I saw on Instagram that GameStop wants to buy eBay and thought to myself, “That’s not how math works, does it?” See, GameStop has a current market value of about $11 billion, while eBay’s market value is just a bit more: $46 billion.
Unless GameStop has tens of billions of dollars in between their couch cushions (they do reportedly have about $9 billion of cash on hand) or Jedi mind tricks actually do work, I’m confused about how any of this is possible.
The above article does note that, if eBay isn’t receptive to the offer (which feels like a safe bet), GameStop’s CEO Ryan Cohen plans to go directly to eBay’s shareholders. As has been said, “go big or go home,” and Cohen’s currently opting for the former.
In this issue you'll find:
Auction highlights
News in the hobby
The last month’s biggest movers in vintage sports cards
Steve Largent’s rookie card and player profile
ICYMI
Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos
Let’s get into it.
It's Monday. Every department already has context. Nobody prepped anything.
Your CFO opens Slack. There's a weekly Stripe revenue recap in #finance with a churned-accounts flag and a net-new breakdown. She didn't ask for it.
Your head of product opens Slack. There's a GitHub summary in private channel: PRs merged, PRs stale, Linear tickets that moved. He didn't ask for it.
Your marketing lead opens Slack. There's a Google Ads performance comparison in private channel, with a note: "Meta CPA crept up 18% this week. Might be worth pausing the broad match campaign." She didn't ask for it either.
All-hands at 10am. Everyone already knows the numbers. The meeting is about decisions, not catch-up.
That's what happens when one colleague works across every tool your company uses. Not one department's assistant. The whole company's coworker.
Viktor lives in Slack. Top 5 on Product Hunt, 130 comments. SOC 2 certified. Your data never trains models.
"Not only have we caught up on several months of work, we are automating manual tasks and expanding our operations to things previously not possible at scale." - Jesse Guarino, Director, Torque King 4x4
Auction Highlights
In order of closing date (as of Sunday evening PT):
Sterling Sports Auctions (ending on May 7)
⚾ 1968 Topps Game #4 Hank Aaron PSA 6 - $20
🏈 1964 Philadelphia #12 John Unitas SGC 4 - $22
⚾ 1958 Topps Lot of (6) HOFers w/ Aaron & Mays AS (Raw) - $30 (min. bid)
Sirius Sports Cards Auction (ending on May 7)
⚾ 1968 Topps #355 Ernie Banks PSA 7 - $80
⚾ 1957 Topps #76 Roberto Clemente SGC 5 (MC) - $80
⚾ 1957 Topps #35 Frank Robinson RC SGC 3 - $97
Goldin April Elite Auction (ending on May 9) (minimum price starts at $100)
⚾ 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson Signed RC PSA Authentic/Altered / PSA/DNA Authentic- $170
⚾ 1964 Topps Giants #49 Hank Aaron Signed Card PSA Authentic / PSA/DNA 9 - $200
⚾ 1979 Topps Baseball Uncut Sheet (132 Cards), Featuring Ozzie Smith RC, Johnny Bench (2) & Reggie Jackson (2) - $275
Other active auctions:
Heritage Auctions (ends on May 15)
The Collector Connection (ends on May 17)
Hunt Auctions (ends on May 19)
News Briefs
Vintage Sports Card Prices on the Move
As I noted previously, sales have various factors to consider, including the subjective nature of vintage cards, the dynamic of a card sold via auction vs. “buy it now,” how long the card may have been in someone’s store (and thus the seller may be more willing to accept an offer), and how some people may overpay while others may get a great deal.
Let’s start with baseball, and since it’s a new month, I’ll look at the lists from the last month, with all lists courtesy of Vintage Card Prices:
Baseball Card | Pct. Increase | Most Recent Sale Price |
|---|---|---|
1909 American Caramel Krause, p. Philadelphia Amer. SGC 30 (2) | 669% | $492 |
1956 Topps Johnny Groth PSA 7 | 352% | $61 |
1948 Leaf Kent Peterson, Black Cap SGC 60 (5) | 282% | $103.20 |
1978 TCMA The 1960’s Hank Aaron PSA 10 | 266% | $137.50 |
1956 Topps Roy Monzant PSA 7 | 229% | $51.00 |
1955 Topps Roberto Clemente SGC 50 (4) | 215% | $9,225.00 |
1962 Topps Roger Maris PSA 7 | 201% | $1,433.00 |
1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson PSA 4 | 193% | $83,025.00 |
1972 Topps Jose Cruz PSA 8 | 192% | $56.00 |
1959 Topps Bill Skowron PSA 7 (Short Print) | 187% | $62.00 |
Football Card | Pct. Increase | Most Recent Sale Price |
|---|---|---|
1976 Topps Steve Furness PSA 9 | 139% | $59.95 |
1971 Topps Joe Namath PSA 4 | 136% | $63.00 |
1979 Topps Earl Campbell SGC 70 (5.5) | 130% | $31.00 |
1977 Topps Walter Payton PSA 3 | 107% | $35.00 |
1971 Topps Marty Schottenheimer PSA 7 | 85% | $35.51 |
Hockey Card | Pct. Increase | Most Recent Sale Price |
|---|---|---|
1970 O-Pee-Chee Pat Stapleton PSA 8 | 155% | $107.34 |
1971 O-Pee-Chee Bobby Clarke PSA 4 | 107% | $30.00 |
1978 Topps Maple Leafs Team PSA 10 | 92% | $97.68 |
1969 O-Pee-Chee Pat Stapleton PSA 9 | 79% | $147.00 |
1974 Topps Bobby Orr PSA 6 | 65% | $49.50 |
Meanwhile, on the downward trend, nine out of the 10 are baseball cards.
Sports Card | Pct. Decrease | Most Recent Sale Price |
|---|---|---|
1975 Topps Rick Auerbach PSA 9 | 85% | $58.09 |
1963 Parkhurst Gilles Tremblay PSA 8 (Hockey) | 78% | $34.00 |
1962 Topps Hank Aaron All-Star PSA 8 | 77% | $600.00 |
1961 Topps Bobby Shantz MVP PSA 8 | 76% | $50.00 |
1962 Topps Mike Higgins PSA 9 | 76% | $177.50 |
1975 Topps Joe Niekro PSA 9 | 74% | $64.44 |
1973 Topps Harmon Killebrew PSA 9 | 72% | $204.50 |
1973 Topps Jim Hunter PSA 9 | 72% | $169.99 |
1973 Topps Tom Seaver PSA 9 | 71% | $524.60 |
1963 Topps Willie Mays PSA 5 | 69% | $103.20 |
Vintage HOF Rookie Card: Steve Largent
If you wanted consistency, you wanted Steve Largent. From 1978 to 1987, he averaged 1,069 receiving yards per season, and that included two seasons he didn’t reach 1,000 yards. In 1982, a strike season, he was on pace for nearly 1,000 yards, and in 1987, he only played 13 games and still got to 912 yards.
Steve Largent - WR
HOF Induction in 1995
7-time Pro Bowler, including four consecutive seasons
5-time All-Pro (one first-team, four second-team)
Eight 1,000-yard seasons in a nine-year period
Member of the HOF All-1980s Team
Career AV (Approximate Value) - 140
Grade | PSA Pop Count | SGC Pop Count | BVG Pop Count |
|---|---|---|---|
10 | 26 | 4 | 1 |
9 | 489 | 39 | 48 |
8 | 1,529 | 162 | 168 |
7 | 1,026 | 190 | 123 |
Unlike last week’s Harry Carson rookie, the Largent rookie card is much more consistently sold. The average price came out to be right at $64.99.
ICYMI
Vintage Card Voyage: Recent Videos
This is the YouTube channel I co-host with my friend Ken.
Subscribe for future issues, share with those you think would enjoy the newsletter, and please also check out and subscribe to Vintage Card Voyage.
Thanks for reading.
Marc