A collector paid $33,600 at Heritage Auctions on Thursday for a fourth-year card of Dave Roberts, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1972 MLB Draft.
Roberts was expected to be so good that he was called up and played for the San Diego Padres the day after he signed.
The highly touted prospect didn't exactly pan out, however.
In 10 seasons in the big leagues, Roberts played 709 games and batted .240 with 49 home runs and 208 RBI in a career shortened by four knee surgeries.
So, why the heck is someone paying that kind of money for a player who was never even an All-Star?
It all has to do with the population of the card.
PSA has graded 357,523 cards from the 1975 Topps Baseball set, and only 4,468 are perfect 10s. That's a gem rate of 1.2%.
A low gem rate is typical for sets made up until that year. After 1975, cards in general were made better. According to GemRate, which tracks this data, 1976 Topps Baseball has a 5% gem rate, 1977 has a 6% gem rate and 1978 has a 9% gem rate.
After 1980, no baseball set has had fewer than 10% grade out as PSA 10s.
Of all the cards in 1975 Topps Baseball, 48 cards have just one PSA 10. That's what makes Roberts' card, No. 558, worth big bucks (PSA 10 pop: 1). And 28 cards have none.
It's why, in the same auction, a Doug Griffin sold for $159. There have been 426 Doug Griffins submitted to PSA and 23 of them (5.3%) have been graded as gem mint.
Three factors make it hard for these cards to "10," as detailed by former PSA president Joe Orlando in an article for PSA. The set's dark-colored borders show the slightest chip. Secondly, the centering is a significant issue. And lastly, a hallmark of the cards of the 1970s, is print defects that compromise the card.
But back to Dave Roberts.
Why does it matter if there is one 10 of him? Who cares if a bust has no or only one PSA 10?
Well, PSA ranks the best sets by condition, and set collectors battle over supremacy. Buying the common cards in 10s, especially if they are scarce, can help win the game.
There are 5,617 No. 620 cards that have been graded. That's because it's the card that Gary Carter shares with three other rookie prospects. Gary Carter is a Hall of Famer, but there are 17 PSA 10s, which is enough to get around.
There's only one PSA 10 of Jose Cruz, a card which also sold for $33,000 on Thursday night.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.