Childhood sports cards, now worth millions?

In the past two years, if you were to ask what is popular in the trendy toy circle, you would undoubtedly come across “sports cards.”

As a childhood memory for the post-80s and post-90s generations, sports cards are becoming increasingly popular both domestically and internationally. In the collectibles market, they have even set new value records that leave people in awe. Celebrities such as Edison Chen and LeBron James have also shared their sports card collections on their social media platforms.

Not long ago, Poly even held a special sports card event in Beijing for all collectors to trade.

While the trading cards of sports stars are popular, they have also been questioned like other trendy items such as sneakers and figurines: What kind of magic does a card have that makes so many big shots want to get involved?

Edison Chen’s sports card unboxing, sponsored by Panini.

With the rise of the sports card market, what we once thought was just a way for boys to express their love for sports stars now has a soaring market price, forcing people to re-examine this category of collection.

1986-87 Fleer Series Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan) Rookie Star Card, BGS Graded 8.5,保利 Auction Item

01 “High Price” star card

From the perspective of total transaction volume, the market for sports cards is continuously expanding. Data from the e-commerce platform eBay shows that the transaction volume of football cards and basketball cards on the platform increased by 1586% and 373% respectively last year, making sports cards the fastest growing category in terms of sales for the company.

A card with market demand may see its price increase by tenfold within a few months.

Lot 10006 is a 2003-04 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection series Yao Ming signed player card, limited to 11 copies, with a PSA ink grade of 10, and was sold for 43,800 RMB.

It is understood that in September 2016, a limited edition rookie logo man signature card of James was sold for $318,500 on the eBay website, which was considered a sky-high price at that time.

In July 2020, James’s rookie card set a transaction price of $1.8 million, and by 2021, James’s rookie card was auctioned for a high price of $5.2 million, tying the highest auction price record for sports star cards held by Mickey Mantle. At the end of February 2021, the NBA rookie card signed by Kacic, a player of the Dallas Mavericks, was sold for $4.6 million.

James Rookie Card

Not long ago, the baseball card of Mickey Mantle, known as the father of baseball, was auctioned off for a staggering $10.5 million, once again setting a new record for the highest price of a sports card.

The “Father of Modern Baseball Cards” Mickey Torman’s star cards

Trading cards originated in the United States at the end of the 19th century, initially it was a thin card printed with sports stars, appearing in the market as an accessory to cigarettes and tea.

In 1952, the baseball trading cards issued by the American Topps company are widely considered the starting point of modern trading cards, the format of printing the player’s portrait on the front and adding text introduction and player data statistics on the back has been used up to now.

An early baseball card issued in 1882 for promoting the clothing brand Vogel Brothers Clothing.

The T206 Honus Wagner, issued between 1909 and 1911, is known as the “Mona Lisa of baseball cards.”

02 From “Gifts” to “Collections”

In the early days, sports cards were mainly distributed as add-ons, often included as gifts in products such as chewing gum and cigarettes. In the late last century in China, there was a popular snack among students called “Little Tiger Team” and “Little Raccoon” instant noodles. Each pack of these noodles came with a sports card or a card featuring characters from the classic Chinese novel “Water Margin” as a bonus.

The Little Tiger Team’s instant noodles from last century.

However, the boys’ obsession with the small cards far exceeded the main product, and many people started to buy related products just to obtain the player cards.

This special market phenomenon was discovered by merchants, and the new category of collectibles, the player card, was born. It has become an independent product and collectible, separate from the original product.

The Little Tiger Team’s instant noodle cards featuring 1998 World Cup soccer stars, image source: screenshot from Bilibili.

Millennials have long been passionate about sports collections. Among these, the long history of sports cards, widely recognized value, strong liquidity, and their portability and ease of display have made them stand out among many sports collectibles. They have developed and spread rapidly on a global scale, with many celebrities from all walks of life joining the ranks of sports card collectors and investors.

North American rapper Drake spent $200,000 on 14 sports card blind boxes.

The current star cards on the market are mostly issued in the form of blind boxes, continuing the collectors’ childhood habit of card drawing. This inevitably reminds people of the blind box economy that has become popular in recent years. Shortly after trendy toy stores sprang up everywhere, card shops also opened one after another in first-tier cities.

✦ Display of star cards in a store in Beijing

Nowadays, the popularity of sports cards has also driven a series of “card economies” in reverse. The Z generation is particularly keen on consuming everything that is young and novel, which makes it possible for beautiful and unique products to become popular, form their own unique industries, and become popular.