Welcome to my Sports Illustrated/TIME magazine blog – Your collector’s guide to the latest hobby updates and insight into what’s trending now.

Sports Illustrated Blog #19 – Sports Illustrated’s First Graded Price Guide.

Today is a big day in SI collecting.   With this blog, I am introducing the first CGC SI graded price guide.   Every collectable had to start somewhere, from cards, to comics, to raw magazines and now to graded magazines.  The first caveat I will make is yes, I know, I’m a seller of graded magazines which is a conflict.  My answer to that is who better than me.  I have firsthand knowledge of the selling points of most of the higher valued items in the list.  I know where most of the 9.8’s, 9.6’s, and 9.4’s are because, for the most part, I bought the raw magazine, had them graded and sold them personally.  And finally, in an effort to back up what I print, I am definitely interested in listening to any (wholesale) offer of the retail selling price listed in my guide.

Let’s also treat this list as a guide, a beginning – something to build on.  In my pursuit of High Grade Newsstand SI’s, I often sense the indecision and sometimes fear that a seller experiences when they have no guide by which to base their selling price.  With this guide, the seller will at least be informed as to what I have experienced.  He/She will have a starting point on which to base negotiations.  Valuing graded collectables is much easier than non-graded simply because the grade itself (assigned by a recognized grader – CGC) is a form of value.  In the same way that we recognize a dollar bill to have a value, so do we recognize 9.8, 9.6, or 9.4.

First glance at some of the guide values will surprise some readers so I sent a preliminary version of this guide to several of my SI buyer contacts to gain a perspective from their angle.  Without exception, each contact expressed a form of excitement regarding where the hobby was headed, recent auction results and universal support for the guide itself and the content.

Evolving guide prices will be always be driven by cover popularity and the difficulty in finding a high grade newsstand SI.  I hope this effort will result in more magazines being graded so the census numbers grow and in turn become more statically valid.  Small and large collectors and investors will experience firsthand the probability of finding vintage (pre-1980) magazines above the grade of CGC 7.0 not to mention CGC 9.0!  And we all will begin to better understand the price points on the highest of CGC graded issues.

I predict that some SI issues will never achieve a 9.8 while others will top the charts in multiple cases.  I am the largest purchaser of CGC graded SI’s and have never received a 9.9 or 10.0 which gives you some idea of your chances for one of these grades.  It seems these grades have been reserved only for comics.

Note that I have included a value designation of “Open” in a number of places.  I have chosen to use this designation because no magazine of this grade has ever been transacted and the price will be determined at the first auction.  Also, top grade values are tougher to predict because when multiple bidders are vying for the highest grade item with a POP 1, no one knows the summit.

So here you have it.  Feel free to write me with any questions or opinions.  Any experiences you have had are openly welcomed as well.

Ranking – Top 100 Hardest to Find Sports Illustrated Issues
Rank	Year	Newsstand Cover	CGC Grade 9.8	CGC Grade 9.6	CGC Grade 9.4	CGC Grade 9.2	CGC Grade 9.0	CGC Grade 8.0	CGC Grade 7.0
1	1961	Roger Maris	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000
2	1956	Mickey Mantle (all pages)	Open	$25,000	$10,000	$7,500	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000
3	1959	Johnny Unitas	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$3,000	$1,500
4	1967	Roberto Clemente	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000
5	1969	Reggie Jackson	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,000	$1,000
6	1961	Fran Tarkenton	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000	$500
7	1968	Pete Rose	Open	Open	$5,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000	$500
8	1969	Hank Aaron	Open	Open	Open	Open	$10,000	$2,000	$1,000
9	1963	Cassuis Clay	Open	$25,000	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000
10	1960	Jim Brown	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$3,000	$1,500
11	1962	Mickey Mantle	Open	Open	Open	Open	$2,500	$1,000	$500
12	1961	Bart Starr	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,000	$1,000
13	1955	Ted Williams	$15,000	$7,500	$5,000	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000	$500
14	1964	Swimsuit	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$2,000	$1,000	$500
15	1965	Joe Namath	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000
16	1965	Swimsuits (1965-1969)	Open	Open	$10,000	$5,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000
17	1974	Hank Aaron 715	$10,000	$4,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000	$500	$250
18	1970	Swimsuit	Open	$10,000	$5,000	$4,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000
19	1960	Jack Nicklaus	Open	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000
20	1971	Swimsuits (1970-1979)	Open	$5,000	$4,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000	$500
21	2002	Tom Brady The Natural	$3,000	$1,000	$400	$250	$100	Common	Common
22	1954	Issue #2	Open	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000	$500
23	1956	Warren Spahn	Open	Open	Open	Open	$1,000	$500	$250
24	1981	Wayne Gretzky	$25,000	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250
25	1977	Larry Bird	Open	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250
26	1970	Steve Prefontaine	Open	Open	Open	$2,000	$1,000	$750	$500
27	1955	Yogi Berra	Open	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000	$750	$500	$250
28	1980	Olympic Hockey	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000	$500	$250
29	2002	Tom Brady Amazing	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250	$100	Common	Common
30	1955	Al Rosen	Open	Open	$3,000	$1,500	$1,000	$500	$250
31	1956	AllStar Game	Open	Open	Open	$3,000	$1,000	$500	$250
32	1955	Willie Mays	$25,000	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250
33	1983	Michael Jordan	Open	$25,000	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500
34	1975	Ali Frazier	Open	$5,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000	$500	$250
35	1974	Ali Foreman	Open	$5,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000	$500	$250
36	1971	Ali Frazier	Open	$5,000	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000	$500	$250
37	1955	Hogan	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,500	$1,000	$500	$250
38	1956	Mantle WS	Open	Open	Open	Open	$2,500	$1,000	$500
39	1996	Derek Jeter	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250	Common	Common	Common
40	1962	Tarkenton	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250
41	1967	Yaz	Open	Open	Open	Open	$2,500	$1,000	$500
42	1957	Mantle	Open	Open	Open	Open	$1,000	$500	$250
43	1965	swimsuit	Open	Open	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500
44	1967	Orr	Open	Open	Open	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500
45	1965	Oliva	Open	Open	Open	Open	$1,500	$1,000	$500
46	1962	Gifford	Open	Open	Open	$1,500	$1,000	$500	$250
47	1973	Secretariat	$25,000	$10,000	$5,000	$2,500	$1,000	$500	$250
48	1970	Butkus	Open	Open	Open	Open	$1,000	$500	$250
49	1959	Mays	Open	Open	Open	Open	$1,000	$500	$250
50	1962	Mays	Open	Open	Open	Open	$1,000	$500	$250
51	1976	Brett	Open	Open	Open	$2,000	$1,000	$500	$250
52	1976	Schmidt	Open	Open	Open	$2,000	$1,000	$500	$250

I hope you are enjoying the reads on the history of TIME and SI magazines as well as an insight into relevant magazine collecting.

Great collecting to you and best fortunes with Sports Illustrated/TIME!