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- A Bananas Auction and a Stegosaurus Heads to IPO
Collectors, this is our 50th Above the Mantel, and I, for one, find that hard to believe. We’ve come a long way since our first email, where we hit up an estate sale for a passionate collector/possible hoarder in our neighborhood. Since then you’ve let us infiltrate your inbox every week, bringing collectibles news that has ranged from once-in-a-lifetime finds to hard-to-believe heists. To be blunt, we’re grateful for your continued support, and we’re excited to keep scouring the internet to bring you the most interesting collectibles stories out there, because trust us, there are plenty (case in point, a banana duct taped to a wall sold for $6.2M at Sothebys last night).
If you love reading Above the Mantel as much as we love writing it, help us grow by sharing the newsletter with your friends. And stay tuned for some news from us in early December- we’re barreling towards one of the most exciting product announcements in our short history, and we wouldn’t want you to miss it.
OK! Let’s get into it.
10-Year Old Dodgers Fan Cashing In
You might recall 10-year-old Zach Ruderman emerging from Dodger Stadium with the first-ever World Series walk-off grand slam ball, after Freddie Freeman launched one ‘deep to right field’ in the bottom of the 10th in Game 1. The pint-sized Dodger superfan had been tricked by his parents before the game, being led to believe he was getting taken out of school to go to the dentist. Now, with the ball heading to SCP Auctions with an estimated sale price north of $1M, when Zach’s parents actually get him to the dentist next, he could order himself a Lamine Yamal-esque blinged out grill.
A Chance to Own a Piece of a Stegosaurus
Is it surprising to anybody else that we’re still finding well-preserved bones of dinosaurs ~65M years after they roamed the earth? And today’s finds are ending up in private collections vs. museums; in fact, last year a stegosaurus skeleton named ‘Apex’ broke the record for the most expensive ever sold, when it netted $44.6M at auction. Now collectors will have another shot to own a stego skeleton, as our friends at Rally are gearing up to IPO a specimen still being unearthed by paleontologists in Wyoming. 200,000 shares will be issued with a market cap of $13.75M- and before you ask, ownership doesn’t come with unfettered access to the skeleton, unfortunately.
via ghostwrite
Women’s Basketball Getting Its Collectibles Due
Earlier this week, USC’s JuJu Watkins became the first active NCAA basketball player to get their own FunkoPop (complete with a matching top-bun hairdo), and yesterday collectible toy company, ghostwrite, announced their first drop with the WNBA. The ‘blind box’ auction, limited to 200 cases, features mini ‘ghosts’ of WNBA superstars like Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu and A’ja Wilson, along with legends like Diana Taurasi, Dawn Staley and Lisa Leslie. Bidding will start at $400 when it goes live in December.
Soccer Kit Collecting Exploding in the States
Finally, last week I checked out the new Classic Football Shirts here in LA, not long after placing my first order from their UK Flagship (a 1991 Crystal Palace training shirt, packed and shipped to me by CFS investor, Rob McElhenney). The LA outpost is CFS’ second in the US after launching in NY earlier this year, and it’s only blocks away from Saturday’s Football, a rival shop also boasting an NYC location. Kit collecting is starting to explode in the States, and we found this ESPN.com article detailing how 50 historic teams developed their look to be really interesting (even though Palace didn’t make their list).