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REA’s major event of the season, the Summer 2024 event, closes this weekend, offering a formidable assortment of vintage and modern grails spanning cards and memorabilia. In partnership with REA, we wrap up our preview of the action today, shining a spotlight on some intriguing lots with insightful market context.
In case you missed the earlier editions, in late July, we kicked it off by exploring three pre-war baseball assets sure to resonate with vintage collectors across categories. Last week, we did a deep dive on high-graded rookie cards lining the event.
Joe Burrow’s meteoric rise from backup quarterback at Ohio State to NCAA Champion at LSU has continued through his first seasons in the NFL. Despite the setback of injuries, Burrow has helped guide the Cincinnati Bengals to a state of consistent relevancy, something that eluded the franchise for decades. After tearing his ACL, promptly ending his rookie season, Burrow not only bounced back in 2021-22 but nearly reached the pinnacle of professional football while leading Cincy to their first Super Bowl appearance in over 20 years. In a historic 2021-22 campaign, Burrow set multiple team records including yards in a season (4,611), touchdown passes (34), and completions (366).
The combination of a record-breaking season and a Super Bowl appearance has made game-worn memorabilia from Burrow’s 2021 season the most sought-after thus far in his young but promising career. The jersey presented by REA is backed by direct team provenance and was worn by Burrow in a critical mid-season rivalry win on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. The Burrow-led Bengals were electric on offense, torching the Ravens for 416 passing yards in a 41-17 route that helped improve Cincinnati to a record of 5-2 and sole possession of first place in the AFC North. The supply of jerseys worn by Burrow from the 2021 season is sparse and only a select few have ever made their way to the auction block. This is the first Burrow jersey ever auctioned by REA and with 9 bids already pushing the price above $25,000 with premium, the game-worn threads could be poised to set a new auction record for any 2021 Burrow jersey.
Currently, the top realized price is credited to the jersey worn by Burrow in the second game of the 2021 season, a game in which the Bengals fell to the Chicago Bears but Burrow still managed to throw for 207 yards and tossed a pair of touchdowns. That jersey sold in 2022 for $29,400 and is one of only two 2021 Burrow jerseys that have sold for at least $20,000. The jersey is signed and inscribed by Burrow with details of the Bengals win and his stats from the game penned in legible silver sharpie. At its current price the jersey is not only positioned to close as a top-10 Joe Burrow collectible sale this year, but it will become the most expensive Burrow jersey sold at auction in 2024. With the Bengals returning the bulk of their offensive production from the 2023 season and Burrow back from injury, Cincinnati will once again find themselves in contention for another Super Bowl run.
Few sights in card collecting are more impressive and visually appealing than that of a meticulously assembled, complete set of vintage baseball cards. As the profiles of the vintage cards comprising these sets have risen in recent years, so too have those of complete collections. Right up among the most popular and aesthetically pleasing sets of the 1950s is the 1956 Topps Baseball set, featuring its host of icons and their portraits set against the backdrop of an action shot. Its popularity is demonstrated by its standing in the PSA Set Registry - its 448 sets attempted is the highest total of any company baseball set, trailing only 1986 Fleer Basketball overall.
The set, though, is a challenging grade - just 20% of the unqualified PSA population has graded 8 or higher. High grade examples get even rarer for the set’s most coveted cards. Only 5% of the Gray Back Mantle population is graded 8 or higher. It’s all the more impressive, then, when diligent collectors are able to assemble complete sets of high-grade cards. To even test the current top 25 list on the set registry, collectors have to build a set comprised almost entirely of PSA 8s, if not with a smattering of higher-graded examples. Offered at REA is a set ranking 20th on the registry with an 8.02 GPA, featuring entirely PSA 8s or higher, with 20 PSA 8.5s and 3 PSA 9s.
The market for sets of this nature has evolved considerably. For instance, in 2010, an all PSA 8 set sold for $34,162, which was near the range where similar sales settled during the early 2010s. Fast forward to 2022, and that price level was exceeded by a set with a 7.218 GPA with the key cards (Robinson, Clemente, and Mantle) excluded from the sale! Meanwhile, sets of entirely PSA 8 stature have taken to new heights. In 2022, an 8.07 GPA set sold for $108,000, while 2023 saw PSA 8-centric sets sell for $98,400, $90,000, and $78,000. The set at REA appears poised to test these levels and potentially exceed them, with 34 bids pushing the current price to $70,000 well before the close of bidding.
In 1982, Time magazine broke from its status quo and named the personal computer its “Man of the Year”. In doing so, the acclaimed publication stunned Apple co-founder Steve Jobs who anticipated that he would be selected for the annual award. In an interview with biographer Walter Isaacson, Jobs reflected on the day he received his copy of the 1982 “Machine of the Year” edition saying, “I read the article, and it was so awful that I actually cried.”
Not only did the magazine bypass Jobs for the personal computer, an article within the printing portrayed the young executive as a complicated figure with strained personal relationships and a controlling personality.
If Jobs had won Time’s “Person of the Year," it would have been his second time gracing the cover of the magazine. The man behind the scenes at Apple Computer, Inc. made his Time magazine debut on February 15th under the title “Striking it Rich: America’s Risk Takers”. The cover showcases a sketch of Jobs with an apple sitting atop his head. In the background is the Apple II, the personal computer later featured by Time in their “Machine of the Year” segment and the device recognized for moving Apple Computer along the frontier of modern technology. The copy on the auction block at REA displays an autograph of Jobs that has been authenticated by JSA. In recent years, prices for Apple memorabilia have skyrocketed as ungraded copies of the magazine now price in excess of $10,000 with graded examples eclipsing $35,000. The copy at REA carries a current bid of $15,000 and fittingly presents in better condition than examples we have seen sell for that price. For many people, this magazine introduced them to the man who would change not only the entire tech industry, but the world. Few, if any, companies have transformed modern life as profoundly as Apple has, and today, more than 1 billion people use Apple products worldwide.
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The Summer 2024 event closes on August 11th at 9PM.
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