More mem than ever: Memorabilia card total jumps 35 percent in less than three years

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You might think that we’re seeing fewer game-used memorabilia cards in our packs these days as collector tastes continue to evolve and new creations capture our attention.

You’d be wrong.

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A basic examination of the Beckett.com database shows that there are 1,001,558 different memorabilia cards of the game-used (or event-used) variety out there for collectors to chase.

It’s an impressive number (and the total volume of cards would be much higher), but what’s more impressive is that it’s a dramatic increase in less than three years, the last time we revisited these stats for a Game-used Issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly. In the February 2012 issue, which was prepped at the end of 2011, there were 738,395 unique memorabilia cards. That’s a 35.6 percent increase. (That surprise does come with a caveat — it’s possible that we’re seeing fewer total memorabilia cards but with more unique cards made having smaller serial-numbering … but I doubt it.)

NT Lemieux Booklet

How does this happen? In part, licensing changes, meaning there are more players (i.e. companies) making more cards. There are also more and more hit-based products arriving every week. You can see this in other card statistics.

At the end of 2011, hockey ranked third with 132,635 different mem cards. It still ranks third, but its total is higher — 206,942. Why? It added a second licensor, Panini America, into the mix. For all of its products during this timeframe, Panini had produced 65,329 different cards at our previous check-in. That total now is 179,843 — a sign of growth in that time where it has ramped up production in baseball and hockey.

In that same timeframe, Upper Deck previously had made 211,068 and is presently at 232,590 — a much more modest increase as its licensing portfolio is smaller. Topps had been at 152,797 and is up to 231,814 — an increase also reflecting our seeing more hits in baseball and football. (And it’s a total that doesn’t include the baseball memorabilia behemoth called Triple Threads that arrives this week.)

At the start of that same timeframe, there were more baseball mem cards than any other sport — 246,990. That’s up to 299,232 now — with more on the way every week — but football has had an even more-dramatic uptick in memorabilia. It’s now at 301,358 — tops for all sports. It had just 218,788 when we previously checked in. Even smaller companies, such as In The Game, had increases with ITG going from 43,974 back then to 74,113 across all products.

That’s a lot of memorabilia being cut up and put into packs.

The trend can be seen on the player level, too, for everything from MMA and pro wrestling to golf and hockey showing increases among the most-popular and most mem-carded players. Interestingly, though, in some sports there hasn’t been a dramatic change at the top for players. Take football, for example. While the sport has surged in overall mem-card production, the top mem-carded player, Peyton Manning, remains the same with a modest increase in cards. In late 2011, he had 3,316 cards. Today? Up to 3,551. You can easily infer that the big growth in NFL mem cards is in part with the sport’s emphasis on rookies — new names whose card totals will need some time to start rubbing shoulders with this legend.

Kobe Bryant, the top mem-carded player in basketball in 2011 had 2,404 cards back then and is up to 3,050 now. Just three years ago, Tracy McGrady checked in third for all basketball players at 1,769 cards. Now, he doesn’t even crack the top five as Shaquille O’Neal, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have had increases in their cardboard. T-Mac has fallen to seventh with little more than 100 new cards during that time — looks like previously neglected stars are finally getting more memorabilia-card attention.

Hockey’s growth can be seen on the mem-card side with the players in the previous top three spots shuffled but still on the rise. In 2011 Patrick Roy led the way with 2,656 cards followed by Martin Brodeur at 2,415 and Mario Lemieux at 2,391. Today, they rank Roy-Lemieux-Brodeur at 3,727, 3,139 and 2,911 respectively. That’s a lot of new memorabilia — showing some serious investments made to acquire said jerseys and other items. (These cards should be lower in production volume for top names based on cost — so, no, the sky is not falling there — there’s simply more to collect.)

Even lesser sports on the overall collecting radar have had more and more memorabilia added into the mix since 2011. Golf, which has made a comeback in that time, has seen the number of Tiger Woods mem cards go from 104 to 314. MMA has seen its top guy, Anderson Silva, also nearly triple going from 116 to 294. They are not alone in their sports.

NASCAR had no drivers with 1,000 or more memorabilia cards just a few years ago, but now there are four — Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The previous leaders were in the 700s, while Gordon is now tops at 1,130, showing that memorabilia has become a stronger inclusion even for NASCAR. Heck, even pro wrestling has seen modest gains with few products on its calendar with its leading guy, Hulk Hogan, going from 109 to 183. (That’s not as outrageous of an increase as others seen here — but it’s still something, brother.)

What does it all mean? There’s plenty for us to choose from — no matter what we collect.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

EVEN MORE ON MEM CARDS | BY THE NUMBERS

TOTAL MEM CARDS: 1,001,558

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TOP FIVE SPORTS (MEM CARD TOTAL)

Football 301,358

Baseball 299,232

Hockey 206,942

Basketball 137,128

Racing 17,934

 

TOP FIVE BY BRAND (ALL SPORTS)

Topps Triple Threads 77,018

Absolute Memorabilia 33,957

Leaf Certified Materials 24,967

SPx 24,265

Artifacts 23,866

 

TOP FIVE BY COMPANY (ALL SPORTS)

Upper Deck 232,590

Topps 231,814

Panini 179,843

Donruss/Playoff 175,449

In the Game 74,113

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TOP FIVE BY TEAM (ALL SPORTS)

New York Yankees 28,091

Boston Red Sox 19,230

St. Louis Cardinals 15,588

Atlanta Braves 13,414

Chicago Cubs 12,975

 

TOP FIVE FOOTBALL TEAMS

Dallas Cowboys 12,305

San Francisco 49ers 11,597

Miami Dolphins 10,267

Indianapolis Colts 9,877

Denver Broncos 9,480

 

TOP FIVE BASKETBALL TEAMS

Los Angeles Lakers 8,201

Boston Celtics 7,285

Chicago Bulls 6,635

Houston Rockets 5,896

San Antonio Spurs 5,780

 

TOP FIVE HOCKEY TEAMS

Detroit Red Wings 6,906

Pittsburgh Penguins 6,372

Montreal Canadiens 6,229

Philadelphia Flyers 6,157

Boston Bruins 6,129

 

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TOP FIVE BASEBALL PLAYERS

Cal Ripken Jr. 4,001

Nolan Ryan 3,937

Albert Pujols 3,898

Alex Rodriguez 3,624

Mike Schmidt 3,021

 

TOP FIVE FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Peyton Manning 3,551

Brett Favre 2,555

Tom Brady 2,504

LaDainian Tomlinson 2,486

Eli Manning 2,334

 

TOP FIVE BASKETBALL PLAYERS

Kobe Bryant 3,050

Kevin Garnett 2,447

Shaquille O’Neal 2,069

Carmelo Anthony 2,015

LeBron James 1,955

 

TOP FIVE HOCKEY PLAYERS

Patrick Roy 3,727

Mario Lemieux 3,139

Martin Brodeur 2,911

Joe Sakic 2,248

Alexander Ovechkin 2,191

 

TOP FIVE NASCAR DRIVERS

Jeff Gordon 1,130

Jimmie Johnson 1,082

Tony Stewart 1,040

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,011

Kevin Harvick 848

 

TOP FIVE MMA FIGHTERS

Anderson Silva 294

Georges St-Pierre 289

Cain Velasquez 250

Jon Jones 237

Urijah Faber 201

 

TOP FIVE GOLFERS

Tiger Woods 314

Jack Nicklaus 216

Fred Couples 154

Arnold Palmer 153

Annika Sorenstam 128

 

TOP FIVE PRO WRESTLERS

Hulk Hogan 183

Sting 149

Jeff Hardy 100

Velvet Sky 98

Ric Flair 97

 

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MOST-VALUABLE MEM CARDS FOR EACH SPORT(EXCLUDING RARITIES)

Baseball

— 2001 Ultimate Collection Ichiro Jersey #SJI Ichiro Suzuki AU /50, $3,500

— 2001 Ultimate Collection Ichiro Bat #SBI Ichiro Suzuki AU /50, $3,500

 

Basketball

— 2003-04 Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Parallel #78 LeBron James /23, $14,000

 

Football

— 2005 SP Authentic Gold #252 Aaron Rodgers JSY AU /25, $5,500

 

Hockey

— 2005-06 The Cup #180 Sidney Crosby JSY AU /99 RC, $6,000

 

Racing

— 1999 Press Pass Triple Gear 3 in 1 #TG9 Dale Earnhardt, $600

— 2001 Wheels High Gear Flag Chasers Checkered Blue/Orange #FC3 Dale Earnhardt /45, $600

 

MMA

— 2009 Topps UFC Round 1 Ultimate Gear Autographs #AUGGSP Georges St-Pierre /25, $1,000

 

Pro Wrestling

— 2002 Fleer WWF All Access Off The Mat Autographs #7 Triple H, $300

— 2010 TriStar TNA New Era Event-Used Memorabilia Red #M13 Hulk Hogan AU /15, $300

— Compiled by Chris Olds

 

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4 comments

  1. phillies_joe 10 September, 2014 at 12:35

    All the cards shown here look great Chris…..swatches with some color/design/emblem. I only collect baseball, and absolutly hate pulling a relic card that is just a one color patch from a jersey/pant. And you need to exclude Gypsy Queen IMO…thier relics are so tiny, I don’t even know why they bother. Nice piece. Interesting that football has surged….I guess it’s the bugger jerseys and the number of total players.

  2. Ron J 10 September, 2014 at 13:04

    I was mildly surprised to not see MJ’s name on the list for basketball. Makes me realize how much more valuable the game worn 2002 Minor League baseball card is. Maybe from baseball but it is still pretty rare.

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