13-year-old sells 1-of-1 gold Jimothy rookie card for more than $21K on eBay

A 13-year-old Mariners fan turned a free giveaway into $21,100 after the one-of-one gold Jimothy rookie card sold Sunday night on eBay following 100 bids.

Thousands of Jimothy rookie cards were handed out at a special Jimothy-themed Mariners event earlier this month, with fans at the sold-out game lining the gates of the park for a chance to land the pristine, gold rookie card.

The 13-year-old Mariners fan Abby was the lucky winner of the giveaway and later listed the card for auction on eBay, where bids steadily climbed from $0.99 all the way up to more than $21,000 in just a few days.

The oddly shaped raccoon from Ballard became an internet sensation overnight, and the Seattle Mariners jumped on the bandwagon with two Jimothy-themed nights on Aug. 5 and 7.

 

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Jimothy, who has big-league aspirations, had 20,000 rookie cards hit the market on the first night of the event, each card tiered by its rarity. Fans lined the gates to collect either a base rookie card, a parallel version numbered to 2,000, a shiny blue card out of 500, a silver card numbered to 100, or the highly coveted one-of-one gold Jimothy rookie card.

Jimothy’s player bio on the back of the card includes how he throws on “all fours” and whether he bats. It reads: “No, it’s a raccoon.” The back of the card also features one of Jimothy’s latest Mariners achievements.

“Jimothy is Seattle’s beloved short-spined raccoon. After winning the Salmon Run on July 18th, the Mariners rallied from behind to defeat the Giants 4-3,” the back of the card states.

The auction process was eerily similar to Jimothy’s rise to fame, as the bidding gained serious momentum ever since the card was listed.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Jimothy card had 68 bids, pushing the price to $5,400. Roughly 24 hours later, the price more than doubled to $12,300 from only 13 new bids.

“This gold parallel variety card has a 1/1 print run, making it a unique and highly sought-after collectible item for baseball fans and trading card enthusiasts,” the seller description stated.

Jimothy craze didn’t stop at the rookie card

Both Jimothy Nights at the Mariners games were a massive success, as each special ticket offer sold out ahead of the game. Since the first Jimothy Night sold out at record speed, the club decided to add one more night two days later to double down on the raccoon celebration.

The night wasn’t complete without a guest appearance from a teammate of the rookie himself. A fan captured a video of a raccoon scuttling in the rafters during the game, and The Seattle Times posted the video on Instagram.

 

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Fans speculated that the raccoon showed up to support his oddly shaped kin.

“Just checking to make sure Jimothy wasn’t lying about a whole night dedicated to him,” one user commented.

Alaska Airlines even joined in on the fun, commenting, “This is Jimothy’s city now.”

The raccoon may have been a good luck charm as the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2.

Adding to the excitement, the Mariners also handed out an exclusive Jimothy T-shirt, with $2 of every ticket sold benefiting the Ballard Food Bank.

A photo of the Mariners x Jimothy T-shirt. (Photo courtesy of the Seattle Mariners via KIRO 7)

From Mariners prospect to dumpster diving in Roku City, Jimothy’s legend continues to grow. The only question now is what the Ballard raccoon does for an encore.

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