Babe Ruth is a record breaker once again.
The "called shot" jersey worn by the baseball legend in 1932 has been sold for $24.12 million.
That's a record for sports memorabilia.
What does that mean for you, a sports memorabilia buyer, trader, or investor?
Let's have a look
The "called shot" jersey record sale
First of all we need to be clear about what this sale means.
It is exceptional.
All records are exceptional of course, but this one is exceptionally so.
It captures the most famous moment in baseball history.
Featuring its most famous player, certainly one of the most collectible figures in history.
The record shows a 2005 sale of $940,000.
Then this, a 2,466% increase to $24.12 million.
What happened?
First of all, the shirt was sold in 2005 as probably the "called shot" jersey.
That sale catalogue featured a lengthy attribution claim: "Based on the photo evidence you provided, I have every reason to believe the Babe Ruth road jersey in your possession does indeed represent the 1932 season and had to have been worn by the Bambino when he connected with his famous "called shot" home run in the 1932 World Series at Chicago."
This time, the claim went further, using photographs taken on the day of the "called shot" game to make a more definitive claim.
It was sold as being the "called shot" jersey. And the evidence (which you can see online) looks excellent.
The Babe Ruth "called shot" jersey was sold after a 6-hour bidding war. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Sports memorabilia markets moving
So the jersey has moved from being an extraordinarily sought-after jersey owned and worn by the most famous US sportsman to a definitive relic of the most-well-known moment in US sports history.
But, this extraordinary rise in price also represents a more general market move.
These things aren't easy to track.
I can find a number of "line goes up" graphs online claiming to represent the entirety of the sports memorabilia market.
But they don't convince.
But these records do.
They hint at explosive growth at the top end of the market.
The item that the "called shot" jersey knocked off top spot was a baseball card. That was sold in 2022 for $12.6 million.
It is also a big winner, worth almost double the $6.6 million of the second place card.
Ruth will probably always be collectible, such is his reputation that even non-baseball fans know his name.
It's very special too. A Mickey Mantle card from 1952. That year was a freak. A new production schedule saw many cards unsold and a good number of them chucked in the sea.
It owes its value to its condition too. It's the best-known Mickey Mantle card from that year.
And it was sold very recently.
No sports trading card had made over $1 million until 2021.
Now they're going for many multiples of that.
Making sense of sports memorabilia markets
What can this tell us?
It's notoriously difficult to make sense of collectibles markets.
Sales are often made at auctions. These are a medium full of variables.
And these massive sales are the result of personal passion and huge wealth.
We're looking at psychology as much as we are pure economics.
It's likely that the COVID pandemic had some impact on this price surge.
It's been a recognised contributor to a major bubble in the luxury watch market.
Much of the world got locked into their homes.
Lots of hobbies and interests boomed.
It's possible that the spectre of a major mass-death event encouraged people to follow their passions - you can't take it with you.
And, times of political insecurity - add in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions between China and the US, Trump, Brexit... - tend to inspire rises in markets like collectibles.
People are looking for alternatives.
Institutions like banks, shares, and even government bonds start to look less secure.
And some people are considering finding assets they can throw into a bag and flee with.
Or file away without bothering authorities who might administer sanctions or seizures.
And, while there's been a cost-of-living crisis across western economies it's not one that has affected those who don't have to worry about costs.
This comic combines two collectible markets, could that mean hidden value?
Some people are thinking hard about whether to turn the heating up.
And the top end of the economy is booming.
Look at indices of wealth.
There are more billionaires than ever before and their net worth is going up.
People who want to spend lots of money on owning trophy items have the money to do so.
Bear in mind that that's essentially free money to these people. If you're seriously considering sports memorabilia as part of your investment or savings plan it should never be everything.
But, there's no reason why it can't be a small part of your plans. And it might pay off in a big way.
Investing in sports memorabilia now
If you're of more modest means can you cash in?
Possibly.
It's not unreasonable to think that this top-end rise in the market might lift the market as a whole.
Those pressures of instability and changing priorities driving demand exist throughout the market.
Could soccer be undervalued in global terms? Possibly, if America really gets the bug.
To get ahead of the market. To be the person holding the priceless card or baseball jersey...
That's a dream.
The way to do it is to be ahead of the game.
Or to find something no-one else has found and that no-one knows is there.
The key to both is research.
And that can be extremely rewarding.
I look at the relative value of (proper) football (aka soccer) items against the big American sports.
And, I see that America is starting to become more and more interested in that sport.
And, I wonder if that's a window to find value.
