Title: Sports Collectible Market Sees Decline in 2023, According to Altan Insights Report
Subtitle: Altan Insights report reveals a downturn in sales across various sports collectible segments
Meta Description: The sports collectible market experienced a decline in 2023, with ultra-modern and modern cards seeing the largest drop in sales, according to a report by Altan Insights.
In the world of sports collectibles, 2023 proved to be a challenging year as the market experienced a notable downturn. Altan Insights, a company specializing in monitoring sales across various collectible markets, recently released a report shedding light on this decline. Analyzing data from Card Ladder, Altan Insights identified a downward trend that began approximately 18 months ago and continued throughout 2023.
The report highlighted significant decreases in sales for ultra-modern cards, which are those issued from 2009 to the present. These cards saw a staggering 34.8% drop in sales compared to the previous year. Modern cards, defined as those from 1984 to 2008, also experienced a decline, with sales decreasing by 30.8%. While vintage cards also saw a decline in overall sales, they fared relatively better than their modern and ultra-modern counterparts.
Notably, the fourth quarter of 2023 saw vintage and pre-war cards outperforming modern and ultra-modern cards. This performance helped vintage cards widen their advantage in the collectible market for the year, as stated in the report compiled by Altan Insights.
Digging deeper into the market segments, the report highlighted substantial price declines in football, soccer, racing, and basketball cards. Football cards, particularly high-end cards featuring quarterbacks, both young and veteran, failed to recover their value. The situation was further exacerbated by injuries to popular quarterbacks in the latter half of the season.
Altan Insights also pointed out a significant drop in the top 50 sales at most auction houses from 2022 to 2023. However, interestingly, the decline was less pronounced in the next tier of sales, suggesting a slightly stronger demand in the mid-range market segment.
Some key findings from Altan Insights’ comprehensive report on the fourth quarter and the entire year of 2023 include a 40% year-over-year and 27% quarter-over-quarter drop in the number of six-figure auction sales during Q4, representing the lowest total in the past three years. In terms of baseball items, there were eleven sales exceeding $1 million in 2023, with eight of them involving cards or memorabilia of legends such as Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle across five different auction houses.
The report also noted a stark contrast in the basketball card market compared to 2022. In the previous year, there were twelve seven-figure sales for basketball cards, but in 2023, there were none. Altan Insights observed a disappearance in the demand for modern patch cards at high price points, which did not recover throughout the year.
Examining the top-selling cards of currently active basketball players on eBay during the final four months of 2023, the report highlighted names like LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Interestingly, the market for LeBron James and Steph Curry cards across all platforms experienced a decline of over 40% last year, while Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant cards remained relatively stable.
Notably, Jordan cards from the late 1990s accounted for five of the top ten Jordan card sales in the fourth quarter, including three in the top five. This indicates continued interest and demand for iconic basketball figures like Michael Jordan.
While the market for game-worn and game-used memorabilia showed only modest growth from the previous year, the top 25 and top 50 sales in this category in 2023 more than doubled the levels achieved in 2021. This suggests sustained interest in acquiring authentic pieces of sporting history.
Overall, the comprehensive report by Altan Insights provides a comprehensive picture of the shifting dynamics in the sports collectible market. It highlights the fluctuations in different segments and showcases the evolving interests of collectors and investors in this exciting domain.
