SEATTLE — A promotional 1-of-1 trading card depicting Jimothy, the short-spined raccoon from a Seattle neighborhood who became an internet sensation this summer, sold on eBay for $20,100 on Sunday.
The special gold parallel was among thousands of “regular” cards distributed to Mariners fans at T-Mobile Park on Aug. 5 to celebrate “Jimothy Night,” The Athletic reported. A 13-year-old girl named Abby was the recipient of the rare card.
Jimothy had 20,000 “rookie cards” hit the market on the first night of the event, with several tiers of rarity, KIRO reported, citing MyNorthwest.com. Fans could receive a base card, a parallel numbered to 2,000, a blue parallel numbered to 500, a silver parallel numbered to 100 -- or the gold 1/1 parallel.
The Mariners had two “Jimothy” nights -- on Aug. 5 and Aug. 7, according to the news outlets. The gold card was handed out on Aug. 5, as the Mariners hosted the Detroit Tigers.
Interest was high for all versions of the card, The Athletic reported. Some base cards sold for $25 or more, while the silver parallel has sold for as much as $850, the sports news outlet reported, citing Card Ladder, a trading card sales database.
[ ‘Jimothy’ the raccoon gets his own bobblehead ]
The price of the 1/1 card is a new high for stadium giveaway cards, according to The Athletic. The Los Angeles Dodgers had a “One Piece” from last season that sold for $19,800 in February, but that card did not have any parallels.
Jimothy is not the first raccoon to be featured on a sports card. In Topps produced a card of a raccoon that invaded the pitch during an MLS match between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC, The Athletic reported.
[ Meet ‘Jimothy,’ viral cryptid-looking raccoon ]
The raccoon was dubbed “Raquinho,” and the highest price it fetched was $202 for a parallel numbered to 10, according to the sports news outlet. A 1-of-1 version of the card was produced but was never sold publicly.
Jimothy became an internet sensation in July after videos showed the small, round raccoon skittering through the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.
“It appears that this raccoon, which is a local neighbor, has a congenital spine-shortening disease, veterinarian Carrie Schenider told KIRO. ”It does look quite unusual, but it is a condition that happens in other mammals as well.”