Topps Now surprises collectors with short print LeBron James card

A little more than a month ago, LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points when the Lakers played a home game against the Denver Nuggets.

Most people in the hobby know by now that LeBron is a Topps/Fanatics exclusive athlete, so, in typical Topps fashion, they wasted no time creating a Topps Now card to commemorate the King’s historic achievement.

Retailing for around $20, this card’s design shows Chuck Styles’s artwork of LeBron putting on a 40k crown with his name, 40,000, and the date of the game covering the lower third. It’s no different from other Topps Now cards with a black /99, green /75, blue /49, purple /25, red /10, orange /5, and gold /1 parallel.

The part some collectors may have skipped over when buying this card is the overview that says, “Look for numbered parallels or 2003-04 LeBron James Time Machine Art short prints in randomly selected orders!”

𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞: Check out this incredibly rare SECRET LeBron James Short Print…

Last month, when LeBron James broke 40,000 career points, we created a Topps Now card to celebrate the moment.

In the fine print on our website, we told collectors that a few lucky orders… pic.twitter.com/rMUh0AxQ8D

— Topps (@Topps) April 13, 2024

According to Topps, they kept the image of the LBJ Time Machine a surprise…until now. They had Chuck Styles work his magic again, but this time it was in the same design as his ’03 Topps rookie card, including the iconic baggy suit, which was a sign of the times, and instead of holding up a Cavs jersey, it was a paper with 40,000 on it and the date.

Topps also says the lucky collectors have found these cards in their orders, and to no one’s surprise, these are already up on eBay. Multiple copies have sold between $900 and $1,000.

Would you pay that to put this super short print in your collection?