Ruthian Numbers for The King(s)

And here’s the payoff, Collectors.

By now, you’ve probably heard about Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” jersey, which became the most valuable sports collectible in history on Sunday with a sale of $24.1M.

But, per usual, Ruth’s colossal numbers buried the lede. The overall auction brought in a whopping $62M total for Heritage, spanning 2,500 global bidders, and setting multiple records.

One cliche is clear in the sports and collectibles worlds: records are meant to be broken, so let’s get into what could be the next one to fall.

“The Chosen One” Set To Smash Records

In February of 2002, LeBron James became a household name, with the high school senior’s photo appearing on every newsstand across the country, wearing his gold #23 Irish basketball jersey on the cover of Sports Illustrated (a uniform he played in the night of the photoshoot). Next month, Julien’s is bringing the jersey to the open market, with an estimated price tag of $1M-$2M – a potential all-time record for high school sports memorabilia. The jersey first sold in 2019 for $187,500, selling again two years later for a whopping $512,200.

The Athletic traced its 22-year path.

Topps Hoops Cards Stirring High-Stakes Bidding Wars

Yesterday, Topps Chrome Basketball made its return after a 15-year wait. Given their exclusive rights to Victor Wembanyama’s autographs, Wemby’s rookie cards are stealing the show. Live-streaming platform Loupe offered $1M to anyone who pulls the 1/1 Superfractor auto.

But NBA veterans still have their place in the spotlight, with the 1/1 Topps Now Team USA triple auto featuring LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant causing a bounty bonanza. The latest name to offer cash for the card? Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is offering $150,000 to whoever ends up with the coveted cardboard. Odds are, that won’t be enough to get a deal done, and cllct has the full scoop on the battle for the cherished triple auto.

A Hunk-a Big Selling Elvis Items

If King James items don’t get you excited, maybe collectibles from The King will. This weekend, Kruse GWS are auctioning off over 400 items from Hollywood history. Headlining, of course, are a number of items belonging to Elvis Presley – including his microphone from his Vegas residency, and a pair of unique gold rings estimated at $60,000.

Reuters has details on each of the King’s pieces.