Who’s the next Formula 1 star?

👋 New here? Read up on our past Sports Cards issues to get the most from this post.

📅 July 6, 2022 | 📖 ± 4 minutes

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 2022 has been awful for sports cards so far
  • Which sectors are still hot in the downturn?
  • Hand-picked investment opportunities

Let’s go!

Sports Cards in 2022

We’re halfway through 2022. How are sports cards doing?

I hope you like the colour red.

This is quarterly performance, but you get the point. Via CardLadder

Unfortunately, I think it’s going to get worse. Have a look at the CardLadder 50 index. Nothing about this says “I’m done going down.”

via CardLadder

For mean reversion to come full swing, we’ve got another 30% to go before we trace back to historic norms. Bear in mind there’s a recession coming, so it could be even more.

Fractional markets are looking even worse, down 23% on the year.

Data from Rally, Collectable, and Otis

That said, there are some incredibly underpriced sports cards on all these platforms right now.

Last Week

Fractional secondary markets

All that said, last week wasn’t too bad for sports cards. Basically flat on fractional markets and down around 1% over on CardLadder.

All stats come from assets trading on the secondary markets at Otis, Collectable, and Rally

This Week

Assets dropping on marketplaces

‘09 Topps Gold RC PSA 10 #’d /2009 Stephen Curry

A card for the Golden State Warrior

Investment Opportunities

Goldin’s monthly auction is live with a lot of the usual stuff but no real standout pieces from a value point of view. There’s something beautiful about uncut sheets, though, and they’ve got lots of them. I could frame these and look at them for hours.

Not worth much, but it’s pretty

There’s also a well-presented PSA 2 Alifabolaget Pele rookie card available. Vintage football (soccer) is one of the few subsets that have done well in 2022, and I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. There’s also a less desirable 1958 Aquarela rookie graded PSA 4 on offer. You can get the rest of the set as well if you’re a completist.

He can see into my soul.

If you’re looking to invest in a Pele rookie but don’t have as much cash to splash, a PSA 1 graded 1958 Aquarela Pele is available on eBay right now. For me, it presents much better than PSA 1. The auction ends Wednesday.

For those of you who are into F1 and looking for opportunities beyond Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, consider Carlos Sainz. He won his first race last week at the British GP, and he’s looking good at 4th on the F1 leaderboard with six podiums — only Verstappen has more.

Google search history for Carlos Sainz

He’s getting more popular as well based on Google search traffic.

You can pick up a 2020 Topps Chrome F1 Sapphire PSA 10 for $200 still — for reference, Hamilton’s Sapphire PSA 10 is around $900.

That’s all for this week.

Make sure to check out our Discord, where issue previews and in-depth valuations get kicked around.

Cheers,

Wyatt

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Author

Wyatt Cavalier

Wyatt Cavalier

With a background in finance & intelligence analysis, Wyatt has an unhealthy obsession with finding the best blue chip investment opportunities. His previous newsletter, Fractional, resonated deeply with subscribers, bringing actionable insights and unconventional trading strategies. His rare book collection specializes in banned editions. He currently lives in Spain with his beautiful wife, three young boys, and dog Monty.

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