When an 11-year-old boy in the Los Angeles area thought he had pulled a potential $1 million card, his parents were admittedly a bit skeptical.
His father had never seen a redemption card before, and his mother didn't know who Paul Skenes was.
But it was the real thing: The Topps Rookie Debut Patch Autograph 1/1 card for the reigning National League Rookie of the Year.
"I put it under the light and it was like ‘Oh, my God, I think this is real,’” the father told The Athletic. “And I was immediately just kind of stupefied, and then that went into excitement, and then I was just kind of slack-jawed.”
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According to The Athletic, which was granted an exclusive interview with the boy and his family, the 11-year-old, who remained anonymous, only wanted one thing for Christmas: A 24-pack hobby box of the 2024 Topps Chrome Update Series.
The boxes online were significantly marked up from the original retail price of $210, with some going for more than $600. The mother and father eventually were able to purchase the box via StockX for $320.
On the fifth pack, the boy pulled the grail that so many card collectors were seeking.
Though it wasn't the actual card, rather a redemption, it was still just as valuable, maybe even more so because the physical card wasn't sitting in a box.
“It wasn’t even on my mind that I would pull it,” the boy told The Athletic. “I thought it would go to some big breaker."
The family knew they wanted to sell the card, but more importantly they wanted to remain private.
"It’s been a really hard time in the community,” the mother told The Athletic about the impact of the L.A. wildfires. “It’s not the time to be walking around and saying, ‘I got the golden ticket.’”
The family contacted three potential sellers: Robert Edwards Auctions, Heritage Auctions and Fanatics Collect.
Per The Athletic, the family first contacted Fanatics Collect on Jan. 2.
On Jan. 21, Topps announced the card had been pulled; and by Jan. 24, Topps announced the card would be sold in Fanatics Collect's March auction.
Going with Fanatics Collect caused a lot of conspiracies to fly in the hobby, that it was all set up, as Topps is owned by Fanatics, though Fanatics Collect strongly refutes those claims.
"An 11-year-old boy holds the card of the year that everybody’s talking about, and everybody’s chasing,” Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan told The Athletic. “Something everyone unequivocally should celebrate, and people are skeptical, and that skepticism doesn’t happen if it weren’t for years and years, and frankly decades, of neglect of the collector.”
Mahan, himself, doesn't know the names of the boy, nor his parents.
The father told The Athletic that on Jan. 22 a Topps executive flew from Los Angeles to Dallas to pick up the card and then back to Los Angeles. The boy held onto the card for a single day. The card was then taken to PSA for a grade, where it earned a 10/10.
"I saw some chatter out there that of course the card got a 10!” PSA president Ryan Hoge said on the company’s podcast last week. “We’re not going to just grade a card a 10 because it’s an iconic card unless it was worthy of the grade. I mean, our grading, our graders have high standards, high integrity, and it’s like we’re not going to just do that for that one card.”
The card is now on the East Coast, where it is going through a marketing process ahead of the auction next month.
The Pirates, who offered a massive haul for the card, including 30 years of season tickets, still invited the family to come to PNC Park for a visit, despite their offer being rejected, but the family will also likely decline that offer, per The Athletic, to continue to protect their anonymity.
What is certain, is the card will certainly earn the family a hefty pricetag, which the boy recognized immediately, but wanted to make sure it was being shared.
"Upon pulling it, he decided without any prompting from us, I mean this is almost within seconds of pulling it, he wanted to share the money with his family and with his brother,” the father said. “So, we’ve decided to split the money between him and his brother, and we’re going to invest it for education. Also it’s going to help those in need from the fire."
The family, themselves, were forced to evacuate their home twice, per The Athletic, though the house did remain intact.
All of Fanatics’ earnings from the sale will be donated to local Los Angeles charities.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct.