Invest in Willie Mays and Jesse Owens

Hello, Welcome to the Sports Memorabilia Insider – FREE VERSION.

Today we are looking into two assets IPOing this week:

  • A 1968 Willie Mays Signed, Game-Used Home Jersey that will IPO at Collectable on Wednesday, September 22nd at 2:30 PM ET
  • (4) 1936 Jesse Owens Olympic Gold Medal Tickets that will IPO at Rally Road on Thursday, September 23rd at 12 PM ET

1968 Signed Giants Home Jersey Willie Mays

About the Asset

This is a Willie Mays signed, game-worn home jersey from 1968 that has been graded as an A9.5 by Mears.

It most recently sold for $86,400 in March of 2019 after selling for $92,063 in May 2018, both at Goldin auctions. It also failed to sell at auction in September 2019 at SCP, for whatever that’s worth.

If you were signed up to Insider (start a free trial), you’d also learn:

  • Projected future growth
  • Asset class ROI, volatility and risk statistics
  • Detailed valuation with recent sales
  • Our verdict

About the Drop

This asset will drop on Collectable at 2:30 PM ET on September 22nd, 2021 for $285,000. There is no retained equity. Collectable has been scheduling their IPOs for trading around 3 months after they fund, though recently some assets have been pushed back further than that.

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About Willie Mays

​The greatest center fielder in baseball history, we’ve written about Mays a fair number of times, originally Wyatt wrote about him here. Though Mays was past his peak in 1968, at age 37, he was still one of the best players in baseball, an All-Star and Gold Glove winner. However, there isn’t anything particularly special about the year for Mays or for the Giants.

Category Strength

Sports Memorabilia posted a -15% ROI in Q2 2021.

Subcategory Strength

[Insiders Only]

Recent Sales and Current Valuation

[Detailed Valuation for Insiders Only]

Verdict

Keep in mind that generally sports memorabilia items at Collectable have been available for a significant discount from IPO price when they open for trading.

[Full Evaluation for Insiders Only]

Jesse Owens 1936 Olympic Gold Medal

About the Asset

This is a collection of four ticket stubs from the 1936 Olympics to the four events where Jesse Owens won the gold medal:

  • Graded PSA 9 from the 100-meter dash, none graded higher
  • Graded PSA 6 from the long jump, none graded higher
  • Graded PSA 3 from the 200 meter dash, 2 graded higher
  • Graded PSA Authentic from the 4 x 100 meter relay, Rally says 1 higher, but I’ve found at least 3 higher, so take all their numbers with a grain of salt

Rally purchased the four for $20,000 on July 1st, 2021.

Stefan wrote a very informative article about the world of investing in ticket stubs. I highly recommend you check it out here.

If you were signed up to Insider (start a free trial), you’d also learn:

  • Projected future growth
  • Asset class ROI, volatility and risk statistics
  • Detailed valuation with recent sales
  • Our verdict

About the Drop

This asset will drop on Rally Road at 12 PM ET on September 23rd, 2021 for $25,000. Rally Road typically schedules the first trading window between 3-5 months after the IPO funds and the assets are supposed to then trade quarterly, but the schedule has been erratic and some assets are going 6+ months before opening for trading.

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About Jesse Owens

​Jesse Owens is considered by many to be the greatest track and field athlete of all-time, a sprinter and long jumper who set many world records and is best known for his performance at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, winning four gold medals. It was particularly noteworthy because he did it in Nazi Germany while Adolf Hitler watched, embarrassing the Third Reich and their ideas of white supremacy.

A little fun fact I didn’t know was that his given name was James Cleveland (J.C.) and only became known as Jesse when a teacher misunderstood his accent when he told her his name was “J.C.”. A less fun fact was that after the Olympics, Owens went through a long fallow period, having to take menial jobs and take place in sideshow exhibitions (like racing a horse) to make a living, as the Olympics were for amateurs back then, and he was unable to cash in on his fame with endorsements. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that he became financially stable.

Owens is a legendary figure, synonymous with speed and athleticism, and was back in the cultural eye recently due to a 2016 biopic Race.

Category Strength

Sports Memorabilia posted a -15% ROI in Q2 2021.

Subcategory Strength

[Insiders Only]

Recent Sales and Current Valuation

[Detailed Valuation for Insiders Only]

Verdict

As ticket stubs get more valuable and more press for being valuable, more will certainly emerge and get graded. Because these are from 85 years ago, however, I’d imagine they will still be pretty scarce.

[Full Evaluation for Insiders Only]

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Author

Adam Katz

Adam Katz

Adam is a lawyer and real estate investor with a finance background. His diverse job experience includes stints in a MLB front office, a major global law firm and the real estate investment fund he co-founded. He is bringing his well-honed research and valuation skills to the world of fractional investing. Born and raised in San Francisco, he currently lives in Brooklyn with his dog, a pit bull mix named Beaux.

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