The sports collectible market experienced a significant decline in 2023, as reported by Altan Insights, a company that closely monitors sales across various collectible markets. Utilizing data from Card Ladder, Altan Insights identified a downward trend that commenced approximately 18 months ago, persisting throughout the year of 2023.
According to their analysis, sales for ultra-modern cards, those issued from 2009 to the present day, plummeted by 34.8% compared to the previous year. Modern cards, which encompass those released from 1984 to 2008, also saw a decrease in sales, dropping by 30.8%. While vintage cards also experienced a decline in overall sales, they fared relatively better than their modern and ultra-modern counterparts.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, vintage and pre-war cards outperformed modern and ultra-modern ones, accentuating their advantage in the collectible market for the entire year, as stated in Altan’s report.
Specifically, the segments of football, soccer, racing, and basketball cards witnessed the most significant price declines. Altan’s report pointed out that football, particularly high-end cards featuring quarterbacks, both young and veteran, failed to recover their value. The injuries sustained by popular quarterbacks during the latter half of the season further exacerbated the situation.
The report by Altan Insights also highlighted a noticeable decline 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 slightly stronger demand in the mid-range market segment.
Notable findings from Altan’s comprehensive 41-page report on the fourth quarter and the year 2023 include:
1. A 40% year-over-year and 27% quarter-over-quarter drop in the number of six-figure auction sales in the fourth quarter. This marks the lowest total in the past three years.
2. In 2023, there were eleven recorded sales of baseball items exceeding $1 million, with eight of them involving cards or memorabilia of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle. These sales were spread across five different auction houses.
3. A stark contrast to 2022, where there were twelve seven-figure basketball card sales. However, in 2023, there were none. Altan Insights noted a disappearance in the demand for modern patch cards at high price points that persisted throughout the year.
4. The list of top-selling cards of currently active basketball players on eBay in 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 dipped by over 40% last year, while Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant cards remained relatively stable.
An intriguing observation was 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.
Although 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 glimpse into the shifting dynamics of 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.