HOBBY HEADLINES: 2024 was another strong year for the movers and shakers—and legends—of the sports collectibles industry

There is always an abundance of news that dominates hobby headlines, whether it’s the merger of prominent collectibles companies, the launch of new products or, sadly, the theft of valuable sports cards.

But in an industry that thrives on rare cardboard, it’s the sale of modern and vintage gems that garner the most attention. And that almost always features one of the most legendary athletes in sports.

Such was the case again in 2024 as a rare, game-worn jersey from none other than baseball legend Babe Ruth topped the sales market and headlines.

Also See: Remembering notable sports deaths of 2024 

It was also a big year for card and hobby shows, which continue to thrive, and new, innovative card shops and digital marketplaces and platforms.

And, of course, there were plenty of new products that hit the market—led, as always, by highly-sought-after rookie cards across all sports.

Overall, as the collectibles market continues to stabilize from the Covid-era boom, it was another banner year for the hobby. Here’s a look at the top stories that made headlines in 2024.

After years of Mickey Mantle, Honus Wagner and Michael Jordan dominating the sports card and memorabilia market, The Babe is officially the King of Sports Collectibles again.

In August, after months of headlines and anticipation, the jersey Ruth wore when he hit his famous and controversial “called shot” home run in the 1932 World Series sold for a record $24.1 million in the Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction at Heritage Auctions. The sale shattered the previous record of $12.6 million for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card (SGC 9.5) that was sold by Heritage in 2022.

Also See: Goudey Babe Ruth card sells for $1.6 million 

Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, called the Ruth jersey “the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia to be offered at auction in decades.” Heritage estimated the jersey could sell for as much as $30 million and wasn’t far off that mark when it finally landed at $24.1 million, the most ever paid for a sports collectible.

“We know this was the jersey he was wearing in that historic moment of our national pastime, and this is one of those incredible pieces that crosses over,” Ivy said. “It’s not just a sports collectible, but it’s part of our American history and our American heritage. … This is the type of piece that would be featured beautifully in the Smithsonian.”

Fittingly, the record-setting jersey helped Heritage set a record of its own with $61 million in sales, the most successful auction in hobby history.

The National Sports Collectors Convention, the largest hobby show of the year, was under new management in 2024, and the team at JBJ Corporation not only produced the event of the year, but had the line of the year.

The 2024 National attracted a record crowd of more than 100,000 collectors and hobbyists to the 500,000-square-foot I-X Center in Cleveland.

Also See: The coolest things we saw at the 2024 NSCC 

The record crowd, which show promoters said broke the attendance record from the 2023 show in Chicago, led to strong business for dealers and collectors. The turnout was so strong that it led to many common logistical problems—heavy traffic, long lines, and overloaded cell and Wi-Fi services.

The lot of collectors that flocked to Cleveland and swarmed the show floor was so massive that JBJ declared that it “broke Cleveland.”

“Because of the amount of hotel rooms, the amount of food, the restrooms, the parking, we exhausted every avenue needed to get people into the space. … The National broke Cleveland,” JBJ’s Joe Drelich said.

Also See: Kids steal the show at 2024 NSCC

The record-setting crowd of 20,000-25,000 per day paid off with big sales and plenty of business for both dealers and collectors.

“The lines are long, and it’s crazy in here,” said Ryan Fiterman, owner of Fiterman Sports of League City, Texas. “The crowds have been unbelievable.”

“It’s been huge. We’ve already done more than [this time] last year,” longtime dealer Kit Young said on Day 3 of the five-day show.

Three weeks after The National, Fanatics made the bold move of producing its own big hobby show, one that would take the industry by storm.

But Fanatics Fest NYC, held at the Javits Center in Manhattan, was much different than The National and other traditional card shows. The Comic Con-style event was billed as the first-ever “immersive sports festival” aimed at “bringing together sports collecting and culture.”

Also See: Fanatics Fest delivers glitz and glamour in NYC 

While there were plenty of cards and collectibles to chase, the first Fanatics Fest event was about the stars of the sports world and the hobby.

Big names like Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Kevin Durant, Mike Tyson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and dozens of others were on hand to entertain and interact with fans. There were also interactive games and activities hosted by sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and WWE.

Also See: Fanatics Fest NYC to return with bigger show, more big names in 2024 

Fanatics believes the NYC event, which attracted an estimated 75,000 fans over the three-day show, is the wave of the future.

“I didn’t understand how this didn’t exist in sports,” Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said. “It made no sense to me—zero.”

Since the most recent collectibles boom, the industry has witnessed numerous mergers and acquisitions as hobby companies compete for market and join forces to maximize both profits and services.

But rarely has there been a deal as big as the one announced in April. The blockbuster between eBay and Collectors, the parent company of card-grading giant PSA, included the sale of auction house Goldin to eBay.

Also See: Sports collectibles still the heart of eBay 

The merger of the industry’s largest online marketplace with one of the hobby’s largest auction houses, along with a partnership with PSA, is expected to enhance and expand the market for all three companies.

“This will benefit the hobby above all else, which is the primary goal of this innovative partnership,” Collectors CEO Nat Turner said.

Turner and PSA continued to be one of the hobby’s movers and shakers, acquiring the eBay vault in the Goldin transaction and purchasing card-grading rival SGC.

As the hobby has grown and enjoyed record-setting success over the past four years, it has unfortunately attracted too many bad actors up to no good. That continued in 2024 with the report of some major sports card thefts.

In April, Memory Lane Inc. reported the theft of more than $2 million of vintage baseball cards from a hotel in Strongsville, Ohio, where they were scheduled to be on display at the Strongsville Card Show.

The shipment of cards, which were scheduled to be auctioned, included 14 rare 1914 Cracker Jack cards, numerous T206 Tobacco cards, and other rare vintage cards valued at more than $2.1 million. The cards were recovered following the arrest of an Ohio man who was charged with felony theft.

Two months later, a sports card dealer reported the theft of a card case containing more than $2 million in vintage baseball cards at the Dallas Card Show in Allen, TX. The FBI has been investigating the case.

Even card manufacturers were not immune from the shenanigans. In October, Upper Deck filed a civil lawsuit against a former employee and 20 unnamed co-defendants for allegedly stealing hundreds of trading cards valued at about $500,000.

Those were just a few of the thefts reported at card shops, card shows and other hobby business across the country.

Fanatics, the hobby's largest producer of sports cards and collectibles, continued to expand its business and presence in the hobby with the launch of Fanatics Collect. The new marketplace replaced PWCC, which Fanatics purchased in 2023.

With Fanatics Collect, the company also ventured into the auction business, partnering with world-renown auction house Sotheby’s to offer some of the most valuable trading cards on the market. Fanatics and

Sotheby’s are collaborating on fixed-price listings and live and online auctions of rare trading cards valued at $100,000 or more.

Their first big auction, the “Holy Grails” event in NYC, showcased 33 of the top high-end modern and vintage cards in the hobby and topped $7 million in sales.

Also See: PSA's most graded and collected cards of 2024 

For more than 70 years, Topps has been synonymous with baseball cards. But for decades, the hobby’s premier trading card company also produced football and basketball cards.

In 2024, collectors celebrated the return of both Topps Football and Topps Basketball.

Also See: These cardboard classics still attract vintage football card collectors 

Topps returned to the football card market for the first time since 2015 after the NFL Players Association announced last year that it had terminated its relationship with Panini. Fanatics, which had acquired the NFL’s trading card license in 2021, ramped up its plans and accelerated its 2026 deal.

As lawyers attempted to sort out lawsuits between the two companies, Topps re-entered the football card market with the release of Topps Now cards following the NFL Draft and a new Topps Composite set, which features such iconic brands as Topps Chrome, Chrome Black, Topps Finest, Allen & Ginter, Heritage, and others.

Meanwhile, Topps Chrome Basketball, which returned in 2022 with a set on a development league for young prospects, launched an NBA set for the first time in 15 years with the 2023-24 series. It features the first autographed rookie card of 2023-24 Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama as well as autographed LeBron James cards.

In September, Topps also debuted 2023-24 Topps Mercury, a high-end, eight-card set featuring Wembanyama and a hefty price tag of $8,000 per set.

Babe Ruth, the greatest two-way player in MLB history, may have some competition 100 years after his reign.

Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani is doing his best Ruth imitation by pitching and slugging his way to three MVPs. He won the 2024 NL MVP despite not pitching after Tommy John surgery. Instead, he just slugged his way into Ruthian territory with 54 home runs and the first 50/50 season in MLB history.

And, like Ruth, Ohtani made a big splash on the card and memorabilia market as well. The baseball he hit for his historic 50^th home run sold for $4.3 million at Goldin, a record for a game-used ball and the biggest sale in company history.

Ohtani rookie cards also continued to command six figures, with a 2018 Topps Chrome 1/1 Superfractor selling for $336,000 in the “Holy Grails” auction. Or about the going rate for a mid-grade Goudey Ruth.

Also See: Freddie Freeman World Series home run ball sells for $1.56 million 

Major League Baseball produced another sterling crop of rookies in 2024, a boon for the card industry.

NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes emerged as one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, while AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil and young stars Jackson Merrill, Jackson Chourio and Colton Cowser all led their teams to the playoffs.

And that comes on the heels of the 2023 class led by Gunnar Henderson, Corbin Carroll and Elly De La Cruz, giving collectors plenty of hot rookie cards to chase.

And Topps upped the ante with its MLB Debut Patch program. Topps Chrome rookies with the MLB patches are commanding big demand and high prices. The Skenes MLB Patch rookie is expected to attract six figures, prompting the Pirates to offer season tickets for 30 years and other perks to the collector who pulls the 1/1 gem.

You can’t have a hobby top-10 list without including Michael Jordan, the NBA legend who has put his stamp on the hobby.

Jordan’s rookie card(s) are among the most valuable in the hobby. His 1984 Star rookie has been active in online marketplaces and at auction with a BGS 8.5 recently selling for $312,000, while his 1986-87 Fleer still commands six figures in a PSA 10.

Jordan memorabilia also continues to set records. In February, “The Dynasty Collection”— six sneakers from each of his six NBA championships—sold for just over $8 million at Sotheby’s, a record for game-worn shoes.

Nine months later, a collection of game-worn memorabilia from Jordan’s college and NBA careers and the 1992 Olympics sold for $8.5 million at Sotheby’s. Three pieces from The “Colossal Ultimate Collection” topped $1 million, including $4.7 million for a 1996-97 game-worn jersey.

Any auction that features Jordan memorabilia attracts attention and bidders. His white game-worn shorts from the “Last Dance” 1998 NBA Finals recently sold for $216,000 at SCP, a record for game-worn basketball shorts.