2019 Elon Musk Rookie Card
2019 Top Trumps Limited Editions Elon Musk Rookie Card
Elon Musk’s first true trading card!
Few people from the past 100 years will be widely known 1000 years from today (Neil Armstrong and ???).
If SpaceX gets us to Mars though, achieving Elon’s goal of humanity becoming multi-planetary as species, he’ll be remembered as long as humanity persists.
Elon has expressed his childhood love for the Top Trumps CCG (collectible card game), which has been producing sets dating back to the 1970s.
The 2019 Top Trumps Limited Editions Celebrities cards, graded & authenticated by PSA, Beckett & SGC, features Elon Musk’s “true rookie card”, released in September of 2019.
Founder or partner in iconic companies & technological advancements, including PayPal, Tesla Motors, HyperLoop, Neuralink & SpaceX. Love him or otherwise, Elon Musk is one of the most iconic, important, and memetic individuals of a generation.
Pop Reports & Links
Top Trumps CCG & their “Limited Editions” trading card sets
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Gaining some traction lately, due to early releases & alt-rookies of soccer & F1 stars, Top Trumps is a “collectible card game” (CCG) quite popular with kids in the UK. The game dates back to the 1970s.
The past few years, “TT” has been working to get a footprint in the US market as well, with Top Trumps USA. These card sets are typically sold to families, game stores and into schools and summer camps.
The “Limited Editions” of these sets are for “big kids” as well, printed in a limited run in order to maintain collectability. The 2019 Top Trumps Celebrities Limited Editions set was limited to 3000 total printed. Knowing where these are sold and used, many of the distributed sets are likely in the hands of camps & kids and would grade poorly, if they ever surfaced.
Elon himself grew up playing the card game, and in 2013 expressed a “childhood love” for the game, to journalist Mark Little, so it’s pretty cool that his first ever card is from this very company!
NOTE: the Hamilton shown sold for “best offer”, I believe for just over $2k. Still an impressive price for this early Lewis Hamilton card.
With a handful of non-sport rookies, in addition to the sports cards, some of us character/celebrity “rookie card hunters” chase these old sets down to find them.
More Elon Musk Trading Cards
All Elon Musk trading cards are awesome, but what makes us say that 2019 Top Trumps Elon is is his true rookie?
Well, if you’ve been on eBay, you’ve seen other cards marked as his rookie (some laughably so)… The 2019 Top Trumps Elon Musk rookie card not only includes his image & name, but can also be graded. Let’s look at some of the other Elon cards out there.
First there are the 2021 Topps Mars Attacks style cards. These don’t name-check Elon and are illustrated interpretations of his likeness, not to mention two years later than the 2019 TT Elon. There are also 2019 & 2020 Topps Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) cards, which are also parody cards. These cards use his first name, like “Eccentric Elon” (sold in December 2019 and shipped in January 2020), 3 months after the Top Trumps card, but also come after the 2019 Elon TT rookie.
In 2009, a Falcon1 SpaceX card was made by Upper Deck, which mentions Elon Musk on the back, but does not include his image. I consider this the “SpaceX rookie”, but not an Elon RC. There is also a 2017 “Neurafink” GPK sticker (Wacky Packages / Network Spews sticker release) mentioning a “Egon Muck” & depicting one of Egon’s test subjects (possibly a mangled clone of ‘Egon’?). No image of Elon nor actual name.
Lastly there are the Elon “art cards” such as the Edward Vela & G.A.S. Trading cards, but those were made in 2020 and 2021 respectively and may not be grade-able.
Commemorative NFT of First 50 Elon Musk Rookie Cards Graded
The first 50 of these physical cards ever graded celebrate Elon’s 50th birthday, but also reference the “genesis block” of Bitcoin, its origin block mined containing 50 BTC.
The grading order of each card has been recorded, per SGC serial number. (The 51st card was graded by PSA and the 52nd by BGS).
His first 50 graded rookie cards have been gifted to those who provided content, community, platform and distraction during the pandemic and sports card boom of 2020/21. To commemorate the genesis block of cards, an NFT was minted of those 50 cards.
Card #26/50 (the 26th ever graded) has been gifted to Mr. Musk himself. Graded an SGC 10, it represents the year 2026, Elon’s goal for arrival to Mars. Whether or not that bold marker is reached, a seemingly impossible goal like that is worth applauding.
The commemorative gifted NFTs were minted on the Polygon network, because of its ability to bridge to Ethereum, but especially for the near-zero fees, speed of use, and a miniscule carbon footprint. A “layer2” solution to ETH, Polygon is a breeze to use, transact and mint on.
Why SGC for the first 50 Elons?
Yes, PSA and Beckett (BGS) grade this card, too, but c’mon this block of the first 50 Elon cards had to be SGC.
I mean… Elon is literally wearing a tux and a bowtie in the profile picture on these cards. What better way to encapsulate & grade these cards than putting this tux in “The Tux”. (SGC’s black border slabs are often compared to a tuxedo.)
Most importantly, SGC is a long-time, trusted company in the grading space. They were established in 1998, one year before Beckett opened up their BGS grading service, and SGC has long been a preference for pre-war vintage cards.
It doesn’t go without saying that SGC is one of the most affordable options in June of 2021, as PSA & BGS have shut down all but their most expensive service levels. With that said, speed was also important to me, as I wanted to gift these out to my hobby friends within the year.
SGC delivered and then some. My order was turned around in literally one week, at the standard economy level ($30/card), with great communication & service.
The Genesis Block of Elon Musk Rookies
Images and numbering of the first 50 ever graded Elon Musk Rookie Cards with links to their corresponding NFTs.
Elon Rookie Card #1/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4614776
The first ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to a private modern art & card collector who tipped me off to this set. (OpenSea)
Card #2/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 0825662
The second ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Ryan Johnson @cardcollector2
(OpenSea)
Card #3/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1833251
The third ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Karvin Cheung, inventor of Exquisite (OpenSea)
Card #4/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 2836184
The fourth ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to RPS (Peter Packman, Slabby Sosa & Rip Hamiltops (OpenSea)
Card #5/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1413831
The fifth ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Ryan Cracknell for his love of John Jaha (Opensea)
Card #6/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 3747836
The sixth ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Jeremy Padawer (OpenSea)
Card #7/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 7848511
The seventh ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Gary Vaynerchuk (OpenSea)
Card #8/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4788338
The eighth ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Leore Avidar of Alt (OpenSea)
Card #9/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 8484685
The ninth ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Jeremy Lee of Sports Cards Live (OpenSea)
Card #10/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 6054056
The 10th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Darren Herman of MidLife Crisis Cards (OpenSea)
Card #11/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1677824
The 11th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Josh Ong (OpenSea)
Card #12/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 2604107
The 12th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to a private collector who has helped me with many non-sports chases. (OpenSea)
Card #13/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4158528
The 13th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Tyler Schmidt of One37 Media – ‘13,7’ when combined with GaryVee’s card (OpenSea)
Card #14/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 6564775
The 14th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Sam Shuster of Women of The Hobby (OpenSea)
Card #15/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 6452038
The 15th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Adam Lefkoe @lefkoecards (OpenSea)
Card #16/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 8721638
The 16th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Roberto Galvez (OpenSea)
Card #17/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 3666357
The 17th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Josh Luber (OpenSea)
Card #18/50
SGC Grade: 8
SGC Serial Number: 7112601
The 18th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Brett McGrath @stackingslabs (OpenSea)
Card #19/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 3000066
The 19th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Flipping Steve (OpenSea)
Card #20/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 7405333
The 20th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Alexis Ohanian (OpenSea)
Card #21/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 1473418
The 21st ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Jon the Basketball Card Guy (Opensea)
Card #22/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1802024
The 22nd ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to JB @OldTownCards (OpenSea)
Card #23/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1802024
The 23rd ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Chris McGill @ChrisHOJ of Card Ladder (OpenSea)
Card #24/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 6360640
The 24th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Andrew Goldberg of the Lukas, Tigers & LeBrons podcast. (OpenSea)
Card #25/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 7777580
The 25th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Buster (OpenSea)
Card #26/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 0061152
The 26th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Elon Musk @elonmusk (OpenSea)
Card #27/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 8736516
The 27th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Patrick Ryan @pryan (OpenSea)
Card #28/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 4112536
The 28th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to James @SupremeSalez (OpenSea)
Card #29/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 8841643
The 29th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Dustin Cooley, The Personal Finance Dad (OpenSea)
Card #30/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4358137
The 30th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Hanna @SheCollectsCards (OpenSea)
Card #31/50
SGC Grade: 10 PRI
SGC Serial Number: 6167625
The 31st ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
The only card saved by me and gifted to my youngest son who got me back into collecting (view on Lazy.com)
Card #32/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 5680155
The 32nd ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to @cagelawyer of the Lukas, Tigers & LeBrons podcast (OpenSea)
Card #33/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 6372731
The 33rd ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Lou Genoux of Card Talk for Max Verstappen, car #33 (OpenSea)
Card #34/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 7656018
The 34th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Aaron Nowak, founder of @Slabstox (OpenSea)
Card #35/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4325465
The 35th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Shai @shaiwayvlogs of Hobby Update (OpenSea)
Card #36/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1667388
The 36th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Steve Aoki of Aoki’s Card House and Cards & Coffee (OpenSea)
Card #37/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1540051
The 37th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Jay Koeppel of One37 (OpenSea)
Card #38/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4647001
The 38th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Mark Zablow, owner of Bleecker Street Trading in NYC (OpenSea)
Card #39/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 0016670
The 39th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Ryan Bitter (OpenSea)
Card #40/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 6507546
The 40th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Tony Sheffler (OpenSea)
Card #41/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 4356665
The 41st ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Mark Cuban, his investment inspired me to use Polygon for the NFTs (OpenSea)
Card #42/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 2838166
The 42nd ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to John Newman of Sports Cards Nation (OpenSea)
Card #43/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 5255028
The 43rd ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to David Peck (OpenSea)
Card #44/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 5647286
The 44th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Ivan Lovegren @watchthebreaks of Go GTS Live (OpenSea)
Card #45/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 0114013
The 45th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Darren Rovell of The Action Network (OpenSea)
Card #46/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 1678868
The third ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Jesse Gibson of Sports Cards Nonsense on The Ringer (OpenSea)
Card #47/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 0846253
The third ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Geoff Wilson @SportsCardInvestor at Sports Card Investor (OpenSea)
Card #48/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 3105537
The third ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Max @PutnamCards of The Hobby Update (OpenSea)
Card #49/50
SGC Grade: 10
SGC Serial Number: 4142535
The third ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to Rob of NE Ohio Sports Cards, aka NEO, (OpenSea)
Elon Musk Rookie Card #50/50
SGC Grade: 9.5
SGC Serial Number: 6664842
The 50th ever graded Elon Musk rookie.
Gifted to a private collector who was helping me try to find a ‘never-graded’ rookie card to use for this project. (OpenSea)