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New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton cards jump in value as collectors seek next NBA megastar
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton have become focal points of the NBA trading card market as the young Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers stars have guided their teams to the NBA Finals. Outside of aging veterans like LeBron James and Stephen Curry, the injured Victor Wembanyama, and the still massive shadow cast by Michael Jordan, the NBA card market lacks bonafide box office draws, resulting in WNBA cards selling for more than comparable NBA cards for the first time ever. Advertisement With the NBA Finals starting Thursday, this will be prime ground for SGA and Haliburton to prove they belong in the spotlight. The two stars, both making their first trip to the NBA Finals, have been two of the more heavily transacted players in the last 30 days in terms of total card sales, according to Market Movers, which tracks card sales across multiple marketplaces. The Pacers guard ranks seventh among all basketball players with more than 4,100 individual card sales. The Thunder guard and newly crowned league MVP ranks eighth with more than 3,400 card sales. SGA's cards have commanded a much higher price tag than Haliburton's lot, though. Through the past month, SGA ranks eighth in total dollars as his cards sold for nearly $667,000 all together. Haliburton sits 10th on this list with nearly $331,000 in sales. For perspective, Michael Jordan ranks No. 1 on this list with $5.6 million. Let's use the players' Panini Prizm Silver rookie cards with a gem mint 10 grade from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) as the baseline to gauge their markets, as they are popular cards that are frequently transacted but are more scarce than the base versions. SGA's 2018 card — with the Los Angeles Clippers — stands as one of the most expensive Prizm Silver rookie cards yielding an average price of $1,200 within the last 30 days. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic carry Prizm Silver rookie cards, and that's thanks in most part to a small population count for rookie cards with those two players. The $1,200 price tag is nearly double where it was at the beginning of the year, when this card averaged sales of $675. One SGA rookie card sold for as much as $1,400 during the last 30 days. His current card price has jumped 300 percent in the past two years, only carrying an average price tag of $300 in May 2023. Advertisement By the Thunder eliminating Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, the door feels wide open for SGA to take a firmer grasp at becoming one of the next big things in the basketball card hobby. Edwards' card market launched in last season's playoffs, specifically his 2020 Prizm Silver rookie in a PSA 10. In April 2024, Ant Man's card only sold on average for $597. His monster on-court run during the next month, during which searches for his name on eBay shot up 1,850 percent compared to the start of the season, launched this card into orbit with average sales on May 9 up to around $1,840. One week later, Edwards' cards drastically dipped in value to average sales of $1,120. The Silver rarely reached or topped that daily average ever since. Once this year's postseason commenced, we were right back where we started with Edwards. His 2020 Prizm Silver in a PSA 10 was even lower in mid-April this year than where it was before his sharp uptick, selling for $561 on April 15. His market shot back up in May, with the Timberwolves' run to the Western Conference finals, as average sales reached as high as $1,090 as of May 20. Now with Minnesota falling to Oklahoma City, Edwards' gem mint Prizm Silver card is already dropping again, averaging $870 as of Sunday. The card market for Haliburton, the league's most overrated player according to his peers in this season's anonymous player poll by The Athletic, flourished from an immediate boom shortly after the Pacers landed a spot in the NBA Finals. Haliburton's 2020 Panini Prizm Black Finite one-of-a-kind rookie card with a PSA 10 grade sold for nearly $120,000 last Saturday, which is about $35,000 more than his highest selling card of any kind. This is quite the turnaround after Haliburton's market sank to an all-time low early this season. Advertisement Once selling for as high as $700 in September 2021, his 2020 Panini Prizm Silver PSA 10 graded rookie card only commanded an average price of $161 in mid December. This occurred five months before The Athletic published the poll. Haliburton's rookie card — with the Sacramento Kings — rarely commanded a sale of more than $200 until May. The card is now selling for an average of around $413 as of Sunday, with a high sale of $450 in the past 30 days. Had the New York Knicks toppled the Pacers, the NBA trading card world's eyes would've been glued to Knicks guard Jalen Brunson instead. His card values during the past year have been on a very similar plane as Haliburton. Brunson's 2018 Prizm Silver rookie card — with the Dallas Mavericks — in a PSA 10 sold on average as high as $318 in mid-May. After the Eastern Conference finals loss, the card now only averages $247 as of Sunday. Last season's NBA Finals felt the same way for a potential card value boom for Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. But he didn't play up to superstar level even though the Celtics won the title — so much so that teammate Jaylen Brown won the series MVP. Unfortunately for Tatum and his collectors, the forward ruptured his Achilles tendon in the Eastern Conference finals this year and will likely miss much of next season. His 2017 Prizm Silver rookie card with a PSA 10 grade went from averaging $979 in early June 2024 down to $585 as of Sunday. So even if you're the top star of an NBA championship winning team, it's no promise the player's card value will not only vault but maintain a new heightened price. But if SGA or Haliburton play to an NBA Finals MVP level, maybe one of the two, or even both players, could propel themselves into a higher trading card price bracket. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
New York Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Why rare auction of legendary T206 Honus Wagner card is attracting multi-million dollar bids
An ultra-rare T206 Honus Wagner card is now on sale at auction, marking a milestone event for the sports card hobby. It's also an occasion circled by the very wealthy who want bragging rights and a small piece of 116-year-old art that's repeatedly proven to be one of the world's most lucrative investments. Advertisement Bidding for the 'Connecticut Wagner,' which got its name after being brough to a Connecticut card show in 1985, opened on Wednesday at $2 million in Goldin's Spring Vintage Auction and rose above $3.1 million within the first hour. But Ken Goldin, founder of the auction house, would not be surprised if the winning bid doubled that amount — even though it is graded in 'poor' condition by PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), as a '1' on a scale of 1-10. 'North of $6 million would be great for the hobby,' Goldin said. 'Somewhere in mid-seven figures. I view this card as an above-average '1' for the color and the fact that the face is really undisturbed where a lot are very disturbed. And the back is very clean.' Goldin said most 1s have significant paper loss on the back. The Wagner card was originally released by the American Tobacco Company in 1909, part of a set that was included with cigarettes. There are only 36 graded by leading trading card grader PSA and there are another 17 graded by SGC, according to Card Ladder, which tracks card sales across multiple marketplaces. Overall Goldin says the total population of all T206 Wagner cards is believed to be no more than 60. It's such an exclusive club that owners of the card have an exclusive club that meets annually. Last year was the first year in at least the last 30 where no new members joined the club, with no T206 Wagners changing hands. So demand for this offering is expected to be high. 'It has such cultural significance,' Goldin said. 'So many people who don't own anything else in sports would love to own a T206 Wagner for bragging rights.' And also for financial gain. 'I looked at every type of transaction I could think of in gold, precious metals, art, stocks,' Goldin continued. 'The only example I can find where the exact same item (meaning the same Wagner card) sold for more every time is a T206 Wagner, and it's done that in every grade.' Advertisement According to the auction house, the Wagner card in this grade has increased in value by 1,012 percent between 2010 and 2022 (the last two sales). That's between two and three times more than the growth in that period of the major U.S. stock indexes. Wagner is so famous for the scarcity of his card that his excellence as a baseball player is often given short shrift. The hall-of-fame shortstop overcame an unusual body type (barrel chest and bowed legs) to become baseball's greatest pure athlete over his 21-year career between 1897 and 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He stole 723 bases in his career, leading the National League five times. Wagner led the NL in Wins Above Replacement 11 times, won eight batting crowns and amassed the eighth-most hits in history (3,420). The T206 set gets its name, which denotes it is tobacco card set No. 206, from Jefferson Burdick's 1939 book 'The American Card Catalog.' It has 523 or 524 subjects (a topic of some controversy, though Goldin says the number is 523). Legend has it that Wagner's card was pulled from distribution because he hated smoking. But according to the Smithsonian, it's far more likely Wagner just didn't want anyone profiting from his likeness. Goldin, dubbed 'The King of Collectibles' by Netflix in its reality series on his buying and selling operation, is an avid collector himself. But he said the Wagner card is now priced beyond him, even though he owns the rest of the T206 set. 'Like (many), I have waited to find one under a certain price and it just never happens. I wouldn't be surprised to see a graded Wagner of a '1' sell for $10 million soon. And the best of them could sell for $50 million.' The 'best' is in the collection of Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick. In 2007, he paid $2.8 million for a T206 Wagner graded an '8' (near mint to mint) by PSA in the early 1990s — the first card the company ever graded. Though Kendrick said he and others widely suspected the card was altered (trimmed to make it appear in better condition), he bought it anyway. In 2013, the Department of Justice extracted a confession from former sports memorabilia auction house owner Bill Mastro in a plea agreement in which he stated that he trimmed that Wagner card with a paper slicer. Advertisement PSA offered to buy the Wagner card back from Kendrick for what he paid to honor their guarantee. In a recent interview with Sports Card Investor, Kendrick said he declined because he bought it 'with reasonable knowledge and a cachet of wrongdoing. I figured that being part of a crime would make it more valuable.' Kendrick compares it to John Dillinger's gun, which is just a gun but has immensely more value due to its infamous role in a crime. He added that his instincts have clearly proven to be right. He also said the card deserves its grade. In 2021, Kendrick became an investor in PSA's parent company, Collectors Universe. The next highest graded T206 Wagner is one in 'excellent' condition (a '5' on the 10-point scale). Goldin said just 26 are graded higher than the PSA 1 he's auctioning. In April, an 'altered/restored' Wagner fetched $1.98 million. Goldin was impressed by that sale because he said that '95 percent (of buyers) would never have considered the altered Wagner. You had an artist recreate part of it. Let's say you have a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle with the top third torn off and send it out to an art restorer and get it rebuilt. To me it's not the same card.' While the Connecticut Wagner may technically be graded as poor, it's in its natural state and considered more a work of art and a cultural touchstone than a mere piece of cardboard. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gap Between Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese is Turning Heads
Caitlin Clark's popularity reached new heights after she entered the WNBA draft. The Indiana Fever star is one of the most famous athletes in the world, and the difference with her peers is crystal clear. Clark has broken individual records after helping the Fever break viewership and attendance records in 2024. Her collectible cards have become a coveted item among fans, and the numbers show she is in a league of her own. Advertisement At the end of March, the former No. 1 overall pick broke a Serena Williams record, whose "2003 NetPro International Series Apparel Autograph Serena Williams #2A" sold for $266,400 in May 2022. Clark broke the record for the most valuable women's trading card with her "2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl Signed Rookie Card," a unique card that sold for $366,000. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Krzaczynski-Imagn Images This also broke her previous record of $234,850 for a "Panini Select WNBA gold vinyl card," another unique item. Now, another input shows how far ahead she has gone from her peers in terms of popularity. On Thursday, Complex's Instagram account shared a graphic showing the five NBA players with the most Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) cards sold. Advertisement Clark leads the way with 105K cards, followed by Chicago Sky star Angel Reese (7.2K), Paige Bueckers (6.4K), Cameron Brink (5.3K), and Sabrina Ionescu (1.1K). View the original article to see embedded media. Fans took the chance to go after Reese and those who said Clark wasn't the only reason why more people were paying attention to the league. "1) 105k 2) 7.2k 'they didn't just come to see cailtin play, they came for me too'," one fan said. "Da gap is genuinely crazy tho," a second fan said. "Ain't nobody collecting no angel Reese card LOL," a third fan said. "Holy smokes Caitlyn really is the league all to herself," a fourth fan said. Advertisement "So u saying that every other players cards don't even add up to Clark's? That's insane," a fifth fan added. "This is no longer an argument," a sixth fan wrote. While the WNBA has experienced steady growth in recent years, the addition of Clark has certainly helped them reach new levels in terms of popularity. Other players, such as Reese, Brink, and Bueckers, have brought more eyes to the league, but the difference with the former Iowa Hawkeyes star is clear. Related: Caitlin Clark Didn't Flinch When Talking About WNBA Championship
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark shatters another women's sports record, this one off the court
Caitlin Clark shatters another women's sports record, this one off the court Caitlin Clark continues to change the face of not just women's basketball or women's sports, but sports as a whole. The superstar point guard for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA and Iowa Hawkeyes legend, who owns just about every record in the book, has etched her place into the history books once again. After a monster college career and outstanding rookie season in the WNBA, Clark is among the statistical record books everywhere you look. She is now making her presence felt in another area of the sports world off the court: trading cards. Advertisement In a recent article from Dan Hajducky at ESPN, he reported that a 2024 trading card of Caitlin Clark's sold for $366,000, setting the record for a women's sports card. In the same auction, Caitlin Clark's 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl Prizm card -- numbered 1-of-1, receiving a perfect 10 grade with a 10 autograph grade from grader Professional Sports Authenticator -- sold for $366,000, including buyer's premium. - Dan Hadjucky, ESPN This is not the first time that Caitlin Clark trading cards have reached this sort of price range. John Leuzzi of USA TODAY and Hawk Central reported that five Caitlin Clark trading cards have reached at least $97,000. Caitlin Clark has changed the face of women's sports forever and is only entering her second WNBA season after her rookie season saw her named WNBA Rookie of the Year, selected as a WNBA All-Star, and a member of the All-WNBA First Team. The three-time unanimous All-American at Iowa is a household name in the sports world, now the trading card world, and likely many more areas of everyday life as well in the near future. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7 This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Caitlin Clark 2024 trading card sells for $366,000
Dubai Eye
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Dubai Eye
Caitlin Clark sports card sets record after selling at auction
WNBA star Caitlin Clark's 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl Prizm card, numbered 1-of-1, has set a record sale for a female sports card after going under the hammer for $366,000 (AED 1.3 million) at auction. The unique card, which has a perfect 10 grade with a 10 autograph grade from grader Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) beat the previous record of $266,400 (AED 970,000) set by the sale of a 2023 NetPro Serena Williams RPA in May 2022. Also sold at the online auction was a 2003 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Exquisite Rookie Patch Autograph LeBron James card that sold for $1.159 million (AED 4 million), including buyer's premium. The James card is numbered 1-to-99. In early 2021, a numbered-to-23 parallel James RPA from sold for $5.2 million (AED 19 million) privately via PWCC Marketplace (now owned by Fanatics, rebranded as Fanatics Collect), which set the record for most expensive basketball card ever sold. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Goldin (@goldinco)
