NEW YORK — A mint situation Mickey Mantle baseball card bought for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the report books as probably the most ever paid for sports activities memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially extra profitable in recent times.

The uncommon Mantle card eclipsed the report simply posted just a few months in the past – $9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” purpose in soccer’s 1986 World Cup.

It simply surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card lately bought in a personal sale.

And simply final month, the heavyweight boxing belt reclaimed by Muhammad Ali throughout 1974’s “Rumble within the Jungle” bought for practically $6.2 million.

All are a part of a booming marketplace for sports activities collectibles.

Costs have risen not only for the rarest gadgets, but in addition for items that may have been accumulating mud in garages and attics. A lot of these gadgets make it onto client public sale websites like eBay, whereas others are put up for bidding by public sale homes.

Due to its near-perfect situation and its legendary topic, the Mantle card was destined to be a high vendor, mentioned Chris Ivy, the director of sports activities auctions at Heritage Auctions, which ran the bidding.

Some noticed collectibles as a hedge towards inflation over the previous couple years, he mentioned, whereas others rekindled childhood passions.

Ivy mentioned savvy traders noticed inflation coming down the street – because it has. Because of this, sports activities memorabilia grew to become a substitute for conventional Wall Avenue investments or actual property – notably amongst members of Era X and older millennials.

“There’s solely a lot Netflix and ‘Tiger King’ individuals may watch (in the course of the pandemic). So, you recognize, they have been getting again into hobbies, and clearly sports activities accumulating was part of that,” mentioned Ivy, who famous an uptick in calls amongst potential sellers.

Add to that curiosity from rich abroad collectors and you’ve got a confluence of things that made sports activities collectibles particularly engaging, Ivy mentioned.

“We have sort of began seeing some development and a few rise within the costs that led to some media protection. And I feel all of it all of it simply sort of constructed upon itself,” he mentioned. “I might say the start of the pandemic actually added gasoline to that fireside.”

Earlier than the pandemic, the sports activities memorabilia market was estimated at greater than $5.4 billion, based on a 2018 Forbes interview with David Yoken, the founding father of Collectable.com.

By 2021, that market had grown to $26 billion, based on the analysis agency Market Decipher, which predicts the market will develop astronomically to $227 billion inside a decade – partly fueled by the rise of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, that are digital collectibles with distinctive data-encrypted fingerprints.

Sports activities playing cards have been particularly in demand, as individuals spent extra time at dwelling and a chance arose to rummage via potential treasure troves of childhood reminiscences, together with previous comedian books and small stacks of bubble gum playing cards that includes marquee sports activities stars.

That lure of making a living on one thing that could be sitting in a single’s childhood basement has been irresistible, based on Stephen Fishler, founding father of ComicConnect, who has watched the rising rise – and profitability – of collectibles being traded throughout public sale homes.

“In a nutshell, the world of contemporary sports activities playing cards has been going bonkers,” he mentioned.

The Mantle baseball card dates from 1952 and is extensively considered one among only a handful of the baseball legend in near-perfect situation.

The public sale netted a good-looking revenue for Anthony Giordano, a New Jersey waste administration entrepreneur who purchased it for $50,000 at a New York Metropolis present in 1991.

The switch-hitting Mantle was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-time World Sequence champion. The Corridor of Famer died in 1995.

“Some individuals would possibly say it is only a baseball card. Who cares? It is only a Picasso. It is only a Rembrandt to different individuals. It is a factor of artwork for some individuals,” mentioned John Holden, a professor in sports activities administration legislation at Oklahoma State and newbie sports activities card collector.

Like items of artwork that don’t have any intrinsic worth, he mentioned, relating to sports activities playing cards, the value is within the eye of the beholder – or the pocketbook of the potential bidder.

“The worth,” Holden mentioned, “is regardless of the market’s prepared to help.”