The sports collectible market has faced a notable decline in 2023, according to a report by Altan Insights, a company specializing in monitoring sales across various collectible markets. Using data from Card Ladder, Altan Insights observed a downward trend that began approximately 18 months ago and continued throughout the year.
The analysis conducted by Altan Insights revealed a significant drop in sales for ultra-modern cards, which are cards issued from 2009 to the present. These cards experienced a staggering 34.8% decrease in sales compared to the previous year. Modern cards, defined as those from 1984 to 2008, also saw a decline in sales, dropping by 30.8%. However, vintage cards performed relatively better than their modern and ultra-modern counterparts, experiencing a decline in overall sales but with less severity.
The fourth quarter of 2023 witnessed vintage and pre-war cards outperforming modern and ultra-modern cards, further solidifying their advantage in the collectible market for the entire year, as highlighted in Altan’s report.
In terms of specific segments, football, soccer, racing, and basketball cards experienced the most significant price declines. Altan’s report pointed out that football, especially high-end cards of quarterbacks, both young and veteran, failed to regain their value. Additionally, injuries to popular quarterbacks in the latter half of the season worsened the situation.
The report also highlighted a substantial decrease 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, suggesting a slightly stronger demand in the mid-range market segment.
Key takeaways from Altan’s comprehensive 41-page report on the fourth quarter and the year 2023 as a whole include:
1. 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.
2. In 2023, there were eleven recorded sales of baseball items exceeding $1 million, with eight involving cards or memorabilia of legendary players like Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, spread across five different auction houses.
3. There was a stark contrast from 2022, where twelve seven-figure basketball card sales occurred, while in 2023, there were none. Altan noted a disappearance in the demand for modern patch cards at high price points, which did not recover throughout the year.
4. The list of top-selling cards of currently active basketball players on eBay during the last four months of 2023 featured LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
5. The market for LeBron James and Steph Curry cards across all platforms witnessed a decline of over 40% last year, whereas Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant cards remained relatively stable.
It is worth noting that 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 were more than double the levels achieved in 2021.
Altan Insights’ report provides a comprehensive overview of the shifting 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 exciting domain.