Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Topps announced on Tuesday that an 11-year-old from California has pulled the 1/1 Paul Skenes Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card that were touting back last year. Now the kid has a massive decision to make. Does he take the massive offer the Pittsburgh Pirates made to give them the card or does he sell it and make life-changing money?
Back in November, Topps announced the addition of the ultra-rare to a pack of 2024 Topps Chrome Updates. Shortly after the announcement, the Pirates made a public offer to whoever pulls the card.
Their offer was two season tickets behind home plate for 30 years, a meet and greet with Skenes, two autographed Paul Skenes jerseys, a softball game at PNC Park for 30 people as well as Pirates coaches and alumni, a private tour of Pirates City and LECOM Park, batting practice with the team, and other unnamed “unique experiences.”
The approximate value of the Pirates’ offer is difficult to determine. The season tickets could be worth anywhere from $240,000 to $2 million depending on where the seats are, plus, other than the Paul Skenes jerseys, there really isn’t any dollar amount attached to the other perks.
Livvy Dunne, LSU gymnast, social media star, and Paul Skenes’ girlfriend, also offered to share her suite with whoever pulls the card. That also has value to some people, but maybe not an 11-year-old.
𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: The Paul Skenes 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card has been pulled by an 11-year-old collector from Los Angeles, CA. pic.twitter.com/tYZe5KuqM2
— Topps (@Topps) January 21, 2025
However, just one day after the Pirates made their admittedly very generous offer, famous collector Ken Goldin chimed in with his own tempting offer.
“Before anyone takes this or any deal, email me directly,” he wrote on X (Twitter). “@GoldinCo will sell the card for you, you can put your kids thru college with the money from the sale, and you can use the leftover money to buy entry into a meet and greet with Skenes if you want. Just ask the last guy who turned down an offer from an MLB team how that worked out for him (Shohei 50 HR ball).”
The kid doesn’t have to because Goldin answered his own question in a later post, writing, “He was offered 300K by the team. He turned it down. @GoldinCo auctioned the ball for him and netted $4.4 million.”
Considering the kid who pulled the Paul Skenes card lives in California, and the 30 years worth of season tickets are to watch the Pirates (who have a record of 1767-2176 since 2000), one has to assume that Ken Goldin is going to be getting a call very soon (if he hasn’t already).