The sports collectible market took a hit in 2023, according to a report by Altan Insights, a company that monitors sales across various collectible markets. The report, based on data from Card Ladder, revealed a downward trend that began approximately 18 months ago and continued throughout the year.
The analysis conducted by Altan Insights indicated that sales for ultra-modern cards, those issued from 2009 to the present, plummeted by 34.8% compared to the previous year. Modern cards, spanning the years 1984 to 2008, also saw a significant decrease in sales, dropping by 30.8%. While vintage cards also experienced a decline in overall sales, they fared comparatively better than their modern and ultra-modern counterparts.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, vintage and pre-war cards outperformed modern and ultra-modern cards, further solidifying their advantage in the collectible market for the year, as highlighted in Altan’s report.
The report specifically pointed out that football, soccer, racing, and basketball cards witnessed the most substantial price declines. In the world of football, cards of high-profile 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.
Altan Insights also highlighted 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, suggesting a slightly stronger demand in the mid-range market segment.
The key findings from the comprehensive 41-page report on the fourth quarter and the year 2023 as a whole include 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 iconic players Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, spread across five different auction houses.
The report also highlighted a stark contrast between 2022 and 2023 in the basketball card market. While there were twelve seven-figure sales of basketball cards in 2022, no such sales were recorded in 2023. Altan Insights noted a disappearance in the demand for modern patch cards at high price points, which did not return throughout the year.
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. However, 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 from the previous year, the top 25 and top 50 sales in this category in 2023 were more than double the levels achieved in 2021.
The comprehensive report by Altan Insights provides a detailed analysis 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 domain.