Auction Action by Altan Insights: August 25, 2021

Heritage Auctions closed their Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction with multiple lots that featured items relevant to alternative asset investors. The auction was highlighted by sports memorabilia as the three highest selling items were all non-card assets. The 1980 Magic Johnson Game-Worn Jersey sold for  $1.5 million to lead at the event. The Magic jersey was worn during the 1980 NBA Finals in the series clinching Game 6. Two game-used bats sold for over $800,000 as a 1920 Babe Ruth signed piece of lumber struck a final price of $870,000 and a Pete Rose bat sold for $855,000. All auction prices listed below include a 20% buyer’s premium. 

Baseball

Asset: 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson (PSA 8)

Heritage: $372,000

Rally: $318,750

Review: Rally’s Robinson IPO’d in February at a $375,000 market cap. The famous Leaf card dropped -15% in its July trading session and now sits at a value well below the Heritage result. The Heritage sale is the second highest price ever paid for a PSA 8 graded example. Goldin Auctions sold a PSA 8 for $400,980 in December and there are less than 10 examples graded higher.

Basketball

Asset: 1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain (PSA 8)

Heritage: $288,000

Collectable (Exit): $350,000

Review: Collectable IPO’d their rookie Wilt for $200,000 and investors accepted a buyout less than five days later. The $350,000 offer was accepted by 66% of investors on a share-weighted basis for a 66.5% return. While the Collectable exit sits safely above the Heritage result, prices reached over $450,000 for this card in April.

Asset: 1980 Topps Scoring Leaders (PSA 8)

Heritage: $7,200

Collectable (2 cards): $24,750

Review: Although the Heritage sale still falls below the market cap for Collectable’s basket, the 1980 card that features legends Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Julius Erving continued its recovery towards prices realized this spring. PSA 8 examples reached over $20,000 in February with multiple sales surpassing $15,000. Prices fell to a low point in July though with multiple sales under $6,500. There has not been a public auction result below that threshold in August as prices continue to climb back towards $10,000. The Collectable basket has dropped -10% overall since IPO. 

Asset: 2003-04 Topps Chrome Basketball Unopened Box

Heritage: $21,000

Collectable: $22,750

Review: Sales for the 2003 Topps Chrome Sealed Wax have remained consistently above $20,000 since July. Prices dipped earlier this summer after they peaked at $48,000 in the Spring. The box curates much of its value from a potential Chrome or Chrome Refractor LeBron James card and highlights the 2003 rookie class that also includes Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh. Collectable’s box is scheduled to begin trading on September 14th.

Asset: 1972 Topps Julius Erving (PSA 9)

Heritage: $27,600

Otis: $16,985

Review: Otis IPO’d a Julius Erving rookie on February 26th at a $15,800 market cap. Their card is up 7.5% since opening but has slipped -40.28% over the last three month. The Otis example reached a market cap of $43,450 in May but has dropped since. The current market cap though is well below the price struck at Heritage.

Asset: 1986 Fleer Basketball Sealed Wax Box

Heritage: $120,000

Collectable: $214,914

Rally: $148,500

Review: Michael Jordan’s rookie card drives the vast majority of the value in the wax box but the current upward trend found with his card was not reflected in the Heritage sale. Sales for the box have experienced a downward spiral on Heritage as a box sold for $198,000 in May and then for $174,000 in July. This sale is the lowest at Heritage this year. The sale could be an outlier since another example went for $60,000 more at Goldin Auctions on August 7th. The Rally box dropped -30.77% in its last trading session and is down -10% overall. Collectable’s box has gained 17% since IPO and has soared over the last month, adding 39.2% to its market cap.  

Football

Asset: 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady Rookie Ticket Auto (BGS 9)

Heritage: $81,000

Collectable (2 cards): $202,500

Rally: $67,312.50

Review: Both the Collectable and Rally offerings have performed well on their respective secondary markets. Rally’s card is up 50% overall since IPO and still sits under the price struck at Heritage. The Rally card also has an average subgrade average of 9.125 compared to the average subgrade of the card sold by Heritage which was 9. Rally’s card did drop -0.28% in its last trading session and is expected to return to their secondary market on September 2nd. Collectable’s basket has gained an impressive 125% since IPO and has climbed 41.5% over the last 30 days. The pair of rookie tickets has also gained recent momentum heading into the 2021 NFL season with a return of 32.4% in the last week.

Asset: 2000 Playoff Contenders Hobby Box (Sealed)

Heritage: $33,600

Collectable: $33,712.50

Review: While the Tom Brady ticket cards are seeing strong appreciation over the last month, the hobby box known for carrying them is seeing similar results. Collectable’s box is up 45% since it IPO’d at a market cap of $23,250 and has gained 20.9% in a month. The Heritage sale is similar to a PWCC result of $36,000 that was also struck over the weekend.

Asset: 2000 Bowman Tom Brady Rookie Card (PSA 10)

Heritage: $9,300

Collectable (BGS 10 Chrome): $30,000

Review: Prices for PSA 10 graded Brady examples have typically sold 1.5x - 1.8x less than BGS 10 examples depending on the BGS subgrades. This PSA 10 sale is an outlier compared to recent prices which have all hovered near the $15,000. This marks the first recorded public sale of a PSA 10 example to fall below $10,000 since January. The Heritage example is a base example while the Collectable card is a rarer chrome edition. Brady cards have performed well on the platform and their card is scheduled to open for trading on September 13th.

Hockey

Asset: 1985 Topps Mario Lemieux Rookie (PSA 10)

Heritage: $15,000

Rally: $87,500

Review: The Heritage sale is a steep drop from prices realized for Lemieux rookie cards and investors should follow upcoming sales to see if the result is just an outlier. The card did sell on the second day of the event which could have impacted the final realized price. This sale is the lowest public price paid for any PSA 10 since April 27, 2020. The previous four sales for a PSA 10 example all surpassed $50,000 with prices peaking at $80,100 on January 26th. 

Additional Sales to Follow:

1960 Topps Mickey Mantle (PSA 8): $8,700

1986 Topps Jerry Rice Rookie Card (PSA 10): $75,000

1985 Michael Jordan Game Worn & Double-Signed Air Jordan 1 Rookie Sneakers: $615,000

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