Welcome to my 12th in a series of Sports Illustrated informational reviews.
First, please let me thank all of you for your support and enthusiasm with regard to the current Sports Illustrated graded magazine Boom. Those of you that have read my blogs and have taken some of it to heart, I believe, are already more than satisfied with their collection value growth as well as their upward position in the market. My blogs are written in an effort to expose early market trends and reward dedicated SI collectors for their persistence and love of the magazine – the greatest sports writing and illustrated magazine ever published.
The reward is value equity. I have been interested in high grade SIs for several decades. Any time I could find a high grade, newsstand copy, I bought it. Approximately three years ago, the option of grading my collection became a reality with the advent of CGC expanding into the SI magazine arena. It was at that point I realized the only way I could prove my mag collection superior to all others (and establish a creditable value) was to have them graded. There’s no argument when CGC says it’s a 9.8! And 9.8 is superior to 9.6 – no debate. That’s what collectors want. They want certainty. They want no debate. They want no Yeah buts….. For those of you that are not familiar with a “yeah but” – that is when you show your buddy or prospective buyer your prized magazine and you say – “this thing is just beautiful, look at it” – and the your buddy says – “yeah but it’s a bit off center or yeah but the binding is loose” There are no “yeah buts….” with certified graded products.
That’s the way we all like it and that’s the standard by which all value is determined. And that is why buying the most recognized graded magazines in as high a grade as possible is the ticket collectors, like me, want to own. As more collectors “get it”, it only makes sense that the first into the Boom will increase their value equity the most. Here are some private and public transactions executed over the past year that are keeping my readers happy. BTW, much of this information is not public so you are reading it here first.
- Year 2015 – Ungraded 1963 Cassius Clay SI’s in near mint condition sold many times over for $100 – $500. Last year, a graded SI Clay CGC graded 9.6 sold for $5,000 in a public listing on Ebay. I recently asked the owner what would be his price to sell – his reply was “there isn’t one.”
- Last year the CGC 9.8’s of the – 81 Gretzky, 74 Aaron, 54 #2 (9.4), 55 Mays, 55 Williams, all passed hands at 5 figures or above. And TIME magazine issues, Pre 1954 (and with a few newer exceptions Clay, Mays, Secretariat, Aaron), also joined in the Boom but they deserve a blog all their own (coming soon). Just be aware that TIME magazine Pre 1954 and all newer exceptions, are trending to meet and in some cases even surpass later SI compliments. Owning a vignette of two rookie issues of the highest known grade – one Sports Illustrated and one TIME (or Newsweek) has become an early favorite pursuit of the avid investor/collector. When you consider current pop numbers of 1 at the highest grade level, you can safely use the word “scarce” to describe the difficulty of owning such a duet.
- 30-40 Graded magazines, sold thru the prestigious auction house of Huggins and Scott in August and November this year (and another scheduled for Feb 2018), routinely surpassed $2000 and in some cases, double that figure. Bill Huggins, a man ahead of the curve, is the pioneer whose auction house is currently the only one to grace their listing lineup with graded SI’s. I highly suggest taking a look at their next offering as these prices, if trends continue, will pale in comparison to 2019 offerings. Think back what your Topps baseball cards were worth before you could get them graded and compare their worth today. That’s value equity!
If you only get one thing out of this blog, recognize the movement here. As I stated in my opening remarks, my goal is to bring light to my readers and reward them with the knowledge of current trends. The rest is up to the beholder.
Great collecting to you and Skyward with Sports Illustrated!