’89 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card

Welcome to Sports Cards Insider for March 1st, 2022 – FREE edition.

Each week we give you the scoop on undervalued, mispriced and hidden gems in Alternative Investing.

As a reminder, here’s my view on sports cards sectors for 2022:

-All soccer, especially vintage
-Vintage basketball
-Vintage football
-Hockey, except for ultra blue-chip
-Golf
-Tennis
-Modern basketball

Try the podcast

This week Horacio sat down with Dr. Bill Sutton, Principal at Bill Sutton and Associates and the Director Emeritus of the Vinik Sports Management Program at USF.

Bill is regarded as one of the world’s leading voices in the sports marketing industry, having decades of experience in academia and the private sector. Hear his thoughts on David Stern (he worked under David during his time as VP of Marketing for the NBA), selling season tickets to dogs and NIL in college athletics. Super interesting guy and well worth a listen.

Sports Cards in 2022

Sports cards on fractional platforms have been treading water for the second month of 2022 but are down a few percent for the year. I believe this is down to the fractional marketplaces rather than much of anything to do with sports cards.

All stats come from assets trading on secondary markets at Otis, Collectable, and Rally

Last Week in Sports Cards

Fractional secondary markets

The index is all over the place but up slightly overall for sports cards last week on Rally, Otis, and Collectable.

All stats come from assets trading on the secondary markets at Otis, Collectable, and Rally

The indices from Alt and CardLadder are both broadly up (and up significantly in some cases).

Indices taken from OnlyAlts

So this is what I mean when I say the sports cards issues on Rally, Otis, and Collectable are down to fractional problems (liquidity and customers), more than a sports cards issue.

I’m surprised baseball cards are holding up so well with the lockout threatening to scuttle the entire season. Lockouts and strikes always leave a bad taste in fans’ mouths — who to root for in a battle of super-wealthy guys vs. pretty wealthy guys?

Courtesy CardLadder. These are monthly returns.

Auctions

Heritage wrapped up their Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction over the weekend, and there were some fireworks. The biggest sellers were memorabilia items – Mickey Mantle’s final Yankees Jersey and a questionnaire filled out by Jackie Robinson. They sold for $2.2m and $1.7m, respectively.

Onto sports cards – a Mickey Mantle rookie appreciated nearly 100% over the identical card’s sale last year, which shows tremendous growth for that particular asset. We thought it would top $1.5m, and it ended at $1.56m.

This sold for > $1.5m

Regular readers will know I’m keeping track of vintage basketball and football, so I was keeping a close eye on the 1961 Fleer Jerry West Rookie. It went for $84k, which is slightly higher than CardLadder’s estimate of $79k.

Though I’m confident long-term, it’s not yet clear if my thesis around these sports will play out or not in the short to medium term.

This Week

Assets dropping on marketplaces

Two new drops this week.

This Kid is 52 years old now

’89 Bowman Tiffany Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card

  • Market Cap: $15,500
  • Inferred Value: $16,500
  • Date: 3/1/22 on Rally
  • Our View: [INSIDERS ONLY]

Cristiano Ronaldo 2002 Panini Portugal Sticker PSA 10

  • Market Cap: $109,500
  • Inferred Value: $81,443
  • Date: 2/10/22 on Collectable
  • Our View: [INSIDERS ONLY]

Auctions

Time for another Goldin Elite Auction!

Per usual, basketball dominates the offerings comprising over 40% of the lots. Kobe Bryant assets make up over 7% alone. LeBron and MJ come in just behind him, followed by Tom Brady with 113 lots and upstart Lionel Messi at 47.

There are also 63 VHS tapes and 239 ticket stubs. 🙄

Cards I’m watching:

Stefan Curry cards have been on a tear lately, and I’ll be watching the /25 2009 Panini NT RPA. A slightly nicer one was bought out on the Collectable platform a couple of months ago for $780k, so that’s the price to beat if momentum is rising.

I’ll also have my eye on the 1947 Nannina Ferenc Pushkas rookie card. Pushkas is one of the best soccer players of all time and was the sport’s first true international superstar. This card is very, very rare, and I couldn’t find any comps for it. It’s already over $88k.

The 1976 Topps Walter Payton Rookie Card is an interesting one. As you’ll know, I’m bullish on vintage football, but this card is having a bit of a moment.

Up she goes

After plunging from more than $120k in 2021, it found its feet a bit early this year. And then…blammo…right back up near $120k last week. Let’s see if this card can match that performance.

If so, there could be more vintage football 🔥 to come.

I’m a badass.

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Author

Wyatt Cavalier

Wyatt Cavalier

With a background in finance & intelligence analysis, Wyatt has an unhealthy obsession with finding the best blue chip investment opportunities. His previous newsletter, Fractional, resonated deeply with subscribers, bringing actionable insights and unconventional trading strategies. His rare book collection specializes in banned editions. He currently lives in Spain with his beautiful wife, three young boys, and dog Monty.

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