Hello, my name is Kevin. And I love sports cards!
Have ever since I was a kid. And with my son getting really into sports cards (especially basketball cards) over the last 5 years or so, it has re-ignited my passion for the hobby. And, as an adult with a solid … reasonable … OK, good … income, I sought out several cards that I either loved having when I was a kid or were too expensive for me to get as a kid.
So, I bought a Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck rookie card, 1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky rookie card, box of 1989 Score Football, boxes of 1990 Leaf baseball (Series 1 and 2), etc.
But there was that one card …
The 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card. One of the holy grails of modern card collecting. I had to have it; became obsessed with getting one … well, maybe not obsessed since I still set a spending cap. Eventually, I picked up a BGS-graded 4.5 Jordan … I know, not the best grade in the world, but c’mon – I’m still thrifty and that card is expensive as hell!
But I had my card to keep forever and that was good enough for me … or so I thought.
Flash forward to 11 months ago. The pandemic hits and everything changing.
Little did I (or anyone) know the pandemic would have an ancillary effect of exploding the card market. Now, why did this happen? Well, there are a variety of theories – from people being stuck at home, going through their old collections and feeling nostalgic to folks being weary of the stock market in an unpredictable world and looking for a new avenue to invest.
There is, however, also The Last Dance effect.
Originally set for June, the desire for content with most folks stuck at home increased seemingly exponentially and ESPN moved the debut of their Bulls/Jordan miniseries up to April. Anticipation built and so did Jordan hysteria. My Jordan card jumped to $1,000, then $1,500 in value. I was getting married in June and wondered if I should sell. Maybe if I could double my money and get $1,200? Another week passed and it looked like I could get $1,500 then $1,800 and maybe even $2,000.
Alright, I had to sell.
I loved my Jordan rookie, but that was just too much potential money (even with the bogusly-high eBay fees) for me to pass up.
So, I sold.
I cleared about $2,400 – four times what I spent, so I thought it was a victory. And maybe it still was … BUT … the card market has not cooled down at all. If anything, it has intensified. Sales of Jordan rookies have gone crazy. So much so that Beckett currently has the Raw (ungraded) Jordan rookie booking for $12,000. Now, my graded one would probably only pull $5,000-6,000, but that’s obviously a lot more than I actually sold it for.
Which bring me to Kobe Bryant.
There have been some shorter pieces on Kobe (especially since the 1-year anniversary of his death just passed). However, there are rumors a full-fledged Last Dance-style Kobe documentary is in the works.
Which brings me to my current query.
While digging through my collection with the kiddo, I found seven Kobe rookies (three variations of Fleer Metal, Skybox Premium, Stadium Club, Collector’s Choice and Hoops). They have gone up in value 300-700 percent on Beckett and sale prices on eBay. So, what to do, what to do? I did, in fact, get married in June and we’re trying to have a baby (obviously not a cheap endeavor either) – so do I cash out on the Kobe market?
OR …
Do I wait a little longer like I probably should have with Jordan? Do I see if the full-blown Kobe doc comes to fruition, the market explodes and then back up the money truck?
Don’t get me wrong, I realize it is a great problem to have - just want to make the right decision. Any help or advice is appreciated … maybe I’ll even cut you in on the profits!