Toronto man sells ultra-rare 'One Ring' card to rapper Post Malone for $2.64M

'This can't be real': What it was like discovering 'The One Ring' card1 day agoDuration 1:15Brook Trafton, an Ontario man who bought a collectible card worth millions, says he went from shock to disbelief when he found the 'One Ring' card from the makers of Magic: The Gathering. 'My heart was racing, my hands were shaking.... I knew.'A retail worker from Toronto who made the once-in-a-lifetime discovery of an ultra-rare game card has sold the precious possession to Austin Richard Post, better known as the rapper and artist Post Malone. The "One Ring," found in June is a collectible one-of-a-kind card created for the table-top fantasy game Magic: The Gathering as part of a collection celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of The Ring series of novels. Because of the card's value, the person who found it originally chose to remain anonymous. But on Tuesday, Brook Trafton revealed himself as the one who pulled the card to rule them all. He posted a video on Instagram of himself selling the

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Toronto man sells ultra-rare 'One Ring' card to rapper Post Malone for $2.64M

'This can't be real': What it was like discovering 'The One Ring' card

1 day ago
Duration 1:15
Brook Trafton, an Ontario man who bought a collectible card worth millions, says he went from shock to disbelief when he found the 'One Ring' card from the makers of Magic: The Gathering. 'My heart was racing, my hands were shaking.... I knew.'

A retail worker from Toronto who made the once-in-a-lifetime discovery of an ultra-rare game card has sold the precious possession to Austin Richard Post, better known as the rapper and artist Post Malone. 

The "One Ring," found in June is a collectible one-of-a-kind card created for the table-top fantasy game Magic: The Gathering as part of a collection celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of The Ring series of novels. 

Because of the card's value, the person who found it originally chose to remain anonymous. But on Tuesday, Brook Trafton revealed himself as the one who pulled the card to rule them all. He posted a video on Instagram of himself selling the card to the popular recording artist and noted fan of the game.

Trafton told CBC Toronto he sold the card for $2.64 million, but after conducting interviews he was still on his way to an eight-hour shift. 

"This to me would be, you know, just setting myself up for the future, investing in something. And once I feel like I can no longer work or maybe I want to try something else, I can," he says.

Trafton sold the card with help of the Notable Group, a marketing and PR agency. The group's CEO Carli Posner said she couldn't confirm what taxes and fees might be associated with the sale. 

How Post Malone ended up with the card 

Trafton says he was invited to meet Malone while the artist was in Toronto for a concert appearance. The meeting was so that the artist could see the card in person.

Once the two were together, he says things escalated quickly and Malone took the lead on turning the meeting into a purchase. 

"It happened so fast. Like, I can't even tell you [what happened]. It was amazing," he said. 

In the video, Malone can be seen opening a black protective case to get a look at the mint-condition card, which includes fiery artwork and the gold ring with lettering printed in the Black Speech of Sauron — one of Tolkien's fictional languages.

Brook Trafton, left, and Post Malone, right, didn't originally meet for a transaction. Trafton says it was only so the artist could see the card as a fan of the game.
Brook Trafton, left, and Post Malone, right, didn't originally meet for a transaction. Trafton says it was only so the artist could see the card as a fan of the game. (Brook Trafton)

At one point in the montage-style video of their meeting, Malone says, "I'll take it." 

Trafton says he showed Malone his Magic: The Gathering tattoo and he looked through Trafton's entire Magic: The Gathering deck.

Malone known fan of the game

This isn't the first time Malone has spent big on a Magic: The Gathering card.

He's previously purchased one for about $800,000, he told the Howard Stern Show in June 2022.

The card Malone bought from Trafton was authenticated by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Halifax-based Brad Hartlin is with PSA Canada and flew the card to California for authentication, without ever meeting Trafton. 

Hartlin called Malone the "biggest celebrity Magic: The Gathering card collector there is." 

A close up of a hand holding a cards wrapper.
Trafton found the card in a deck from a special The Lord of the Rings collection produced by Magic: The Gathering and Middle-earth Enterprises. (Doug Husby/CBC)

He says this card was the first card released by Magic: The Gathering with a serial number saying it is one-of-one. He says there may be other one-of-ones down the line but this one is special. 

"This card is going to stand out for a long, long time as being the number one," he said.

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