ASHALLA DISTRICT — Taase Ripre, a tetraball legend who died over a year ago, has earned another distinction. Earlier last week, a trading card featuring Taase’s face sold for a record 1.5 million bars of gold-pressed latinum at an auction in the Bajoran capital, shattering the record for the highest price ever paid for a tetraball collector’s card.
The artwork on the gold-edged card with silver writing depicts Taase amid her Varan Vipers teammates holding up the Trinity Sector Challenge Cup, her 14th cup final triumph. With just 92 ever printed, the card is hailed a collector’s holy grail, so it’s not unexpected that someone wants to spend such a large sum of latinum to obtain it.
The 92 Taase victory cards were printed exclusively for Varan Vipers players and staff, the ball club’s archive, and select tetraball officials, and were never distributed as part of the regular season’s trading card collection. An original is also on display in the Tetraball Hall of Fame, along with Taase’s cup-winning jersey.
The buyer’s name is unknown, but the seller, Aaholb Tedu, was delighted to chat with us after the auction ended.
“I can’t believe it sold for so much!” Aaholb said. “I assumed it was worth something, but 1.5 million?”
Following the auction, Aaholb stated his intention to donate half of the proceeds to much-needed renovations to the Vipers’ training grounds.
Taase will be remembered by Tetraball fans around the Federation for the more than 20 league titles she won during her illustrious career, including 11 Trinity Sector Champions League medals. Taase served as a tetraball ambassador both at home and abroad, and was essential in the formation of the Interstellar Tetraball Federation (ITF). Despite her failing health, she championed the sport, and tetraball players and fans from both quadrants grieved her passing last year at the age of 109.
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