$850 for a box of Caitlin Clark cards?! 😵‍💫

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Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• $850 for a box of Caitlin Clark cards?! 😵‍💫

• From store freebie to $500k card 🚀

• Auctions ending soon 🔎

• People to follow in the hobby 👥

• Meme of the day 🃏

$850 FOR A BOX OF CAITLIN CLARK CARDS?! 😵‍💫

With Caitlin Clark’s exclusive Topps deal expiring at the end of this month, Topps is making sure they’ve squeezed all the juice out of the orange before they turn her over to Panini.

They’ve released a high-end product priced at $850 which exclusively contains Caitlin Clark cards, making it the most expensive product ever for a single female athlete. Dubbed the “Collegiate Campaign“, it’s supposed to serve as the “career retrospective of the most prolific scorer in NCAA history”.

Each box contains the following:

• One autograph card (/50 or less) or autograph relic card (/10 or less)

• One relic card (/50 or less)

• One 6-card pack (5 base + 1 parallel)

The relic cards are player-worn, not game-worn, with shipping slated to begin after 40-45 days.

My take: This product seems like a hurried attempt by Topps to profit big before losing Clark to Panini. The demand for her cards is high, but I don’t see it sustaining as she transitions to the pros. You can’t fault Topps though: her Big Ten Tournament-Used Relic Auto sold out at a price point only $50 cheaper than this entire box. Granted, that was tournament-used, but it does suggest a strong appetite for higher-end cards of hers. I do wonder who will be the end buyer of these cards given the entire set is Caitlin Clark — it could flood the market and completely eliminate the perceived rarity if you’re guaranteed two of her autos/relics/relic autos in every box.

FROM STORE FREEBIE TO $500k CARD 🚀

A 1916 M101-4 Babe Ruth, graded a PSA EX 5 and with a Gimbels back, is currently up for auction at Bonhams, where it’s expected to fetch up to $500k. What’s interesting about this card is the backstory: initially distributed as part of a promotional campaign in April 1916, the card was given away by Gimbels department store to children who visited the boy’s clothing section. This marketing tactic not only boosted store traffic, but also unknowingly created one of the most coveted pieces of baseball memorabilia.

There are two versions of this card, M101-4 and M101-5, both used in various promotional campaigns, including by Sporting News. As a result, they’re often referred to as the “Sporting News set“. Distinguishing between set 4 and 5 can be tricky, but clues on the back of the card can offer insight. For example, the Sporting News back is unique to M101-4. Interestingly, while M101-5 cards are rarer, they’re more frequently encountered in high grades, defying typical scarcity logic.

My take: It’ll be interesting to see where this card lands given its provenance and historical value — the only sale I could find of an M101-4 with a Gimbels back was this SGC 2 that sold for $313k in August 2021. The highest recorded sale of an M101-4 was in November 2021, with a blank back PSA 7 selling for $2.4 million. A week ago, a blank back M101-5 in a PSA 4 sold for $348k.

AUCTIONS ENDING SOON 🔎

• Galaxy Auctions: ends on March 30

• Goldin: ends on March 30

• Love of the Game Auctions: ends on March 30

• The Collector Connection: ends on March 31

• Pristine Auction: ends on March 31

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW IN THE HOBBY 👥

• @RobRager: Old-school stack sales

• @Cardlines: In-depth sports card news

• @vividblue2008: Frequent stack seller

MEME OF THE DAY 🃏