The market for cards now compared to a year ago is…well, that depends on what kind of cards you’re talking about.
Overall, vintage is up; modern cards are down.
According to the Card Ladder indexes, which track thousands of sales of cards across different sports and eras, “modern cards” (those issued between 1984 and 2008) are down nearly 20.8 percent compared to the same time last year. Ultra-modern (those from 2008 and later) are down 4.37 percent.
Vintage cards (those issued between 1946 and 1983) are up 13.64 percent while pre-War vintage (those cards issued from 1945 and earlier) are up 14.65 percent.
Mickey Mantle cards are up 21.50 percent from September 2021 to this month. Nolan Ryan is up 51.46 percent. Roberto Clemente is down 4.74 percent.
The biggest fallers in the last year have included Mike Trout (down 40.87 percent); Kobe Bryant (down 36.26 percent) and Tom Brady (down 22.2 percent).
Not all modern or ultra-modern is down, of course. Aaron Judge is up 110 percent. Josh Allen cards have climbed nearly 142 percent. Shohei Ohtani cards are up 39.37 percent.
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Beckett is pushing deeper into using technology to grade cards. The company has completed an acquisition of Due Dilly, a Houston, TX-based technology startup that uses computer vision to provide instant quality assessments and real-time pricing for collectibles.
“The Due Dilly acquisition helps Beckett achieve its strategic vision: Using technology to create the best products and services for collectors,” said Kunal Chopra, CEO of Beckett Collectibles. “Computer vision is the future, and we’re going to integrate Due Dilly’s technology and their team to make sure we can provide the fastest and most efficient grading and authentication in the industry.”
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There’s a “card bar” inside the new 5,000-square-foot Baseball Card Exchange store in Schererville, IN.
The custom made space is lined with signed or game used bats underneath while the top of the bar is an array of baseball cards which showcase the evolution of cards from the early T206s to the present day.
The shop has six full showcases devoted to vintage singles and partial sets as well as two showcases of older wax packs, a wall of unopened boxes from the 1970s and up, an area with singles priced at $10 or less and a selection of autographed memorabilia.
Opened earlier this month, the new shop replaces their former retail store that was located in the same building as their warehouses, which continue to be used for online sales and authentication.
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