Welcome to my Sports Illustrated/TIME magazine blog – Your collector’s guide to the latest hobby updates and insight into what’s trending now. It’s crazy but sometimes beautiful, esthetic, scarce, normally high value magazines fly under the radar until someone is willing to follow their gut and challenge the prevailing wisdom by buying the mag and paying the asking price. Once the word gets out that so and so bought such and such, the scarcity factor takes hold. As we all know, we all want the thing we can’t have. We are like lemmings. We’ll pay $1000 today for a shiny object that cost $100 yesterday. An example of this phenomenon comes to mind. Several years ago, at Heritage Auctions, a 9.6 #3 Jordan SI – “A Star Is Born” sold for $8000. The expectation was $2000, maybe $4000??? It was as if this purchase opened the eyes of the hobby. Some collectors were touting this is to be the real first Jordan cover, the one to have if you were a Jordan collector. Not long after, a 9.8, POP 3 of the same issue sold for $135,000, breaking all sales records for a single issue. Currently it is a POP 4, and the 9.6 sits at POP 5. To those of you that think this Jordan issue is the best long-term value to own, wait til the first 9.8 1983 version hits private sale or public auction (currently there are no 9.8’s and only one 9.6) but, I’m afraid you won’t see that anytime soon. Why? – because serious collectors just aren’t selling this stuff. My estimate on the sale of the first 1983 Jordan CGC 9.8 is $500,000 and up. The “Diamonds in the Rough” I am suggesting that are currently flying under the radar are the pre-2000 Street & Smith issues/publications. We love SI but there are issues of other publications that have significant potential. My first indication that certain issues/publications are increasing in popularity is when I get a request for a single issue of that publication. Then the customer might ask “do you have any other mags in that publication?” When I take a second look, and I have done this, I notice the esthetics or the color, or the cover content. Quite often something stands out that is different or attractive in a unique way. For me, I love everything about this vintage pub. So……… I’m targeting vintage, high grade, newsstand, Street & Smith as a BUY. If there are any Street & Smith owners out there that are looking to sell (high grade), feel free to give me call. Maybe we can work something out. Next blog – I will have another publication I also consider a (Diamond in the Rough). Thanks for reading and “Come Grow With Us”. 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 |
