The Rookie Card for the Greatest American Track Athlete of the 20th Century

Before I get started, here are a couple of SI articles I wrote last week: Huge Steph Curry Fan Pulled 1/1 Autograph Curry Topps Now Team USA Card and Ohtani 50th Home Run Ball Lands at Goldin Auctions.

As a reminder, here is the summary of my Attainable Collection of Envy 100.

If you are a new subscriber, this post deviates from my normal weekly sports card roundup, which releases every Monday morning. Here is an example of that.

ACE List #98: 1986 Panini Supersport Carl Lewis

To watch the video I made on this, click here.

Why This Card:

This is the first card in my list that I chose because of the athlete and not the card’s history. And some would even argue that it’s not even a card. When Cllct’s Will Stern tweeted a few months ago about the 1991 NetPro Andre Agassi and called it Agassi’s rookie, I asked Will for his thoughts on Agassi’s 1988 Panini Supersport card.

“It’s a sticker!” I could almost see Will’s sneer in the tweet. (I kid, Will is great and I’m a big fan. And he reads my newsletter.)

Most collectors, though, consider this a rookie, and so do I. This will become very evident as I move through my list of 100, as there are quite a few Panini stickers.

The essence of this list is the best cards for under $5,000 of the “watercooler athletes,” those guys you talked to coworkers about, or sat around the dinner table talking with your family about. And there’s only one card per athlete, so the list isn’t overwhelmed by Mantle, Jordan, and Kobe.

And from 1986-1996, Carl Lewis dominated those conversations during the Olympics, which I would argue have not been as big since that era.

Lewis made his Olympics debut in 1980 as a member of the 4X100 relay team, but broke out in the 1984 games, when he won his first gold, in the 100m. By this point he already had three golds in the World Championships from 1983’s Helsinki event, and he would finish his career with 8 World golds.

He would also win a total of nine gold medals in three more Olympic games, across four different events, including a whopping four golds in the 1984 Los Angeles games. Add in a silver medal, and you have one of the finest athletics career in history.

In 1999, Sports Illustrated named Lewis the Olympian of the Century and the IOC named him Sportsman of the Century, among other major awards.

Here’s what you all said about the 1989 Hoops David Robinson card:

Recent Sales:

A CGC 8.5 recently sold for $25 all-in, while there are two PSA 9s listed on eBay, the cheapest of which is $250 Or Best Offer.

A raw copy is $60 Or Best Offer on eBay right now.

Highest public sale ever:

The highest sale ever was just $200 for a PSA 10 back in 2018.

PSA Population:

Only 21 have been graded by PSA, and only 1 autograph has been dual-graded by them.

Do I Own This Card?

Yes. Well, sort of. I bought the one below on eBay last weekend, and it still hasn’t shipped.

I’m not a fan of BGS, but I couldn’t resist a Lewis rookie autograph already authenticated for $110.