Notes: 1971 Show Pix; PWCC at NSCC=7,800 Items; New Grading Company; MJ Jersey Trio Brings Big $
PWCC says it took in 7,800 items worth nearly $100 million during last week’s National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago.
The company used a team of security professionals and “several bulletproof armored vans” to transport the items, including numerous high value trading cards, to its vault in Oregon.
Some will go up for auction; others will stay in the secured location at the behest of the owners, who can decide what to do with them at a later date.
During the show, long-time dealer John Rumirez had some photos of what was considered a “large” sports card show 50 years ago.
Taken in the Detroit area, the black and white images showed several tables featuring rubber-banded 1971 and earlier Topps cards, plenty of shoeboxes and a small group of like-minded hobbyists milling about.
Shows were rare in the early 1970s (here’s one from 1971) but gatherings did occur on a more regular basis as the decade went on, with collecting clubs popping up in several major cities, leading to larger shows in hotels, such as this one in New York, and other locations.
Long-time collector Matt Schwartz has launched FCG Grading. The Texas based company opened for business July 23, hoping to win a share of the booming market for authentication and grading of cards.
Schwartz says he’s focused on using the proper tools to provide consistency in grading and has seen a steady influx of orders.
“We put a lot of time and care into selecting the right equipment, testing different lighting, and putting things together the right way,” he told SC Daily. “We put together a video inviting the hobby in to not only see the equipment we are using but also how the cards are graded. Transparency was goal number one for me.”
Based on his own experience, Schwartz says he “basically reverse engineered everything from a collectors’ standpoint of how I would want my own cards graded in a best case scenario.”
He says graders at the company rotate desks every hour. “That way a fresh set of eyes is on the larger orders.”
A set of three Upper Deck Nike Pro-Cut signed Michael Jordan jerseys sold Monday night through Auction of Champions for over $27,000.
Part of a “Bulls Dynasty” set, all three jerseys were numbered 92/123 that were issued.
Originally sold separately, complete sets of the home, away and alternate jerseys are hard to find. All three feature embroidered Jordan/Bulls stats at the bottom along with MJ’s signature from Upper Deck Authenticated.
A newly released list of the most publicized athletes in the world over a 12-month period from July of last year through June of this year is a fairly good reflection of the sports card market, albeit with a Euro twist.
According to GolfSupport.com, using data from Buzzsumo, Lionel Messi was featured in over 490,000 articles around the world during that time frame. LeBron James was second at 216,268. Nemar Jr was third at 171,406, Cristiano Ronaldo was fourth, Tom Brady fifth, Connor McGregor seventh and Kevin Durant ranked ninth.
