Chinese Court Cancels Auction for Ultra-Rare 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Card After $13 Million USD Bid
The collectible reportedly belonged to an embezzler who was sentenced to life in prison.
A Chinese court cancelled an online auction after a collectible Yu-Gi-Oh! game card amassed a lofty bid of 87 million yuan ($13.4 million USD). While the limited-edition card of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon was only one of 500 released in 2019, according to South China Morning Post, it has yet to be authenticated and collectors believe that it is currently valued at a mere fraction of the bid, between 200,000 to 300,000 yuan ($31,000 USD to $46,000 USD) on the market.
According to SCMP, the previous owner of the card was Zhang Yujie, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2020 for embezzling nearly 70 million yuan ($10.8 million USD) in government funds. His possessions, including the Yu-Gi-Oh! card and a PlayStation 4 embellished with gold and diamonds, were seized and auctioned off by the judicial Chuzhou court in east China.
The report noted that the public auction garnered more than 18,000 participants and more than two million onlookers. Within minutes, the bidding price for the card had reached 500,000 yuan ($77,000 USD). After half an hour, when the price had surpassed 87 million yuan, the court axed the auction.
“This auction has been suspended,” a statement from the Alibaba auction platform said, according to SCMP. “The price is seriously inconsistent with the actual bidding price, and malicious bidding behavior is suspected.” The auction platform also said that there would be consequences for malicious bidders, such as a fine or detention.
In other news, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Masterpiece Series Blue-Eyes White Dragon launched in Europe earlier this month and sold out in seconds.
