Market Soaring For Kobe Bryant Cameo Card, Plus Other Expensive Celebrity Cameos
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Kobe Bryant is a market mover; it doesn't matter if he is featured on the card or, as it turns out, is just spotted in the background of a card.
It isn't the first time people have made the Kobe Bryant connection to Yasiel Puig's 2018 Topps Now card, but it is the first time we've really seen the market react to it. As far back as 2022, people had been listing Kobe Bryant in titles on eBay to boost their sales.
The Market Reacts to Social Media Buzz
There was some buzz in the fall, but nothing quite like what we are seeing now. The previous record sale was a PSA 9 for $1,900 in October of 2025. After Topps put out the social media post about finding Kobe Bryant on the back of the 2018 Yasiel Puig Topps Now card, sales started to roll in.
Two PSA 10s are selling in the matter of a week, one as recently as this morning, and the sales have gone from $4,750 to $5,999 in a week, and the May 8th sale was on the market for fewer than four hours before it was purchased in full as a Buy It Now on eBay. The pop count is super low on this card, so it is quite rare.
The power of social media and going viral.
The History of Famous Cameos in Cards
Kobe Bryant was not the first, or last, celebrity or athlete... or let's just say someone (in)famous making a cameo on a card. Perhaps the most infamous cameo is the 1990 Hoops Mark Jackson card featuring the Menendez Brothers, Lyle and Erik, famous for murdering their parents. With the rise of the true crime podcast genre and eventually a docuseries, this card took on a life of its own. As a PSA 10, this once sold for as much as $4,000.
A significantly less controversial figure, Drake, was spotted in the background of this 2016-17 Panini Optic All-Stars Paul George card. The top sale was a /99 Red PSA 10 for $250. It turns out controversy does sell.
Perhaps the most crowded of all the celebrity cameo cards is the 2019-20 Panini Chronicles Ja Morant #116. It originally went viral after rapper Young Dolph was murdered in 2021, who is featured in the card right behind Morant. It also features fellow rapper Key Glock as well.
The card went viral again in 2023 after it was pointed out that on the other side of the photo, behind Morant, were the parents of Michael Oher, former NFL player and subject of the movie "The Blindside": Leigh Ann and Sean Touhy. The story of the Touhys went viral after Oher alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that he didn't make a dime off of "The Blindside." In addition to that famous quartet, there is also actor Todd Bridges (in the blue shirt at the top of the card) and rapper Crunchy Black.
The top sale of this card is the Lucky Envelope /8 PSA 10 for $8,000. Base cards, at their peak were selling for over $200 raw and over $400 for PSA 10's.
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Brendan has worked for various platforms, including The Washington Post, SB Nation, NBC Sports Washington, and more, covering everything from college basketball to fantasy football and betting. An avid collector as a kid, he got back into collecting in 2021 and is a dedicated soccer, football, and basketball collector.
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