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Edition 44 . Saturday, August 29, 2026

Cooper Flagg's one-of-one rookie patch heads to auction

Fanatics has put the only Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch autograph into Fanatics Collect's September 10-24 Premier Auction, alongside the Dylan Harper and Kon Knueppel debut patch cards.

Fanatics confirmed the auction placement on August 28, with the September 10-24 window reported by the Portland Press Herald and independently by ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report, Sports Collectors Digest, and SI; it was also the top post on r/sportscards on August 29.

Fanatics confirms Cooper Flagg's one-of-one Rookie Debut Patch auto for Fanatics Collect's September 10-24 Premier Auction

The card is a Topps Chrome Update Basketball Rookie Debut Patch autograph, the only one of its kind, signed by Flagg and carrying the patch he wore in his Mavericks debut on October 22. It was pulled on August 10 by Rhode Island shop Baseball Cards of RI during its RhodyBreakers live stream and set off a buying frenzy; owner Parker J. Asel described the pull on CNN, then turned down a $3.6 million bid on Alt before this placement. The Press Herald reports it could fetch over $5 million. The same September auction also carries the rookie patch cards of San Antonio's Dylan Harper and Charlotte's Kon Knueppel.

Gear check · curated picks Dallas Mavericks Ad at Fanatics Cooper Flagg collectables at eBay Cooper Flagg jersey Ad at Fanatics
Source: Portland Press Herald . Published August 28, 2026
September 24 release date and the $979.99 presale price stated by Checklist Insider, with Topps' own launches.topps.com listing showing the same product and price opening August 18.

Checklist Insider has Topps Royalty Premier League releasing September 24, after an August 18 EQL presale at $979.99 a box

Presales ran on August 18 through a Topps EQL raffle, days before the 2026-27 Premier League season started, at an initial price of $979.99 a hobby box. The base set is 100 cards numbered to 60, with parallels running from Royal Blue /25 up to a Platinum 1/1. Topps' own EQL launch platform lists the same product at the same price with its draw opening August 18, which matches the checklist page. The September 24 date is Checklist Insider's; Topps has not posted one itself.

Source: Checklist Insider
September 23 stated twice on Collector Nation's own product page; a Checklist Insider page lists an estimated November 4 date for what may or may not be the same product.

Collector Nation lists 2025-26 Panini National Treasures Road to FIFA World Cup Soccer for September 23, with one date conflict outstanding

Collector Nation's own product page puts the release on September 23, and repeats it in both its launch info and its FAQ. The set is built around a 150-card base spanning more than 30 national teams, so it is a World Cup-cycle product rather than a club release. One caveat before you plan around the date: a separate Checklist Insider page, which may not be for this exact product, lists an estimated release date of November 4. Take September 23 as the date on the record and treat the November one as unresolved.

Source: Collector Nation
September 3 release date confirmed on Checklist Insider's product page and independently listed for the same date on Collector Nation's releases tracker.

Checklist Insider has 2025-26 Topps Chrome Update Sapphire Basketball, an online exclusive with an autograph per box, releasing September 3

Hobby boxes hold 8 packs of 4 cards with one guaranteed autograph, and the product is online-exclusive, so it will not turn up on a shop shelf. Collector Nation's live releases tracker independently lists the same September 3 date. No official Topps MSRP has been stated; boxes already sitting on eBay run from roughly $3,812 to $9,999, which is resale pricing and not what Topps is charging.

Source: Checklist Insider
September 25 release date stated on Checklist Insider's product page; no official Panini price has been published.

Checklist Insider has 2026 Panini Prizm WNBA Basketball releasing September 25

Prizm is the WNBA's most-collected modern line, and this year's release lands September 25 per Checklist Insider's product page. Panini has not given an official MSRP. Secondary hobby-box listings on eBay run roughly $207.50 to $399.95 and cases around $499 to $1,129.62, so treat those as resale asks rather than a guide to what boxes will cost at release.

Source: Checklist Insider
$3.2 million private sale brokered by Goldin, reported by Sports Collectors Daily as the fourth most expensive Jordan jersey on record.

Sports Collectors Daily reports a photomatched 1997-98 Michael Jordan Bulls jersey sold privately for $3.2 million through Goldin

The jersey is photomatched to ten games from Jordan's final season with the Bulls, five of them 40-point performances, which is the kind of documentation that separates a game-used shirt from a great story. Goldin brokered it as a private sale rather than running it at auction, so there is no public bidding record behind the figure. Sports Collectors Daily reports it as the fourth most expensive Jordan jersey ever sold.

Gear check · curated picks Chicago Bulls Ad at Fanatics Michael Jordan collectables at eBay Michael Jordan jersey Ad at Fanatics
Source: Sports Collectors Daily
Posted August 28 by @SportsCardInv on X.

Sports Card Investor posts a $52,000 sale for a 1998 Skybox E-X Century Dunk 'N Go-Nuts Kobe Bryant PSA 10

A new high for the Kobe Bryant Dunk 'N Go-Nuts 📈 This 1998 Skybox E-X Century Dunk 'n Go-Nuts Kobe Bryant PSA 10 just sold for $52K on Fanatics Collect. The previous high for this card was $35.7K when it sold back in June 👀

The account calls it a new high for the card, above a $35,700 sale in June. Our own check of Fanatics Collect's comps page found four listed PSA 10 sales, including that June result, but not the $52,000, so the new high stands on the post rather than on a public record.

Gear check · curated picks Kobe Bryant collectables at eBay Kobe Bryant jersey Ad at Fanatics
Source: Sports Card Investor (X) . Published August 28, 2026
Posted August 28 by @CardLadder on X.

Card Ladder posts a $1,140,000 sale for a 2025 Topps Dynasty Shohei Ohtani MLB Logo Patch 1/1 auto

:// Generate —> #CardLadder #RecentSale Recent Sale: The 2025 Topps Dynasty Shohei Ohtani #AMLP-SO Autographed MLB Logo Patch 1/1 PSA 9 / Auto 10 sold for $1,140,000 via Fanatics Collect on August 28, 2026. CardLadder.com #ShoheiOhtaniCards #BaseballCards

Card Ladder has the PSA 9 with a 10 autograph selling through Fanatics Collect on August 28, which would put another Ohtani patch card into seven figures. We could not match it to a public listing or an outlet report, so the number stands on the post; a second account posted the identical figure for what reads as the same card the same day.

Gear check · curated picks Shohei Ohtani merchandise Ad at Fanatics
Source: Card Ladder (X) . Published August 28, 2026
Posted August 28 by @Footy_Headlines on X.

Footy Headlines reports adidas will release two Liverpool 1995-96 home remake kits

EXCLUSIVE: Adidas to Release 2 Liverpool 1995-96 Home Remake Kits:

The post claims two versions, the original red and a blackout. Reporting on this remake has been running since at least May, with the most recent coverage pointing at a launch in early 2027, and neither adidas nor the club has stated a date or a price.

Gear check · curated picks Liverpool FC Ad at Fanatics
Source: Footy Headlines (X) . Published August 28, 2026
Posted August 28 by @Will__Stern on X.

Will Stern counts 48 million-dollar card sales in 2026, past the 43 logged in 2021

Yet another statistic that shows how hot the card market is: As of this month, 2026 has officially set the record for the most $1m+ card sales in a year — clocking in at 48 (!!) with another four months left. The previous record was the 43 logged in 2021.

Stern's tally puts this year ahead of the 2021 record with four months still to run. He names no data source for the count, so it is his own number rather than a published index.

Source: Will Stern (X) . Published August 28, 2026

Community posts surfaced by the editor from public feeds. Posts may not be independently confirmed.

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