Towns Goes All-In on Baseball History with $900K Judge Card
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks has acquired a one-of-a-kind Topps card of Aaron Judge for $900,000. The card celebrates Judge's consecutive AL MVP seasons in 2024 and 2025. A similar card that also included Shohei Ohtani fetched more than $2 million at auction in March.
The card is a Topps dual gold Logoman autograph, a format that pairs a player's signature with a distinctive logo patch. Towns's purchase follows a March auction where a comparable card featuring Judge alongside Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani exceeded $2 million, suggesting a strong market for premium baseball collectibles.
Towns, who won an NBA championship with the Knicks, is known for his interest in high-end memorabilia. The investment reflects the growing crossover between sports fandom and asset collecting, with one-of-one cards often appreciating significantly over time if the player's legacy continues to grow.
This purchase may signal how elite athletes increasingly treat collectibles as alternative investments, potentially normalizing seven-figure spending on trading cards for a broader audience. It could also boost interest in baseball memorabilia among younger fans who follow basketball, though the market's volatility means such investments carry real financial risk. The card's value ultimately depends on Judge's continued performance and the durability of the sports collectibles boom.