Innholdsfortegnelse for February 1, 2024 i Sports Collectors Digest

LEADING OFF EDITOR’S NOTE Have some comments or questions about the hobby or your collection? Send us a letter. Please include your name, city and state and email letters to jowens@aimmedia.com. As sports fans, we love to debate the greatest rivalries in sports. Red Sox-Yankees. Packers-Bears. Michigan-Ohio State. But the greatest rivalry of all time occurred in the NBA in the 1980s. Celtics vs. Lakers. Bird vs. Magic. Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson are both in the starting five of our NBA All-Hobby team. In the 1980s, they were the NBA. Bird vs. Magic, Magic vs. Bird. They combined to lead the two most historic franchises to eight championships in nine seasons. Before Michael Jordan took over the league in the the 1990s, Bird and Magic put the NBA…

No athlete has garnered more headlines recently than MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Card collectors already know the value of Ohtani, whose trading cards continue to be in high demand and command big dollars. Ohtani led all athletes in card submissions to card-grading giant PSA in 2023. He also had four of the top 10 most graded sports cards of 2023, according to PSA, which graded about 75 percent of all sports cards in the U.S. Ohtani and NBA legend Michael Jordan led all athletes in card submissions to PSA this year. The top 10 included: 1.Shohei Ohtani2. Michael Jordan3.Julio Rodriguez4. Trevor Lawrence5. Joe Burrow6.Tom Brady7.Kobe Bryant8.LeBron James9.Ken Griffey Jr.10.Patrick Mahomes II Ohtani also figured prominently among the 10…

Fanatics and Topps launched its ever-popular 2023 Bowman Draft series in December, and the star of the set was not just the top MLB prospects. Instead, one of the greatest NFL players of all time is featured in the baseball set. Tom Brady, the GOAT among NFL quarterbacks, is featured wearing the jersey of the Montreal Expos, which drafted the left-handed catcher in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft. Topps, which produced a series of Brady cards for the set, highlighted the release with a creative video that imagines if Brady had chosen to play baseball instead of football. The video, which was released on social media on what Topps dubbed “Brady Day,” features Brady with former Expos stars and Baseball Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez, Vlad Guerrero…

When I think of Memphis State University, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway is the first person who comes to mind. Hardaway, a nominee for the 2024 class of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, had a legendary All-American career for Memphis State, a school now known as the University of Memphis after its official name change in 1994. Hardaway passed up his senior season to enter the 1993 NBA Draft, but his presence on the court was felt across the country: he was No. 5 on the list of top 100 modern college point guards by collegehoopsnet.com and a leading vote-getter on ESPN’s Conference USA Silver Anniversary Team. In 1994, Memphis State retired Hardaway’s jersey number 25. He returned to the University of Memphis in May 2003 and graduated with a bachelor’s…

THE HOBBY IS THE PEOPLE When Marshall Fogel came back to the hobby in 1989, he admittedly made a few mistakes. Fortunately for him he made more good calls than bad. It was those early lessons that helped shape the collector he is today. Fogel attended the 1989 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. Growing up a Yankees fan, Mickey Mantle was his baseball hero, so Mantle cards became his focus early on and he was intelligent enough to buy some cards before their eventual crescendo. He cites friendships with collectors Bill Maestro and Alan “Mr. Mint” Rosen as important influences. Grading wasn't a thing in 1989 and, unfortunately, Fogel wound up buying a few trimmed cards. While not necessarily an uncommon occurrence during those days, it influenced his reasoning…

It stands to reason that the most iconic basketball name of all time has some of the most iconic trading cards of all time. Michael Jordan transcended the NBA with his six NBA titles, six Finals MVPs, five regular-season MVPs and 11 All-NBA Team nods. He turned the Chicago Bulls into a dynasty in the 1990s and a storied franchise. Air Jordan cards have always been highly sought after — especially rare, numbered varieties — but they hit their peak after “The Last Dance” documentary aired in April 2020. Jordan cards spiked and his 1986 Fleer rookie in a PSA 10 sold for a record $738,000 in January 2021. As of the end of September 2023, there have been 320 PSA 10s graded out of more than 23,000 Jordan rookie…

One of my favorite pieces of Japanese baseball memorabilia that I own is a Weekly Yomiuri special magazine issue from 1956, commemorating the Brooklyn Dodgers tour of Japan that took place that same year. The tour was the start of a long relationship between the Dodgers and Japan. Nearly 70 years later, with Shohei Ohtani now in Dodger blue, that relationship is still going strong. “The Dodgers have a long and rich history in Japan,” Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said at the Dec. 14 press conference introducing Ohtani. “Starting with [former team owner] Walter O’Malley and [assistant to O’Malley] Akihiro ‘Ike’ Ikuhara, which ultimately led to Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda, Kenta Maeda, and countless others, and continuing with the most significant way we can imagine with this…

I love scrapbooking. Especially when other people do all the work. Sure, I kept a scrapbook for a while. Apparently from June 23, 1988 until July 2, 1988; May 20, 1989 until May 24, 1989; August 13, 1989; and Sept. 4th of that same year. My boyhood baseball scrapbook consisted largely of American League standings, clipped from the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press before my father got a look at the adjoining classifieds section. The standings were always longer than the scrapbook pages, so they are uniformly placed in the book at a 45-degree angle. Making matters worse, I applied enough Elmer’s glue to each clipping to hold back a racehorse. As a result, every single page stuck together every time I tried to open the book. Other scrapbook highlights include…

The truly big prices in the hobby — the ones that drop jaws and steal headlines even outside of the sports world — happen at the major auction houses. Such companies as Heritage, Robert Edward Auctions, Leland’s, Goldin, PWCC and others have the marketing punch, clientele, and history for uncovering sports treasures and getting top dollar. That said, collectors keep flocking to eBay, where an unmatchable inventory remains at our fingertips. There’s no end to collector-friendly prices, but make no mistake: Competitive bidding still pushes cream-of-the-crop collectibles to impressive prices. Consider our year-end list of the 40 top-selling sports cards on eBay during 2023: 1. $175,100 on 145 bids: 1952 Topps Willie Mays (PSA 8) 2. $130,102 on 57 bids: 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan (PSA 10) 3. $105,000 on 12…

When LeBron James jumped straight from high school to the NBA, he was dubbed the next big thing. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft gave the Cleveland Cavaliers’ franchise a pulse for the first time in years. King James came onto the scene right when the NBA was ripe for a new superstar to step forward. Michael Jordan had just retired the season before. It wasn’t long before James captured the hearts of fans and became the face of the basketball world. Now in his 21st season in the NBA, James is the league’s all-time leading scorer. He eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s seemingly unbreakable mark during the 2022-23 campaign. Since James came into the league at an optimal time in the sports card industry, there are a plethora…

There are few athletes in the world who have the honor of getting their own museum. Soccer legend Pelé has one in his native Brazil. The great Olympian and football star Jim Thorpe has his own museum located inside the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Even former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra is honored on the campus of Montclair State University near his former New Jersey home. But only one museum is dedicated to a man who was both a great athlete, trailblazer, cultural icon, civil rights leader and humanitarian. The Jackie Robinson Museum, located in the heart of New York City, stands as a powerful testament to the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of one of baseball’s most beloved and influential figures. The museum, which opened in 2022,…

NOTE: If you have a show listing, follow the style below and send to jowens@aimmedia.com. ALABAMA Feb 17 AL, Sheffield. Muscle Shoals Sportscards and Memorabilia Show, Clarion Inn, 4900 Hatch Boulevard, Sheffield, AL 35660 SH: 8am-2pm. T: 30. A: Free. Contact: Leroy Willis 256-412-2184, popand-honey@yahoo.com Feb 17 AL, Scottsboro. Scottsboro Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, Scottsboro Goose Pond Civic Center, 1165 Ed Hembree Dr., Scottsboro, AL 35769. SH 9am-2pm. T: 150. A: Free. Contact: Stephen Moore 256-599-0989, Stephen@jacksonssportscards.com; jacksonssportscards.com March 2 AL, Huntsville. The Flip Sports Card & Collectibles Trade Show, Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe St. SW, Huntsville, AL 35801. SH: 10am-5pm. T: 200+ ($80-$95). A: $7. Contact: Daniel TheFlipTradeShow@Gmail.com ARIZONA Mar 9-10 AZ, Phoenix. ESPN & Arizona Sports Radio present Front Row Card Show, Renaissance Phoenix/ Glendale Hotel,…