Innholdsfortegnelse for October 1, 2024 i Sports Collectors Digest

LEADING OFF Tom Brady tossed a football with young fans. Kids ran the 40-yard dash with Rob Gronkowski, while NBA stars shot baskets with apsiring hoopsters. Fanatics Fest NYC was a hobby show unlike any other, with dozens of big-time athletes interacting with colorful fans at the Javits Center in Manhattan. It’s been a wild and crazy few months for card and hobby shows. First the National Sports Collectors Convention enjoyed another record crowd and successful show in Cleveland. Three weeks later, Fanatics hosted its inaugural Fanatics Fest in New York City. Billed as the Comic Con of sports, the well-attended event delivered the glitz and glamour expected from Fanatics, as you will see throughout the pages of this issue. As expected, the two shows were quite different. The National,…

Babe Ruth is once again the king of sports memorabilia and collectibles. The jersey Ruth wore when he hit his famous and controversial “called shot” home run in the 1932 World Series sold for a record $24.1 million Aug. 24 in the Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction at Heritage Auctions. The sale shattered the previous record of $12.6 million held by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card graded SGC 9.5. The card was sold in 2022, also by Heritage Auctions. Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, called the Ruth jersey “the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia to be offered at auction in decades.” Heritage estimated the jersey could sell for as much as $30 million. The jersey, bearing Ruth’s famous No. 3, has been photo-matched to…

PANINI JUMPS INTO COLLEGE NIL GAME Topps Chrome Basketball returned for the first time in 15 years Aug. 28, with the 2023-24 series featuring the first autographed rookie card of Victor Wembanyama as well as autographed LeBron James cards. The set features autographed rookie cards of select Fanatics-exclusive athletes like Wembanyama and is the first full set featuring a Topps LeBron James autograph. It also features the first autographed cards of other Fanatics-exclusive athletes like Brandon Miller, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Scoot Henderson and Cam Whitmore. Other Topps Chrome Basketball highlights include: • Base cards featuring NBA rookies and superstars. Each hobby box has 12 packs, with each pack containing eight cards. • Each box contains 24 base card parallels, 12 insert cards or parallels, and two autographs. • Autographs from…

NOTE: If you have a show listing, follow the style below and send to jowens@aimmedia.com. ALABAMA Oct 5 AL, 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 Oct 16 AL, Vestavia. The Flip Sports Card & Collectibles Trade Show, Vestavia Hills Civic Center, 1090 Montgomery Hwy, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216. SH: 10am-5pm. T: 125+ ($65-85). A: $5 Contact: Daniel TheFlipTradeShow@Gmail.com ARKANSAS Oct 25-26 AR, Bentonville. GG2 Sports Cards Show, Four Points Hotel, 211 SE Walton Blvd., Bentonville, AR. SH: Fri 11am-6pm; Sat 9am-5pm. T: 145. A: Free. Contact: Matt Canaday; gg2sportscards@gmail.com ARIZONA Oct 5 AZ, Tempe (Phoenix). Collectibles on College — Tempe Monthly, University Presbertyrian Church, 139 E.…

THE HOBBY IS THE PEOPLE Steve Sousa is originally from the Pennsylvania area and as a kid in the 1970s he focused heavily on the Philadelphia teams from all four major sports. When he returned to the hobby in 2015 he started to collect Hall of Famers from 1967-80 for the PSA Set Registry, and then some. However, having his cards sit sight unseen in cardboard boxes did not get his juices flowing. Like a lot of us, Sousa wanted to be able to see his favorite cards. So he designed a case for graded cards. He reached out to some existing contacts to get them produced, and like a lot of great items, what started as a personal-use invention quickly spread to collectors who decided, “I want one of…

The Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction at Heritage Auctions not only produced the most valuable piece of sports memorabilia ever sold, it also was the most successful sports auction ever, producing a record $61 million in sales. The auction produced multiple hobby records. In addition to the 1932 Babe Ruth “Called Shot” jersey that sold for an all-time record of $24.1 million, the auction also set records for the most valuable Jackie Robinson jersey, Hank Aaron jersey, and the most valuable game-used baseball bat. The three-day auction attracted more than 2,500 bidders, setting an industry record with $61,906,602 in total sales. “The incredible results for this auction represent a new benchmark for our industry and the continued growth of sports collectibles on the world stage as a reliable, engaging and…

Another NFL season brings renewed excitement and anticipation over which team will win the Super Bowl. For card collectors, it’s also a time to size up this season’s rookie class. The football card hobby has always had a large focus on quarterbacks—and this season will be no different. Last year, the Houston Texans went from worst to first in the AFC South after selecting quarterback C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft—right after the Carolina Panthers selected QB Bryce Young. Stroud’s rookie cards became an instant hit with collectors. This year, the 2024 NFL Draft featured another heavy focus on quarterbacks. As expected, the Chicago Bears took former Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick. “My goal is to get into as…

NFL watchers always tune in to the game’s hottest quarterbacks, which means Patrick Mahomes II, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Love, C.J. Stroud, Brock Purdy, and rookie Caleb Williams. But do not overlook Joe Burrow. The Cincinnati Bengals’ signal-caller has had his superstar trajectory interrupted by a number of injuries, including a serious knee injury in 2020, a Grade 1 knee strain in 2022, and a torn wrist ligament in his throwing hand in 2023. This season, Burrow was healthy entering his fifth year as the Bengals’ QB. He hopes to stay that way. If so, look for more of what he did in 2021 and 2022. Starting every game those two seasons, he threw for a combined 69 touchdowns (vs. only 26 interceptions) and piled up 9,086…

Topps has signed MLB superstar and two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani to an exclusive trading card deal. The agreement includes autographs and game-used memorabilia cards, as well as cards focused on key moments and achievements. Topps will produce both U.S. and Japan-based products. “I'm happy to be exclusively partnering with Topps to give fans unique cards and collectibles for seasons to come,” Ohtani said in a release from Topps. Ohtani won the 2021 and 2023 AL MVP awards while playing for the LA Angels. He could win the NL MVP this year with 42 home runs and 95 RBI through August. Ohtani joins L.A. Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto and former Japanese stars Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui and others on the Topps roster. “This is a momentous day i our brand’s…

Football collectors are looking forward to many great things during the 2024 NFL season, and one of them is the return of Topps football cards for the first time since 2015. After decades of producing cards featuring gridiron greats, Topps will return to football cards this year after the NFLPA last year announced that it has terminated its relationship with Panini in favor of Fanatics. In response, Panini filed an anti-trust lawsuit. Fanatics responded with a countersuit. Fanatics had initially struck a name, image and likeness deal with the NFLPA in 2021 to produce NFL trading cards, a deal that was set to start in 2026 but instead was pushed up sooner following the NFLPA’s sudden breakup with Panini. While lawyers attempt to sort things out, Topps has officially re-entered…