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- ‘(Collecting) Keeps Me Alive’
Hey Collectors! There are a lot more of you here since we launched the mobile app last week. We hope you’re digging the experience, which we’re trying to improve every day (an app update improving notifications, and adding new features like the ability to zoom, is going to drop before the end of the week). We’d love to hear your feedback on your experience with the app so far… the good, the bad, your big ideas… so hop on over to my post on Mantel and let me know!
via AP
No, the Dodgers Didn’t Sell the Judge Ball
Yankees fans might still be a bit triggered by Game 5 of the World Series, because last week, when MLB held an end-of-year auction, folks were up in arms about one particular item: the ball Aaron Judge dropped in the fifth inning, igniting the Dodgers series-winning comeback. Some were so mad, they mistakenly believed it was the Dodgers selling the ball, not MLB. “I think the Dodgers showed who they are. They’re a bunch of classless pigs,” said WFAN radio host, Evan Roberts. Now we’re left wondering, was the ball, which ultimately sold for $43,510, bought by a celebrating Dodger fan, or by a Yankee fan eager to throw it in the Hudson?
But One Dodger Fan’s Nest Egg is Secured
When 10-year-old Zachary Ruderman came up with Freddie Freeman’s World Series grand slam ball that won Game 1, we’re guessing his net-worth looked like most of ours did at that age… a handful of loose change and a few wadded up George Washingtons. Now, after the ball sold for $1.56M at SCP Auctions last week, he’s going to need a bigger piggy bank. The massive sale makes the ball the 3rd most valuable baseball ever sold.
Sports Collectibles Market Primed to Explode
Research firm Market Decipher dropped an encouraging report this week about the growth prospects for the global sports memorabilia and card markets, predicting continued momentum for the categories. The report, which can be read in full here, forecasts a 22% annual growth rate over the next decade, with the market growing from today’s $33.6B number to more than $271B in 2034. One major factor? Growing participation in live shopping and card breaking platforms like Fanatics Live, WhatNot, eBay and Loupe.
While Fine Art Market Struggles
Despite the rosy outlook for memorabilia and trading cards, 2024 saw softness in some corners of collecting, including fine art. Last week, auction house Sotheby’s laid off roughly 100 employees from their offices in New York. A major factor? A disappointing November, where sales for fine art brought in $533M, less than half of what Sotheby’s sold during the same window last year.
via NYT
‘(Collecting) Keeps Me Alive.’
If you have 15 minutes, give this New York Times profile of cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder a read. Despite being worth $15B, the emeritus chairman of the Estée Lauder Companies is, at his core, a lot like us- a passionate collector. Fair, Lauder’s resources put him in a slightly different collecting stratosphere than most (hell, he promised to donate The Met more than $1B in art, including pieces by Picasso and Lichtenstein), but his approach is familiar to many of us. “Collecting is a journey,’’ he said, “one that is best navigated by patience and a good eye.’’
By the way! We’re going live at 7pm ET on WhatNot TONIGHT with our good friend Buster, as we have some fun and try something new in the breaking space. Bookmark the stream and toss it in your calendar, so you don’t miss out on an entertaining time.