Jimothy Cards Already Selling for Hundreds on eBay After Mariners Giveaway

Jimothy Rookie Cards are already selling on eBay less than a day after the Seattle Mariners handed them out at T-Mobile Park, with some of the limited versions commanding hundreds of dollars.

Completed eBay sales began appearing almost immediately following Wednesday night’s giveaway. Base Jimothy cards have sold for around $35, while limited card numbered to 100 have sold at a buy it now of $999, but it’s possible a lower amount was accepted as a best offer.

The sudden secondary market follows a promotion in which the first 20,000 fans at the Mariners’ August 5 game received a Jimothy Rookie Card.

As CollectiblesNews.com previously reported, the giveaway also included several harder-to-find chase cards. Those included a Gold 1-of-1, a Silver version numbered to 100, a Shiny Blue version numbered to 500 and another parallel numbered to 2,000.

The most valuable card in the promotion has already been found.

T-Mobile Park announced Wednesday night that 13-year-old Abby pulled the Gold 1-of-1 Jimothy card, posting a photo of the young collector holding the unique card.

“Talk about a one-of-a-kind pull,” T-Mobile Park wrote in announcing the discovery.

With the Gold card now accounted for, attention on eBay is shifting toward the other numbered versions and the thousands of base cards entering the market. The early sales show how quickly the Jimothy promotion has crossed over from a quirky ballpark giveaway into a legitimate collectibles market.

Jimothy became a Seattle sensation after the unusually shaped raccoon was photographed in the city’s Ballard neighborhood. The Mariners subsequently embraced the character and turned Jimothy into part of a team promotion, complete with the type of numbered parallels and 1-of-1 chase card normally associated with traditional trading card releases.

The cards were free to qualifying fans at the game, but within hours some were already changing hands for prices more commonly associated with commercially released sports cards. Whether those prices hold as more cards hit eBay remains to be seen. For now, however, Jimothy cards have gone from stadium giveaway to hot secondary-market collectible almost overnight.