Just released: Our latest Sports Collectibles Market Report!
In 2022, Heritage Auctions achieved a record-breaking $1.45 billion in sales, surpassing its previous year's performance. This includes the sale of Dmitry Muratov's Nobel Peace Prize medal for $103.5 million, with all proceeds donated to UNICEF for Ukraine war relief. The auction house set numerous records across its diverse categories, notably selling a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card for $12.6 million, the highest ever for a sports collectible. CEO Steve Ivy highlighted the company's growth and its commitment to connecting collectors with their passions, emphasizing the significant achievements and charitable contributions of the year.
Heritage Auctions' success in 2022 spanned over 40 categories, with notable sales in U.S. Coins, Comics and Comic Art, Sports, and Historical items. The Comics and Comic Art category saw over $195 million in sales, including a record $3.36 million for a page from "Secret Wars No. 8." In sports, a Mickey Mantle jersey sold for $2.19 million, a record for Mantle memorabilia. Additionally, Heritage introduced new categories like VHS and Home Entertainment, and set auction records in Illustration and American Art, including a Maurice Sendak piece selling for $212,500. The year concluded with significant growth in various categories, showcasing Heritage Auctions' expansive reach and influence in the collectibles world. HERITAGE
Card grading analytics company, GemRate, has released their 2023 year-end numbers on the four major graders (PSA, CGC, SGC, Beckett). More than 17 million items were graded across these graders in 2023, rising 19% from 2022. TCG had a standout year, growing 71% y/y, with 8 million cards graded, just below the 9 million sports cards graded.
In terms of market share, PSA continues to be far and away the top dog with 13.5 million cards graded on the year. CGC, SGC, and Beckett made up just 1.75M, 1.28M, and 772K respectively. Even in spite of their massive share, PSA graded 21% more cards than last year.
On a categorical basis, TCG was by far the growth story of 2023. Seeing growth of +74% compared to last year; baseball, basketball, and football saw mixed results of +20%, -14%, and -42% respectively. We will have to see if TCG’s trajectory continues up and to the right into 2024. TWITTER
In other GemRate news, they have just launched universal search. Allowing users to search across all fields in a single search box. Try it out!
Sotheby’s will sell a set of 6 Michael Jordan sneakers, each worn during all 6 of his championship clinching games. The shoes are estimated to fetch between $7 and $10 million, and come with an irrevocable bid. SOTHEBYS
The Certified Collectibles Group (CCG) acknowledged an incident where an individual tampered with CGC Comics holders, affecting approximately 350 comic books. CCG is offering to review and re-slab or compensate for these impacted comics. The company has updated its processes to prevent similar incidents and is working with investigative services and legal counsel to address the situation. CGC
This week’s Alts & Ends broke down the biggest events of each month of last year including the most expensive dress sold at auction, $760K of Star Wars action figures, a $9.4 million violin, Panini and Fanatics fighting it out in court, and quite a lot more. Be sure to subscribe to not miss out on any of the most important stories in collectibles! ALTANINSIGHTS
Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch, is suing Sotheby's in a Manhattan court, accusing the auction house of aiding art dealer Yves Bouvier in defrauding him during the purchase of several high-value artworks. Rybolovlev claims Bouvier, posing as an adviser, secretly acted as a dealer and inflated prices, including an $83 million Modigliani sculpture and the $127.5 million "Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo da Vinci. The trial is expected to shed light on the secretive art trade and its practices, with Sotheby's denying any wrongdoing and asserting adherence to industry standards. NYTIMES
Sports Collectors Daily uses GemRate data to break down cards with the highest graded populations from 1950 to the 1980s within each sport. SPORTSCOLLECTORSDAILY
Top Tier Authentics (TTA) has launched a new NIL deal, offering memorabilia signed by players from the University of Michigan, University of Georgia, and University of Tennessee on Amazon Fanshop, with each autographed item authenticated by a unique QR code. The collaboration focuses on team-centric items and offers perks like game tickets and VIP experiences, aiming to enhance fan engagement and authenticity in sports memorabilia. SPORTSCOLLECTORSDAILY
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