The tennis GOAT debate is strange because sport and market do not seem to answer it in the same way. If you look only at titles, Novak Djokovic has the strongest case. He broke the numbers, lasted longer than almost anyone expected, kept chasing records while Federer and Nadal had already become memory, and turned … Read more
Carl Lewis should be a much bigger name in memorabilia than he is. Nine Olympic gold medals, Olympic dominance across sprint and long jump, one of the defining athletes of the 1980s and early 1990s, and still you can find signed items from him at prices that feel almost absurdly low for a figure of … Read more
There is a question that comes up surprisingly often among collectors, and the answers are almost always emotional rather than rational. Imagine finally finding the jersey you have been searching for over months or even years. The size is right, the player is right, the price is acceptable. There is only one catch: someone has … Read more
Every collector likes to believe that buying sports memorabilia is different from speculation. We tell ourselves that we are buying history, emotion, game-used objects and pieces of sporting greatness. That is certainly part of the story. But over the last few years another narrative has become much louder. Jerseys are called assets. Trading cards are … Read more
Over the past few weeks I became curious about digital card breaking platforms. Courtyard.io is probably the best-known example at the moment, although there are other providers such as Arena Club and Vault-style marketplaces that follow similar ideas. The concept is simple enough. You buy a digital pack containing sports cards, whether baseball, basketball, football … Read more
Joe Montana is one of those athletes whose importance is actually larger than his memorabilia market. Four Super Bowls, four Super Bowl MVP awards, the San Francisco 49ers dynasty and one of the most important quarterbacks in NFL history should probably produce a market that feels completely untouchable. The prices are certainly strong, but they … Read more
I have opened a lot of packs, but I had never pulled a redemption card before. That changed with a Topps Series 2 box, and honestly, I still do not really know where to put the feeling. It was a redemption for a Munetaka Murakami 1991 Topps Baseball Autograph Gold Parallel, card 91B2-MUR from Series … Read more
David Beckham is one of the few athletes where I am not entirely sure whether collectors are buying the football career, the celebrity, or both at the same time. Of course Beckham was a great footballer. Manchester United, Real Madrid, England, free kicks, Champions League, the No. 7 shirt, the red card against Argentina in … Read more
My Bernie Williams card made me think about a question collectors do not always separate cleanly: when does an autograph become an inscription? You can see the card above. Under the signature there is a small extra mark, almost like a heart or personal symbol. At first glance it looks different from a standard autograph, … Read more
I went through Catawiki again after writing about Etsy, and the difference is pretty obvious. Etsy gives me this strange feeling that almost anything can be uploaded if the photo is clean enough. A framed Jordan, some COA nobody knows, “authentic” in the title, decent seller page, done. Catawiki feels different, but not because I … Read more