How to Buy the Victor Wembanyama Rookie Card for $5.99

With perseverance and some luck, 2023's first draft pick can be yours

News

By RC Staff

20 February 2023

Key Points:

French player Victor Wembanyama is projected to be the first overall 2023 NBA draft pick
The January/February 2023 issue of Sports Illustrated Kids includes a sheet of perforated sports cards
Wembanyama’s first appearance on a printed sports card is one of the cards included

Item

Art & Collectibles

Sports Illustrated Kids January/February 2023 Issue

This Volume 35 No. 1 issue of Sports Illustrated Kids includes what many consider to be the first sports card of Victor Wembanyama’s career.

Who is Victor Wembanyama?

If you’ve been paying attention to the upcoming NBA season, then you probably know the name Victor Wembanyama. The 7’2 French 19 year old is widely regarded as the 2023 first overall draft pick, and has been referenced to by NBA commissioner Adam Silver as a “once-in-a-generation player”.

But I get it, especially when there is a sense that a once-in-a-generation player is coming along, like we have this year.

While no one can predict the future in sports, one thing is clear:

If Victor Wembanyama lives up to even a portion of his current hype, his Rookie card will be coveted for years to come.

The Victor Wembanyama rookie card

In the 2023 January/February issue of Sports Illustrated Kids, a page of 9 perforated sports cards are included. The center card in the top row is a Victor Wembanyama card, showing a mid-dunk action shot of him from a Metropolitans 92 game.

While this is not a traditionally licensed NBA card, this card is notable to collectors in that it is his first widely distributed appearance. Essentially, it is the closest thing collectors currently have to a “rookie card”.

What are Sports Illustrated Kids Cards?

Sports Illustrated Kids cards have been distributed in issues of the magazine since the early 90s, and while they hadn’t immediately been been considered mainstays in the wider card community back when they first released, years later some cards in good condition have exploded in value.

Some examples of notable recent Sports Illustrated Kids card sales include a 1999 PSA 10 Serena Williams card for $117,000 (January 2022), a 1996 BGS 10 Tiger Woods for $55,000 (February 2021), and a 1992 Mia Hamm for $34,400 (June 2021).

How to get the Victor Wembanyama rookie card

The Victor Wembanyama Sports Illustrated Kids card is included in every issue of the January/February 2023 Sports Illustrated Kids magazine.

The magazines were mailed in January to anyone with pre-existing magazine subscription, but can also be purchased at various newsstands, bookstores, and grocery stores. They have a retail price of $5.99 each.

A number of members of the RC Elite community have been able to find copies of the magazines at their local Barnes and Nobles locations, as they are a known retailer of the Sports Illustrated family of magazines.

Wembanyama Rookie Card Collage — Magazines found by an RC Elite member at Barnes and Noble

What is the Victor Wembanyama rookie card Worth?

Currently, issues of the January/February 2023 magazine containing the card resell on eBay for around $30 each. In general, raw copies of the card itself also go for this price.

Some copies of the card have been submitted to grading services such as SGC, and because of factors like cards being printed off-center or having wear from handling, cards that score high grades already have a massive premium.

For example, a single 2023 Victor Wembanyama card with a SGC rating of 9 listed on eBay already has a bid price of $416 with 18 hours left to go on the auction.