BOOSTER SHOT! Juiced by pandemic, collectors ‘frenzy’ knocking baseball card prices out of the park
(Publisher’s note: West Palm Beach, Fla. journalist Joe Capozzi is a talented writer and former Palm Beach Post reporter who has covered the gamut of news from county issues to enterprise projects to the MLB Florida Marlins beat. Capozzi has a new site called, byjoecapozzi.com, which just published this story that he’s sharing with LVSportsBiz.com)
By Joe Capozzi for LVSportsBiz.com
GREENACRES, Fla. — The masked men started showing up hours before the doors opened.
They lugged boxes stuffed with old cardboard legends — Walter Johnson, Frankie Frisch and Willie Mays, to name a few — each safely tucked in plastic sleeves.
They carried stacks of the newest unopened cartons, with cover images of Juan Soto and Clayton Kershaw sealed under cellophane.
Some wheeled dollies stacked with display cases, to be laid out side by side across a maze of more than 50 table-tops, each 8 feet long.
Watching it all was another masked man, who couldn’t contain his excitement.
“The floors were still wet, I barely finished mopping, and they were trying to get in,’’ John Schudel, organizer of the West Palm Beach Baseball Card Show, said on a recent Sunday morning as he directed dealers to their places inside the American Polish Club on Lake Worth Road.
“This is probably going to be my biggest show yet.’’
In more ways than one, the masks worn by everyone in the hall are a sign of the times. Sure, their main function is COVID-19 prevention. But the masks also serve as reminders about why shows like the one Schudel hosts each month have been busier than ever.
Baseball card collecting in the time of COVID-19 is a lucrative business. Juiced by a pandemic booster shot, the hobby has taken off over the past year like a Mike Trout home run.
Stay-at-home boredom and investors with disposable income have helped fuel the resurgence, leading to record sales of both new and vintage cards and an influx of collectors new and old.
“People are cooped up at home with nothing to do and they’re turning to hobbies. They’re flipping their cards and making a fortune,’’ said Riviera Beach dealer Mike Trimbel.
Many collectors used the quarantine to get back into the hobby and share it with their kids while others are jumping in for the first time.
When card shows were canceled and brick-and-mortar card shops shuttered in the early days of the pandemic last year, collectors flocked online. E-commerce exploded, with record sales on virtual auction blocks.
“It has gotten completely crazy since the pandemic,’’ Trimbel said. “Ebay is taking off. It’s beyond crazy.’’
And now that life is returning to normal, thanks to a greater availability of vaccines, card shows have resumed, attracting bigger crowds than ever.
“It’s unbelievable,’’ said Schudel, whose most recent show March 21 featured 56 dealer tables. “I could have added 30 more tables. I’ve got a waiting list a mile long and shows are popping up right and left. It’s like night and day.’’
From May to early June last year, more than 40 cards sold on eBay for at least $50,000, according to ESPN. From mid-May to July, that number jumped to 96, with more than 35 percent fetching at least $90,000.
“Since November, it really went straight up,’’ Schudel said. “There have been record sales in higher end stuff not only with vintage but with modern day cards. That’s the amazing thing. It’s a complete 360 from the way it was three years ago.’’
In January, a 1952 Mickey Mantle card in mint condition sold for a record $5.2 million. That topped the August sale of an autographed 2009 Mike Trout rookie card that sold online for a then-record $3.9 million.
“It’s a frenzy. It’s ‘stupid money.’ For a piece of cardboard,’’ collector Vinny Davis of West Palm Beach said as he browsed tables.
A few minutes later, he plunked down $1,000 of his own cash for a box of ‘50s and ‘60s cards featuring the likes of Yogi Berra, Nellie Fox and Warren Spahn.
“It’s better than the stock market,’’ Vinny’s dad, Bob, said with a grin.
Considering the damage the pandemic inflicted on the economy, with the number of first-time jobless claims hitting 60 million in September, many dealers are amazed that people have so much money to spend.
“I swear it’s COVID- and stimulus-related. I can’t see any other explanation,’’ Boca Raton dealer Franz Schlottman said, referring to the relief checks American have been getting from the federal government.
While baseball has long ruled the card collectibles market, they haven’t been the most popular sports cards since the pandemic. That honor goes to basketball cards, with sales spiking more than 130 percent from March through May compared to the last three months of 2019, according to sportscollectorsdaily.com.
Many dealers say the hoops-card frenzy ignited when the Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance,’’ aired in May 2020. And a marijuana entrepreneur helped spark it.
Clement Kwan, a founder of Beboe, an upscale line of cannabis vaporizers, heard about the documentary in 2019 and started buying sets of Jordan rookie cards for around $30,000 each. In May 2020, he sold a Jordan rookie for $100,000, according to a New York Times article headlined “Bored Rich People Spend Money.’’
An autographed 2003 LeBron James rookie card fetched $1.85 million at an auction last July. A 2013 Giannis Antetokounmpo signed rookie card sold for $1.81 million.
In 2019, a 1996 Allen Iverson Topps Chrome rookie card was selling for $150 to $175. “Now it goes for $5,000 and some are asking for $9,000,’’ Schlottman said.
Baseball card sales are up more than 50 percent followed by football cards at 47 percent, according to sportscollectorsdaily.com.
Golf and wrestling cards also are gaining in popularity. But for many collectors, baseball will remain the Babe Ruth of sports cards.
And no one at the West Palm Beach card show saw any signs of a bubble bursting any time soon.
“You have investment companies telling you not to invest in stocks and bonds and real estate. You want to invest in baseball cards. Even the ‘junk era’ ‘80s cards are rising in value,’’ Trimbel said.
Tom Zappala, a North Palm Beach snowbird who has written books on baseball cards, said serious collectors are getting younger and younger.
“Three years ago, the average age here was probably 45. Now, look at all these kids,’’ he said, gazing at groups of 20-somethings grazing over the tables. “We have a whole new generation of buyers.’’
They may be pieces of cardboard, but dealers and collectors treat their wares like fine wine and rare gems.
A collector browsing Boca Raton dealer Scott M. Goodman’s table asked about Al Kaline cards.
“I have a ‘67 that’s gorgeous,’’ Goodman replied.
Another customer asked Goodman what cards he was looking to buy.
“Anything,’’ Goodman replied.
The demand and the COVID-19 vaccines have spurred increases in card shows.
“In the past few years there might have been two, three or four card shows a year. Now there’s 15,’’ Trimbel said.
Zappala, who co-hosts a radio program with Boston Red Sox great Rico Petrocelli, said he was pleased to see the West Palm Beach show doing so well.
But he didn’t lose sight of the somber reason for the success.
“It’s a double-edged sword,’’ he said. “Unfortunately it’s a pandemic, but it has really helped the industry.’’
