ADDENDUM: Please note that the autograph has not faded from its 10 grade; rather, the silver marker blends in with the card's white background. It is a legit 10 auto.
At the turn of the 21st century, when Upper Deck ruled the modern hobby with all “Big Four” pro sports leagues licenses, the card company pioneered the release of a nostalgia product across multiple sports called 1999 Century Legends that combined hardball, roundball and gridiron legends with contemporary superstars. The short-printed Epic Signatures subset (32 players) featured the most coveted chase cards, especially within basketball. All-time greats such as Bill Russell, Cousy, The Logo, Kareem and Dr. J autographed cards, hand-numbered to 100, packed out as special case hits in limited hobby boxes. This was followed by 1999-2000 Retro Inkredible (48 players) with a similar caliber of signed cards, either hand-numbered or unnumbered as super short prints. (This auction features other lots with cards from each of these premium sets.)
Ultimate Collection, first released in 2000-01, was UD’s flagship high-end product [before Exquisite] and it continued the trend of mixing vintage and modern players. The 2008-09 Ultimate Collection Basketball release, looking to expand upon its impressive list of all-time greats, added Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to its Century Legends Epic Signatures Update subset. Today, these GOATS are easily the two most sought-after autographed cards in the 36-player checklist. For whatever reason (perhaps to avoid high-value redemptions) UD did not hand/serial-number them, creating a mystique among collectors about the quantity in circulation. A highly credible source with direct knowledge of these cards’ speculated distribution opined that the true number for each is likely 25 or fewer. Beckett’s pop report has a grand total of twelve LeBrons and just ten Kobes, with none higher than this Gem Mint 9.5 and 10 auto. In PSA’s pop, only one Kobe and two LeBrons in any grade show up. (SGC has not encapsulated one of either player.)
This Kobe card’s virtually flawless condition has three 9.5 subgrades, with only the corners rated lower at 9. His signature in silver marker has been graded a perfect 10 by Beckett. (It has not faded as we previously stated; the silver color just blends in more with label being clear and the card background being white.) The fact that Kobe’s autograph is on a sticker label may also explain Upper Deck’s decision to keep it unnumbered. Since his contract was up with UDA in 2009, and he was in the process of signing an exclusive with Panini Authentic during the pack out period of this set, on-card autographs may have led to redemptions that would have been almost impossible to fulfill.
Incredibly rare and heavily coveted, both short printed Kobe and LeBron (Lot 16) cards from this unique nostalgia set are available in this same auction.