Darren Rovell enters the collectible media arena 🏟️

Rise and shine, card enthusiasts! This is Penny Sleeve, the trail mix of sports cards. A little bit of everything that combines to make the perfect snack newsletter.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Darren Rovell enters the collectible media arena 🏟️

• Heritage sports card auction breaks through $10m 💰

• People to follow in the hobby 👥

• Meme of the day 🃏

DARREN ROVELL ENTERS THE COLLECTIBLE MEDIA ARENA 🏟️

A new competitor has entered the collectible media arena - yesterday, Darren Rovell, a sports reporter/collector/analyst with over 2 million followers on Twitter, announced the launch of his new collectible media site, cllct. Aimed at enthusiasts and investors in the collectible market, Rovell threw shade at existing collectible media companies, claiming that “there hasn’t been a real media outlet to cover this asset class”.

New participants building for the hobby and for collectibles broadly is always encouraging, but there are definitely questions about how cllct will execute on its mission. Will Stern, a reporter and editor at cllct, claims that the collectibles industry is worth $500 billion and that their goal is “to bring legit journalism to the space“. I don’t disagree with their lofty figure, but there is some nuance to it. There is no singular, monolithic $500 billion collectible industry. It’s actually a mosaic of hundreds of single-digit billion dollar collectible categories — ranging from sports cards and comic books to more niche items like Funko pops and oil cans — each attracting its own unique following. The diversity of collectibles is a serious challenge to any media company that claims to represent and cover the industry as a whole.

All this to say, it’s exciting to see a new company pop up in the hobby, whether it’s a media site, marketplace, or hobby shop. We’ll be keeping up with cllct, which is slated to launch on April 8 — hopefully they bring a unique perspective to collectible journalism.

HERITAGE SPORTS CARD AUCTION BREAKS THROUGH $10M 💰

Heritage Auctions’ Spring Sports Card Catalog Auction, held on March 22-23, recently concluded with impressive results, totaling more than $10.1 million in sales with more than 2,450 bidders participating global.

The standout of the auction was a 1909-1911 Ty Cobb T206 card, graded Good+ 2.5 by SGC, which closed at a cool $432k.

The high-water mark for this card was achieved in September 2020 when a PSA 4.5 sold for $876k at auction. That card was part of the infamous “Lucky 7 Find“ from 2016, when a family found seven ultra-rare Ty Cobb cards while cleaning out their great-grandfather’s house. The initial sales of the seven cards totaled almost $3 million.

Other notable sales in the auction include a 1933 Goudey Napoleon Lajoie card, graded a PSA Good 2, which sold for a record $41.6k for its grade. A 1916 M101-5 Sporting News Blank Back card of Babe Ruth, graded VG/EX 4 by PSA, fetched $348k, underscoring the continued strength of Ruth in the collecting world.

High demand was also seen for iconic auction regulars such as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan, which achieved sales of $204k (PSA EX-MT 6) and $210k (PSA 10), respectively.

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW IN THE HOBBY 👥

• The Sold Too Early Sports Card Podcast: Hobby content with a healthy dose of humor.

• Sports Card Madness: Informational hobby podcast.

• The Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast: Accessible and fun podcast focused on all aspects of baseball card collecting.

MEME OF THE DAY 🃏