The sports collectible market has taken a hit in 2023, with a notable downturn in sales across various segments, according to a report by Altan Insights. This company, known for monitoring sales in different collectible markets, used data from Card Ladder to analyze the trend, which has been ongoing for the past 18 months.
One of the most significant findings in the report is the decline in sales of ultra-modern cards, issued from 2009 to the present, which dropped by 34.8% compared to the previous year. Modern cards, spanning from 1984 to 2008, also saw a decrease in sales, experiencing a drop of 30.8%. Vintage cards, while also impacted by the decline, fared slightly better than their modern counterparts.
The fourth quarter of 2023 witnessed vintage and pre-war cards outperforming modern and ultra-modern cards, thus widening their advantage in the collectible market for the year, as noted in Altan’s report.
Altan’s report specifically highlights the decline in the prices of football, soccer, racing, and basketball cards. Football, especially high-end cards of quarterbacks, both young and veteran, failed to recover their value, with injuries to popular quarterbacks in the latter half of the season exacerbating the situation.
Furthermore, Altan sheds light on a significant dip in the top 50 sales at most auction houses from 2022 to 2023. Interestingly, the decline was less pronounced in the next tier of sales, indicating a slightly stronger demand in the mid-range market segment.
Here are some key findings from Altan’s report on the fourth quarter and the year 2023 as a whole:
– There was a 40% year-over-year and 27% quarter-over-quarter drop in the number of six-figure auction sales in Q4, marking the lowest total in the past three years.
– In 2023, there were eleven recorded sales of baseball items exceeding $1 million, with eight involving cards or memorabilia of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, spread across five different auction houses.
– In contrast to 2022, where there were twelve seven-figure basketball card sales, 2023 saw none. Altan noted a disappearance in the demand for modern patch cards at high price points, which persisted throughout the year.
– The top-selling cards of currently active basketball players on eBay in the last four months of 2023 included LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
– The market for LeBron James and Steph Curry cards across all platforms dipped by over 40% last year, while Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant cards remained relatively stable.
– Notably, Jordan cards from the late 1990s accounted for five of the top ten Jordan card sales in the fourth quarter, including three of the top five.
While the market for game-worn and game-used memorabilia showed only modest growth compared to the previous year, the top 25 and top 50 sales in this category in 2023 more than doubled the levels achieved in 2021.
Altan Insights’ comprehensive report provides a detailed overview of the changing dynamics in the sports collectible market. It highlights the fluctuations in different segments and sheds light on the evolving interests of collectors and investors in this domain. As the market continues to evolve, these insights provide valuable information for those involved in the sports collectible industry.
