Upper Deck says it has sold the shoes LeBron James wore in his first game back in Cleveland as a member of the Miami Heat. The game took place nearly a year ago and 
Upper Deck had James sign them. They were offered as part of Upper Deck Authenticated’s Suite One-of-One program where super high-end sports collectibles are available for purchase. Upper Deck says the shoes were sold to a private collector. The asking price had been $50,000. No word on whether that’s what they actually sold for.
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One of the hobby’s fastest growing companies has to be CheckOutMyCards.com. We wrote about them not long after they started, then followed up a couple of years ago. They were in a 2,000 square-foot warehouse in early 2008. Two years later, they moved to a 6,000 square-foot facility. Now, according to a blog post on their website, they’ve signed a lease for a 27,000 square-foot facility.
Unique business models that satisfy a need will work–even in an industry that so many say is “struggling” or even “dying”.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo News posted a business article on comic book and sports card shops vs. the internet.
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The collection of 14,000+ autographed baseball cards being offered by Collect Auctions (a complete run of signed sets from 1974-90), sold for $87,750 late last week. The very cool Lou Gehrig signed note to an autograph seeking fan brought $9787 and a signed Christy Mathewson letter went for $9423.
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Topps, which brought its Attax card game franchise to India earlier this year with pro cricket players featured, apparently has a smash hit on its hands. The company now has a WWE card franchise going over there and plans more cricket-related launches.
