Sportscard prices have spiked in recent years for a few reasons:
- Buying sports card packs also ties into the rise of sports betting - buying a pack of cards and hoping you pull out a $50,000 Zion card is similar to the excitement of betting on games.
Kids who flipped sneakers are getting into the game. The big difference with sports cards is that people can get them in much higher volume than they can with sneakers - with sneakers you might only be able to get one pair online, but with sports cards, you can get as many as your budget allows.
Nostalgia is a huge driver. Men and women from the 80s who grew up with sports cards now have young kids and love seeing their kids get into the same hobbies they loved. You see toys like GI Joe “reboot” every 30 years or so for the same reason.
It all creates a perfect storm for cards to rise in value today.
The other more fascinating element, especially for you as you’re reading this article, is the concept of trading cards being the current generation’s “art.”
As attitudes and values shift, a lot of people are into displaying - say - a Michael Jordan rookie card in their house that they can show to their friends instead of a Jackson Pollock painting. It’s like how Justin Bieber showed off his insane Pokemon card collection hanging on his wall.
Similarly, the scarcity and supply-and-demand elements of certain sports cards makes them an interesting long term investment that could increase in value - similar to something like fine art.
Here’s how closely fine art has tracked the stock market over time:
