The National Sports Collectors Convention occurred this past week, so it will be fun to look at what cards have shown some movement, and what will happen in the next few weeks after the show.
This week’s list features basketball, baseball and football cards dominated by big names like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Only graded cards with a minimum value of $250 are considered for the weekly top 10 lists.
Our fastest growing card this week is Tom Brady’s rookie E-X card in a BGS 8.5 grade. The card has a population of 70 and sold for $7,550 on July 29th:
It’s previous sale just two days earlier was $3,288. The card was originally listed on eBay for $8,000 and a best offer was accepted for $7,550.
NFL Training camp just started and there’s going to be a lot of NFL coverage leading up to the season. Historically, NFL preseason sparks activity with football card buying and selling. Brady is a 7-time Super Bowl Champion and is entering his 22nd NFL season. The Buccaneers are currently the 2nd favorite to win the Super Bowl in 2022, behind the Kansas City Chiefs.
Miguel Cabrera’s Topps Traded base card has a population of 1,754 and sold for $190.50 on July 28th.
Just a few days later, the card sold for $429.24:
Cabrera excited fans on July 31st with a near grand slam homerun but the ball fell a few feet short. He had two hits on the day and given his active playing status, his performance is likely impacting his card values.
Luka Doncic continues to impress in the Olympics as Slovenia has remained undefeated after beating Spain.
This pop 555 card took a big jump from July 26th, when it sold for $166.50.
Just four days later, it sold for $350:
The sale came before Slovenia’s defeat of Spain, but perhaps the Olympics is keeping a spotlight on Luka.
The sale of $1,533.99 is a record price for this Mantle card. The card has a pop of 1,550 and last sold for $735 on July 26th.
It’s important to remember for vintage cards that some have better eye appeal than others, despite having the same grade. It’s possible for a specific copy of the card in a particular grade to command a premium of a card with the same grade.
In June of this year, the card hit a peak price of $1,100, then dropped in value consecutively until this record sale of $1,533.99:
This pop 191 Jordan card peaked at $300 in the middle of March before dropping as low as $77 in May.
The card sold 17 times after that peak price and has been up and down during that time.
The recent sale of $289.99 nears the original peak price:
We’ve seen a few 90s Jordan cards pop up on our top 10 lists over the past few weeks. Jordan’s rookie card set a record with an $840,000 sale a few weeks ago.
Jordan is a highly collectible player which means he has a variety of cards with a lot of sales transactions.
Kobe Bryant’s cards enjoyed some serious premiums in February of this year with a lot of record sales up and down his core and alternative rookie sets. The market has seemed to settle down a bit, but this pop 740 BGS 8.5 saw a 90% increase in value this week.
The card sold for $3,050 in February of this year and dipped all the way down to $350 on July 28th.
Just a few days later, the card sold for $665:
The card (in all grades) has trended downwards since peak pricing in February.
Another Michael Jordan, another highly transacted card.
This card has a pop of 2,513 and has been volatile over the past year. It dropped to $138 on July 26th before bouncing back up to $262.15:
The card sold for $402 in February of this year.
This card is unique in that it features Michael Jordan on the front of the card and Kobe Bryant on the back of the card.
In February of this year the card peaked at $4,200, and hit the same high in early June.
A few weeks later, it dropped to $1,358 before its latest sale of $2,999.95 on 7/31:
There are 224 copies of this card graded a PSA 10.
The Kobe Bryant Star Date rookie has had quite the ride in 2021 as a BGS 9.5 sold for $23,000 in February.
The card got as low as $2,848, losing about 90% of its value since the peak price.
The card has a population of 193 and bounced back to $5,100 on 7/31:
Emmitt Smith is the all-time NFL rushing leader and a 3-time Superbowl Champion.
His Pro Set rookie is a pop 699 and just sold for $259:
The card’s peak price was $283 in February before falling as low as $129.50 in May.
