Rare Kobe Bryant card has been pulled from another auction; will Beckett listen?
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A rare BGS 8 Kobe Bryant Star Rubies parallel, numbered 14 out of 50, was removed from Goldin Auctions on Tuesday, Aug. 12, after bids reached $49,000. Heritage Auctions also removed it from its 2025 Sports Card Catalog Auction in March.
Online hobby sleuths alerted Heritage that the card could be counterfeit when it first appeared at Heritage. In response, the auction house took the card down. The same happened when the card resurfaced at Goldin five months later; but the listing was gone with two days left in the auction.
However, the card remains in its Beckett holder with an active certification number. Beckett authenticated the card in 2018. According to a poster on a Blowout thread, Beckett has been aware of the potentially counterfeit card since Heritage removed it in March.
The card was double-authenticated by Mike Baker Authentication (MBA). Baker is a longtime grader who provides additional opinions, mostly on ungraded cards. However, MBA also provides opinions on graded cards, and the Bryant Star Rubies in question has an MBA Gold Diamond sticker on it.
According to the MBA website, "Cards that receive a Gold Diamond Certification are determined worthy of a higher technical grade from MBA. These are truly exceptional examples within the assigned technical grade, generally representing the top 5% of the population, for that grade."
However, unlike Beckett, MBA deactivated the card from its database. It’s unclear when MBA deactivated the card, but the card now has three major sports card entities removing it from their sites. Beckett is the last one standing. Will the grading company take a step in reviewing its work or will the card continue circulating in a Beckett slab without a review?
An email to a Beckett representative was not returned.
According to posters on Blowout Forums, one clue that the card may be counterfeit is the serial number stamping. The font and size of the serial number, though deceptively similar to real cards, are not authentic.
In July, CGC Cards wrote an article about another counterfeit Bryant Star Rubies submission. The article notes how the card's serial numbering and foiling differ from those in authentic cards. CGC wrote, "To the naked eye, this card is a very good counterfeit."
This latest situation highlights the importance of researching cards, especially high-end collectibles and rare parallels. It illustrates that professional graders can be wrong, and it happens more than one might think. Buyers should take heed; even graded cards need to be examined.
Horacio is an avid sports card collector and writes about trending card auctions and news across several major hobby sites, including Sports Collectors Daily and Collectibles on SI.
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