Collector from Hilo Scores Big with Two Rare Lamine Yamal Cards, Plans to Open Big Island’s First Sports Card Shop

2023 Donruss Fifa Optic Gold Power Lamine Yamal #177 1/1

2023 Donruss Fifa Optic Black Lamine Yamal #177 1/1

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Ka’ai Ravey, a dedicated sports card collector from the Big Island of Hawaii, is making waves with his incredible journey of securing multiple one-of-one sports cards, including two highly coveted Lamine Yamal cards. Ka'ai's story is a testament to the thrill and unpredictability of the trading card hobby, which has led him to an unexpected windfall.

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Ka'ai, who has been collecting sports cards since the late 80s and 90s, recently shifted his focus to soccer cards after his sons, avid soccer fans, encouraged him to explore the market. This decision proved fortuitous when Ka'ai pulled his first one-of-one ever (a huge milestone for any card collector), a 2023 Donruss Black Optic Lamine Yamal card during a visit to a sports card shop in Springfield, Missouri.

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The excitement didn't stop there—within 72 hours, Ka'ai went on to pull three additional one-of-one cards, including a Yamal grail, the 2023 Donruss Fifa Optic Gold Power, arguably the young phenom’s second best card on the market.

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After driving his unbelievable pulls to the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, Ka'ai had both cards graded by PSA, and received top grades - a PSA 9 on the Black Optic, and a coveted, near impossible PSA 10 on the Gold Power. After connecting with Alt, a leading card marketplace in the sports card industry, he secured an $18,000 cash advance for his Lamine Yamal cards on the spot, with another payout to come after each card closes in auction.
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There’s no better timing for these two Lamine Yamal’s to come to auction, as the young star became a household name after winning the UEFA European Championship with Spain in July, scoring a game winner against France the day after his 17th birthday. The soccer card market has experienced an uptick over the summer, and as Yamal began his club campaign with Barcelona last Saturday, there is only more potential in his market to come.

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This success has inspired Ka'ai to give back to his community in a meaningful way. This fall, Ka'ai plans to open the first-ever sports card shop on the Big Island in Kona with the proceeds from each card’s sale. A venture driven by his passion for the hobby and a desire to create a space where local collectors can gather, trade, and grow their collections; the shop aims to be a hub for sports card enthusiasts of all ages.

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"The best next thing is to reinvest this money back into the hobby and get our island a sports card place where kids can come in, buy their favorite players, and hopefully pull something special," says Ka'ai.

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The shop, tentatively named the Hawaii Sports Card Collective, is set to open its doors by Christmas 2024, marking a significant milestone for Hawaii's sports card community.

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This true Cinderella story is every collector’s dream.

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Both Yamal cards are listed on Alt in their weekly Alt Auctions, with the Gold Power ending this Thursday, August 22nd, and the Black Optic ending Thursday, September 5th.
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_{About Alt:}

<sub>Alt is a modern marketplace where trading card collectors can buy, sell, and vault their graded trading cards. Alt is changing the way people invest in trading cards by focusing on providing liquidity and transparency to an industry that has traditionally been fragmented and hard to understand.

Founded in 2020, Alt leverages proprietary market data, industry leading lending program, and cutting-edge pricing technology (“Alt Value”) to create advantages for every collector. Alt’s growing marketplace maximizes returns and provides convenience to users. Alt is built for collectors, by collectors; to learn more visit alt.xyz.</sub>

_{Alt has two ways to buy and sell trading cards - Fixed Price Marketplace and Liquid Auctions. Alt Liquid Auctions is an always-live 14-day auction that ends every other Thursday and has cards of all categories and price ranges. Sell your football cards, basketball cards, baseball cards, soccer cards, pokémon cards, Formula 1 cards - anything graded by PSA, Beckett, CGC, SGC, or factory sealed.}

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