MODERN
VINTAGE
Two NBA superstars had their rookie cards reach record prices in 2021.
Michael Jordan’s 1986-87 Fleer PSA 10 sold for $738,000 in December of last year, while LeB-
ron James’ 2003 Topps Chrome Refractor PSA 10 hit close to $300,000.
But by the middle of 2022, those two cards had cooled off briskly.
Jordan’s iconic card (unsigned) was selling for a little over $200,000, while James’ rookie had dropped below $50,000.
Those two cardboard gems offer a glimpse into the current sports card market as the 42nd annual National Sports Collectors Convention (The National) gets underway in Atlantic City, N.J.
COVID-19 brought the craze of the sports card market into sharp focus as the majority of the last two years have provided astronomical growth within the hobby.
“Obviously, it’s been a down year for sports card prices and the drop in sports card prices has accelerated over the last few weeks,” Sports Card Investor founder Geoff Wilson told Sports Collectors Digest in mid-June.
Sports Card Investor tracks different indexes through its Market Movers software. It’s SCI 500 index — 500 of the most prominent but accessible cards of all time — is down 12.4 percent year to date, with about half the losses coming in June.
“We’ve definitely seen the drop in card prices accelerate recently, and cards that are not iconic are down more,” Wilson said. “A lot of ultra-modern, a lot of prospects, a lot of cards that are not necessarily sought after, we’ve seen some of those cards drop a lot more significantly this year.”
There are exceptions, of course, with some ultra-modern cards not hitting a downward spiral. Wilson noted there’s a group of key NFL quarterbacks — namely Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Josh Allen —
