Baseball Cards Heating Up: Honus Wagner Sells For New Record

Collectibles, like art, are hot. Prices are skyrocketing for even the non-rare collectibles. And after suffering through a severe bear market, the elite baseball card market appears poised to run even higher.

The “Mona Lisa” of baseball cards recently was sold for the fourth time in the last 16 years.

The 1909 Honus Wagner card, with Honus in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, is the most prized card in all of baseball card collecting. There are thought to be only 60 still in existence today but some are in better shape than others.

The “Mona Lisa” is thought to be THE card. It was made famous in 1991 when Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall, the former owner of the Los Angeles Kings, bought it for $451,000 which, at that time, was an enormous amount to pay for a baseball card (even as the baseball card bubble was at full throttle.) After 1991, it became known as the “Wayne Gretzky card” in baseball card circles.

The Wayne Gretzky card was in amazing condition, mainly from being kept in plastic for decades. From ESPN:

“This particular one was preserved in spectacular condition,” said Joe Orlando, president of Professional Sports Authenticator of Newport Beach — the company that certified the authenticity of the card. “It’s the Holy Grail of baseball cards.”

But there is such reverence for ANY of the 60 Wagner cards, that even one that was in hardly recognizable condition would probably still sell for a ton of money:

The others “you could stick in the middle of the street and let cars drive over it through the day, take it in your hand and crumple it up, and it still would be a $100,000 card,” said Seigel, CEO of Emerald Capital LLC, an asset management company, who lives in Las Vegas.

In recent years, the Wayne Gretzky card has become increasingly more valuable:

Wayne Gretzky bought it for $451,000 in 1991

Brian Siegel bought it for $1,265,000 in 2000

An unknown Southern California collector bought it for $2,350,000 in February 2007 (then a record price)

Another collector who wishes to be anonymous, for now, bought it for $2,800,000 in September 2007

Yes, the third owner made $450,000 in six months.

Did the card really appreciate that much in six months time or is irrational exuberance taking over in the baseball card market?

This was yet another “record” price.

That’s a lot of money for a piece of cardboard with otherwise no intrinsic value. But, like paint on canvas, its “worth” is in the eye of the beholder and what someone else is willing to pay for it on the open market.

Here, the market is speaking. That cardboard is “worth” a lot of cash.

Collectibles are hot. Hey, maybe I should find that old Beanie Baby collection in the basement? Where are my Star Wars toys?

Be careful. Don’t get burned.