smaller type of collector.


As for the triple auto with the bounty on it right now, this is a great card to pull. I personally hope a person that is in debit, like myself, pulls it. It will change someone’s life forever. People that have access to lots of money would still appreciate the card and its meaning but for those less fortunate can change everything. Bounties are a controversial topic, especially the ones with price tags as high as this one has. It has three of the best players in the NBA and the world. Is a 1/1 and is a triple auto. This makes it amazing. But does the Olympic moniker make this card a super special piece of art, or does it make it a super special piece of basketball history.


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