I sold Lamine Yamal trading card for a life-changing amount – my wife doesn’t think it’s a silly hobby now
SPORTS trading cards may seem like a silly hobby to some, but for those who know what they are looking for it is becoming a life-changing industry.
And that was exactly what happened to Aaron Morgan after he packed a rare Lamine Yamal 2023/24 Topps Chrome UCC SuperFractor.
Aaron, from Melbourne, Australia, had booked himself a £147 ($300 Australian dollars) spot for a Topps Chrome box break with Trident Collectables.
But the 35-year-old electrician, who has always been a keen card collector after starting out with Pokemon cards, ended up pulling out a huge Yamal Topps card.
The card was graded as a gem mint 10 by the Professional Sports Authenticator before it went to sale with Godlin auctions.
Aaron actually missed the opening of the card because he was sleeping due to the time difference, but said he was flooded with messages when he woke up.
Speaking exclusively to SunSport, he said: “And I didn’t actually watch it live, I was asleep in bed.
“Yeah, well, my first thought when I woke up with all the messages, I was like, I don’t know, they didn’t actually tell me what the card was.
“So I had to go back and watch it.
“And then I saw the card and I was like, OK, that’s a pretty expensive card, but I had no idea what it would be worth.”
Aaron admitted he was expecting the card to sell for just under £10,000 ($20,000 AUD).
He then revealed he turned down offers of £12,000 ($25,000) and £32,000 ($65,000) before committing the card to auction.
And that leap of faith was rewarded as the card bidding was up to nearly £50,000 ($100,000 AUD) after only a few days.
The winning bid saw the card sell for a staggering £80,000 ($103,000 USD – $163,000 AUD).
Aaron’s wife had actually taken more of an interest in the cards despite originally not thinking much of the hobby.
On her reaction, Aaron said: “Well, she doesn’t think it’s a silly little hobby now. So that’s pretty good.
“She was wrapped, she was like you’re kidding? And then she was watching the auction and she’d come in to tell me there’s been another bid and I wasn’t even watching it.”
Aaron revealed his previous record for selling sports trading cards was a relatively humble £5,000 ($10,000 AUD) on a triple order of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
On his plans for the money, Aaron said: “No I haven’t spent any of the money yet, (I will) probably on buying more cards.
“But no, me and my partner are currently looking for a house. So it’s going to go a long way and we can probably get an extra bedroom on the house.
“It should be nice because property is pretty expensive in Australia at the moment.”
The sports trading card industry is in the middle of a massive surge in growth.
In 2023 it was estimated the industry was worth around £34billion and would grow to around £78bn by 2027.
Aaron added: “Well I’m glad I started collecting now, it’s great for the hobby. You can see the excitement and it’s not just one age, one gender, one anything, anyone can collect these cards.
“In the US they are like $30. So you can just go into a shop that sells cards, buy a box for $30 and then you can change your life, and it’s just fun as well.”
As well as football and Pokemon cards, Aaron is also a keen collector of cards from baseball, basketball and Formula 1, revealing he reckons he has more than 5,000 cards in his collection at home.
On cards he is keeping an eye on, he said: “So I’ve collected a lot of baseball rookies.
“A lot of Wembys (Victor Wembanyama). So I’m banking on them having a great career…
“I’ve been buying a lot of Jason Dominguez at the moment.
“He was a rookie last year, so I’m hoping when the baseball season starts up he’s going to have a good year because I think he’s a pretty good player.
“Also I’m still collecting Lamine Yamal rookies.
“They’re not as crazy as the one I sold, but I’ve got a nice image variation from Topps Merlin product that is numbered to 25 and I sent it to PSA and it got a gem mint 10.”
Asides from cards, Aaron and his wife also like to collect F1 memorabilia, with his wife being a huge fan of George Russell – even buying a signed photo and VIP helmet with a written message from the Mercedes driver given out at Silverstone.
While Aaron and his wife are keeping the Yamal money to one side for their future home, they will be attending the season opening F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Aaron also revealed he will be in attendance at CollectFest, a festival for all collectables, taking place in the summer which is expecting as many as 10,000 fans to turn up.
London has its own version of CollectFest, the London Card Show, which takes place at Sandown Racecourse in Surrey.
Cards from various series, including Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering can also be sold for incredible sums.
A rare Jackie Robinson rookie card is in line to be sold for more than £310,000 next week after hitting auction.