Sports Illustrated Blog # 148 on Our Way to 200 – How Far We’ve Come
Welcome to my Sports Illustrated/TIME magazine blog – Your collector’s guide to the latest hobby updates and insight into what’s trending now. As I read Khyber Osher’s recent graded magazine auction lead-ins, it took me back a bit. Five and six figure auctions have become common-place. I can’t help but think back 10 short years ago when I began blogging about the investment potential in Sports Illustrated graded magazines. To think there was value in old magazines was a crazy, pie-in-the-sky idea unless you knew that two universes were about to collide – the greatest sports magazine ever to grace the face of the earth and the pent-up desire of millions of SI readers to somehow capture the brilliance that had been penetrating their sole for 50 years. Although I was the first to develop the idea that SI might have a vintage value, I was not the first to see the potential in graded mags. That distinction goes to Mark Humphries, The Pit. He partnered with CGC to develop the first graded magazine. But any further public interest languished for years until Mark passed the torch to me to educate and develop the market that we saw as “the next big thing”. Preceding my relationship with Mark, my humble beginnings included selling my 60’s subscription stuff for $5-$10 each, selling label removed for something more depending on the cover, and collecting newsstand editions. During this period, I noticed that I could by newsstand issues for approximately the same price as subscription issues with only a few exceptions. From this point on, I never bought or sold anything except newsstand. Among my first graded mag was the 1963 Clay – CGC 9.6, still top pop. BTW, any guess what this magazine, the 1983 CGC 9.6 Jordan, and the CGC 9.6 1956 Mantle, and 1977 9.6 Bird magazines have in common? They are all among the first CGC mags ever to be graded. That’s a big deal because grading specs were much more liberal in those days and with the exception of the very, very few, these grades are not destined to be repeated. I think there will be a 9.8 Mantle someday but with today’s grading standards, I’m not sure about the Jordan, Bird, or Clay. This all raises an interesting question – I’ve personally seen the CGC 9.6 Clay (I also have pictures) and, in my opinion, it’s today grade would be CGC 6.0 or lower. How will the market react to the flip saying one thing and the actual magazine condition saying another? I believe the one thing we can count on going forward is that today’s grades are and will be more consistent and representative of the actual mag condition which makes finding that “diamond in the rough” considerably more challenging. I am humbled by the distance we have travelled, by the predictions which have come to pass, and the expansion of the hobby. With this statement, I’d like every one of my readers to know, this is not the end of the really good stuff but only the tip of the iceberg. There is much, much more growth to come. We’ve come thru the dark times, out of the wilderness, and it’s only the beginning. Stay with your efforts to find value in graded mags and as others drop out of the easy profit times, I promise you will be rewarded as the market continues to grow. My Ebay handle is “sportsillustrated9.8”, not to be confused with other similar tags. If you’re interested in one or more of my ebay auctions and you would like to purchase, email me at wylliejohn@yahoo.com to save on taxes, and shipping. Thanks for your loyal following. My readers always receive “first among equals” pricing/service. Many thanks for your continued support and patronage. On the web – Sportsillustrated98.com I hope you are enjoying the reads on the history of SI, SPORT, and BASEBALL magazines as well as an insight into relevant magazine collecting. Great collecting to you in our second century of blogs and best fortunes with Sports Illustrated/SPORT/BASEBALL magazines. For a complete review of previous blogs, please visit www.sportsillustrated98.com |