pop culture

Collectibles Market Weekly Recap

Jason Koeppel // ONE37pm

Published Jan 26, 2022

The collectibles market has had an incredible past 18 months, with sports cards bursting back in to the mainstream conversation and record sales of both iconic vintage and modern superstars sometimes selling for millions of dollars.

Recently, there have been many other types of collectibles that have been heating up as well, with graded comic books, video games, ticket stubs and game-worn memorabilia beginning to take center stage.

The steady rise of auction houses such as Goldin, PWCC, and Heritage as well as the birth of fractional ownership apps such as Rally, Dibbs, Collectable and Otis, have made it possible for people on any budget to get in the game.

This weekly article will aim to inform you of some of the more interesting and exciting items that sold during the previous week as well as give a look ahead to some assets that will soon be available.

1. Serena Williams Rookie Cards – Record Breaking Sales!

PWCC Marketplace

This past weekend at PWCC Marketplace saw two record breaking sales for most expensive female sports cards ever.

The first was a 1999 Sports Illustrated for Kids Series 4 that was graded a PSA 10 and sold for $117,000. S.I. For Kids cards are notoriously tough to grade because they came inside of the magazine with 8 other cards on one sheet with perforated lines, and had to be torn out by hand. The PSA 10 population of this card is just 8, illustrating its extreme rarity.

The other was a 2003 NetPro Elite Glossy PSA 10, which also has an extremely low population of just 27 and sold for $96,000.

It will be interesting to see what the upcoming Netflix tennis documentary series does to the tennis card market. Will it have a similar effect that "Drive to Survive" had on the F1 card market? We'll see!

2. Josh Allen 2018 Panini Prizm Gold Vinyl PSA 10 – $264,000

PWCC Marketplace

Shortly after one of the best football games in the history of the NFL, headlines were made in the sports card market because of the $264,000 sale of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen's 2018 Prizm Gold Vinyl PSA 10 rookie card. In the game, Allen completed 27-37 passes for 329 yards and 4 touchdowns, with the final one coming with just :13 seconds left in the game and appeared to send the Bills to the AFC Championship.

Patrick Mahomes had other plans.

This card is numbered to 5 and is amongst Allen's most sought after and rare cards. While taking an "L" in a playoff game doesn't typically shoot the value of the losing team's quarterbacks cards up, Allen clearly earned a ton of respect amongst collectors for his heroic performance.

3. Trae Young 2018-2019 Flawless Green BGS 9 – +43.6%

Collectable

From January 17-23, Trae Young led the Atlanta Hawks to a 4-0 record and averaged 31.3 points and 9 assists per game, earning him NBA Player of the Week honors for the fifth time in his career.

Shareholders of this Trae Young card, a green 2018 Panini Flawless rookie auto BGS 9 numbered to 5 (available on fractional ownership app Collectable) had to be excited to see the value soaring almost overnight, jumping an eye-popping 43.6%!

4. '96 N64 Mario Kart 64 - SOLD OUT

Rally

On Wednesday, January 26th at noon, shares of this WATA graded 9.4 sealed "Red Label" variant Mario Kart 64 were made available for $15/each on fractional ownership app Rally.

Less than a minute later, the asset was fully funded.

While you can no longer buy shares at the IPO price, they will be available for purchase on the secondary market on Rally's app soon.

The wildly popular game sold over 9.85 million copies, with the "Red Label" being used only on the earliest print-runs.

Graded video games are white-hot right now, and are definitely something to keep your eye on going forward.

On The Horizon!

5. 1997-98 Michael Jordan Game Used Chicago Bulls Uniform

Goldin Auctions

This uniform was used during Michael Jordan's last season with the Chicago Bulls in which he led them to his final NBA Championship against the Utah Jazz. The jersey and shorts are photo matched and authenticated by Sports Investors Authentication to two different games:

1: January 27th, 1998 against the Vancouver Grizzlies, a 103-85 win in which Jordan scored 20 points.

2: March 14th, 1998 against the San Antonio Spurs, a 96-86 win where Jordan scored a team-high 30 points.

The current bid is $120,000, with over 10 days left in the auction (closes on 2/5/22)

6. Patrick Mahomes 2017 Panini National Treasures "Stars & Stripes Patch Auto PSA 10

Goldin Auctions

I previously mentioned the $264,000 sale of Josh Allen's Prizm Gold Vinyl PSA 10 shortly after the end of the wildly exciting Chiefs vs Bills game, so it's only fair that I also point out that Goldin's Winter Elite Auction has some unbelievable cards available of winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

One of the coolest in the lot is this 2017 NT RPA numbered to just 13. Making it even more rare is the fact that it is graded a PSA 10, which is typically extremely difficult for thick patch auto cards like this one.

It is currently the only PSA 10 in the population and the current bid is $240,000 with just over 10 days left.

7. Abraham Lincoln Letter to the Army of the Potomac

Heritage Auctions

This letter was written on December 22, 1862, during the Civil War by then President Abraham Lincoln to the Army of the Potomac after the Union Defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

The purpose of the letter was to "honor the brave men who fought and died in battle and to remind the Northern public of the great cause for which they fight", according to Heritage's site.

It was previously sold at Parke Bernet Auctions in 1964 for $16,000 and then again at Sotheby's Auction in 1988 for $215,000. There are 16 days left, with the opening bid set at $250,000.

What an unbelievable piece of American history! I will surely be tuned in to see what this winds up selling for.