Welcome to Sports Memorabilia Insider for March 9th, 2022 – FREE Edition.
Each week we give you the scoop on undervalued, mispriced and hidden gems in Alternative Investing.
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In this episode, Horacio invites Mike Keys, COO at SCP Auctions – one of the country’s leading sports memorabilia auction houses. Mike has seen firsthand the rise in sports memorabilia and the rise of new asset classes like Type 1 Photographs and Ticket Stubs. He talks about meeting shifting demands, provenance and authenticating items, his journey to becoming a COO, and Memorabilia with the potential to see the same gains as sports cards.
Sports Memorabilia in 2022
You may remember the sports memorabilia index drifting upwards several weeks back. This turned out to be a temporary blip and after the head fake upwards, the index reversed its course and has now dropped 4% over the last four weeks.
Last Week
Fractional Secondary Markets
All sports memorabilia assets were up slightly more than a half percent for the week. The two titans of the index moved in opposite directions, as basketball was up 1.4% for the week while baseball was slightly in the red with a .5% loss.
A pair of Collectable offerings highlighting Kobe Bryant led the advancers as his final season sneakers gained 20% and a pair of game-worn and signed sneakers from 2002 surged 26%.
The Rally Dr. J game-worn jersey fell 66% and Muhammed Ali inscribed gloves, new to daily trading, plunged 42%.
Buyouts
The Collectable Oscar Robertson 60-62 Rookie Cincinnati Royals Jersey accepted a buyout offer of $320,000 ($5.57 net per share) which was an 11.4% return over the IPO price. Our inferred value for this piece was $306,000, with an active buy recommendation.
Auctions
The Heritage Winter Platinum Sports Auction concluded over the February 26 weekend with a few items of fractional impact.
- 1948 “The Babe Bows Out” Photo – PSA/DNA Type 1 – This sold for $85,000. It’s an oversized version of the photo, measuring 14” x 9.5”, so it should sell at a premium to the Collectable offering (which measures 8” x 10”), with a market cap of $49,500. The photo maintained the inferred value of $48,000.
- 1968 Mickey Mantle’s Last New York Yankees Game-Worn Jersey, Mears A10 – Signed and Photo Matched – Sold for $2,190,000, which represents 150% price appreciation over 18 months. Rally has a 1960 Mantle game-worn/signed jersey from 8 years earlier and one same grade, but not photo matched jersey, currently trading at $552,500 – higher than the $514,250 from two weeks ago.
- 1986 Michael Jordan Game-Worn and Signed Nike Air Jordan 1 Sneakers – Photo Matched – Sold for $685,000; Rally has a similar asset from one year earlier that lacks signature or photo-matching and it’s currently trading at $167,500; This updates the inferred value of Rally offering to $285,000 from $150,000.
This Week and Next Week
Fractional Market IPOs
It’s a slower week, as the only IPOs are two Collectable offerings switching from early access to live IPO status:
NBA 50 Greatest Lithograph – Dave Bing Collection
- Market Cap: $100,000
- Retained Equity: $0
- Inferred Value: $50,000
- Drop: 3/8/22 on Collectable
- Our View: [INSIDERS ONLY]
2016 Kobe Bryant Game-Worn & Photo-Matched ‘Black History Month’ Sneakers
- Market Cap: $72,000
- Retained Equity: $0
- Inferred Value: $30,000
- Drop: 3/11/22 on Collectable
- Our View: [INSIDERS ONLY]
Secondary Markets
No new action in the secondary market this week, as none of the fractional platform memorabilia assets drop for secondary trading.
Auctions
The Goldin Elite Auction runs through this Sunday. Some of the items of note include:
- Babe Ruth Signed Baseball (PSA/DNA GEM MT 10) – It was signed by Babe Ruth in 1947 after the conclusion of his playing career and a year before his death. This is the highest-graded Ruth signed baseball! Rally and Collectable both offer Ruth signed baseballs in lower grades from earlier in his playing career.
- NBA 50th Anniversary Multi-Signed Basketball (40 signatures) – A cheaper alternative to the Collectable lithograph, this basketball was signed by 40 of the NBA’s 50 greatest players.
- Kobe Bryant Signed Marty McFly Back to the Future Nike Hyperdunk Sneakers – A cool mash-up of 80’s nostalgia and a basketball G.O.A.T; a buyer could get the other sneaker signed by Michael J. Fox to really add uniqueness.
- 1965-69 Willie Mays Game Used Bat (PSA/DNA 9.5) – current bid of $22,800; Rally has a game-used and signed Mays bat from 1968 with a current market cap of $50,000 that should trade at a premium to the Goldin piece due to the better condition and signature
- 1977 Pele Game Worn New York Cosmos Green Jersey – There is a surprising lack of Pele memorabilia on the fractional platforms; with a current bid of $4,800, this could be a budget way to get exposure to one of soccer’s greats.
The Lelands Winter Classic 2022 auction also runs through Sunday. A couple of memorabilia pieces to keep an eye on:
- Tom Brady’s Last Touchdown Pass Football (Photo-Matched) – current bid of $197,100; it will be interesting to see the final hammer price and if speculation of Brady’s possible unretirement affects interest; Brady’s first touchdown pass football sold in 2021 for $429,000.
- 1962 Wilt Chamberlain 100 Point Game Ticket PSA VG 3 – Direct comp for the Rally ticket which has a current inferred value of $121,000; a PSA 3 ticket and program sold at Lelands in January 2022 for $137,521
