If there is one thing the world can most generally agree on, it’s the popularity of sports. While a majority of sports have been put on delay these last few months, it can for sure be said that we have all felt it. Sports fans have been twiddling their thumbs waiting for something to return to the fold and it looks like it may finally start to make its way back in some capacity.
But while the world seemed to have halted its sports, we brought it back to our programming. If you are a fan of the show or have checked in on our website or follow our social media, you most generally know that our focus on sports cards, memorabilia, and collectibles has increased. Deal after deal has been offered and our collectors have proved once again that the appetite for sports will always come back full circle. The market for sports cards and memorabilia has, in general, made its way back in front of collectors young and old.
“There has been this massive uptick in the sports cards and memorabilia business,” Andy, the host of The Coin Vault, says. “In turn, we have really thought about how a whole separate show featuring nothing but sports collectibles would look like for us. Sporadically featuring the sports deals we have on The Coin Vault and talking with different vendors, that was us testing the waters so to speak. Things have kind of shifted backward though after everything that has happened with the global pandemic like a lot of things have in the world. We are still interested in it, but it has taken a seat for now until we see what the future holds.”
As a numismatics business and a coin show, why sports and why now?
“There is a huge market right now for this thing called ‘box breaking’,” Andy explained. “We liken it to buying a lottery ticket. You could win nothing, you could win a little, or you could win a lot. That is the risk you take and the thrill of or the chance of winning big is always that thing that keeps you buying those tickets. Box breaking in the sports world could have you buying a case of basketball cards for a certain price and the chances of having an autographed Zion Williamson card for example may pay for that box and then some. It’s a Willy Wonka mentality. Everyone is looking for that golden ticket and they are doing it in sports memorabilia and cards right now.”
If you did not know by now, The Coin Vault is a subsidiary company of SilverTowne, L.P. Back in the early 1990s, SilverTowne had a complete department on top of its numismatics and silver business dedicated to just sports and sports memorabilia. Back then, the sports memorabilia industry was at an all-time high.
“We had everything from bats to jerseys to cards,” said Andy. “Everything you can imagine when it comes to sports memorabilia.”
But as we all know, with peaks come valleys and the sports card business, in general, was no exception.
“Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the sports cards business was at its peak,” explained Andy. “It was a booming business and baseball was at the top of that mountain when it came to collecting. Basketball and football and other sports were also included in there, but baseball was it. I believe though, that the business started to falter from two things specifically in my opinion.”
One of those theories from Andy was the fact that Major League Baseball went on strike from 1994-1995. The strike ended up canceling the rest of the regular season and the postseason, including the World Series. Unfortunately, players and owners still duel it out all in the name of money. After the strike in the early to mid-90s though, some fans never came back.
“The other reason I think is that sports cards became overwhelming,” Andy stated. “It’s like the label game when it comes to coins. You may have ten different labels for the same coin and sometimes that becomes too much. At the time, your top tier card names or most widely collected were Donruss, Fleer, and Topps. When the business started to boom, you may have had hundreds of other brands come out with their version of cards and it became too extensive and it sort of lost its luster.”
As The Coin Vault’s parent company would eventually end the sports collectibles portion of their business after about a decade, the company dabbled in small-time sports segments during late overnight hours when Shop At Home was still around in 2005. Modern coins eventually changed everything though and sports were no longer an interest in the special niche that is numismatics.
“During those early morning segments, we had a host by the name of Kevin Hite and even Robert (Chambers) helped out a couple of times and we showed sports exclusively,” Andy remembered. “By 2009-2010, we had had Pete Rose on the show a couple of times and Dick Butkus. Once the idea came along to put American Silver Eagles in holders, our whole landscape changed and unfortunately, sports fell by the wayside.”
But while The Coin Vault has dipped into the sports world in the past and with the market the way it is right now in terms of ‘box breaking’ and sports cards, the potential for them exceed what the market brings to the table.
“A guy like me who would and could spend hours in a card shop as a kid gets to be in his early to mid-40s, this kind of thing is nostalgic,” Andy confessed. “When the business was at its peak in the late 80s and early 90s, I was 12 or 13. I remember that time so well and now that I’m older and have a career and some money in my pocket, it makes that time stick out more because I have more opportunities to hunt for these big-time cards like everyone one else could back then. It is a hot thing currently and it is giving all those guys out there like myself a chance to relive that time in today’s climate. My demographic is that market essentially and bringing others in is only going to create another moment for it to come full circle once again.”
While the water is currently lukewarm when anticipating a separate show under The Coin Vault umbrella when it comes to sports, the opportunity for sports to remain on the show every now and then is only going to get greater. Our appetite for the sports collectibles world is immense and one thing the guy in front of the camera might like just a smidgen more than coins is sports. Give an inch and he will take a mile.