Mint Condition - June 3, 2021
Collectable raises $5.5m -- MLB NFTs without Topps -- Beckett pauses grading
I write an email discussing the latest action in sports cards, fractional, and collectibles - all in 5 minutes or less. If you would like to receive it directly in your inbox, subscribe now!
Good Morning Squad:
First off, it has been about a week since we last chatted. Between balancing the demands of my full-time job and traveling over the long weekend, I didn’t have much time to write. That’s why I decided to bring you a special Thursday edition of Mint Condition (our regular cadence is M/W/F). Thank you for your understanding and your support!
Leading Off
Pre-pandemic, you could go a week without following the hobby and you most likely wouldn’t miss any breaking news and it would be quick to catch back up. In today’s world? It seems that every day there is another major, intriguing story in the hobby. Over the last week there were plenty. Let’s dive into one today, and we’ll cover others in the near future.
Collectable, a leading sports cards and memorabilia fractional ownership company, raised $5.5 million in a Series A round late last week.
Let’s review what we know about the company, its funding, and its growth plans:
What is Collectable: Collectable offers everyday investors the ability to own some of the most unique and valuable sports memorabilia and cards. Collectable securitizes (registers with the SEC) highly valuable items, splits them into shares, and offers these shares to all investors. Investors own a piece of these unique items and can make money through two ways: 1) Open market trading, where Collectable operates just like the stock market or 2) An outside investor swoops in and makes an offer to acquire the whole asset.
Series A: This round was led by Amplo, Bain Capital Ventures, and Fifth Down Capital, all leading Venture Capital investors in the tech space.
Use of Funds: Collectable will use the cash to 1) attract more users, 2) expand its product offering, 3) build out marketplace data and analytics, 4) content creation, and 5) other marketing initiatives.
By the Numbers: Since its September 2020 launch, Collectable’s user base has grown to 35,000+. 100 IPOs have been completed. The official Collectable index has shown that if you invested $100 in each offering equally since launch, your portfolio would be up 40% (for reference, the S&P 500 is up ~30% in the same time period).
Mint Condition’s Take: I have to admit…I am stoked for CEO Ezra Levine and the entire Collectable team! Quick personal story: last Fall when I had some extra time on my hands, I started diving deep into the fractional space. I saw that Collectable was beginning to launch and its CEO, Ezra Levine, was a Michigan grad like myself. On a whim I reached out to introduce myself and find time to chat with him. He couldn’t have been nicer. We had a great conversation, he shared intelligent advice, and I have been rooting for him and Collectable ever since.
What does a Series A mean for a company? Raising a Series A round, which is typically the 2nd time a company raises money (following its Seed round), is usually done after the company gains validation for its idea and begins to achieve positive results. The results are clear for Collectable - 35k+ users, 100 IPOs launched, and the most valuable card ever being fractionalized.
A few takeaways from this past week’s news:
Investors believe the fractional sports space is legitimate: There are now 3 companies operating in the fractional sports memorabilia and cards space, Collectable, Rally, and Otis, that have raised a Series A or B round. Each of these companies have brought in high-quality investors, from Accel to Bain Capital Ventures. Millions of dollars raised from top-notch VCs = respect has been earned.
The industry is still young!: There is still so much growth potential out there for Rally, Collectable, Otis, and perhaps new players that are thinking of entering the fractional space. Why am I saying this? Because Series A and B rounds are raised by startups that are still in their scaling, hyper-growth stages. While Rally, Collectable, and Otis are experiencing much success already, I always remember the line Collectable CEO Ezra Levine has said on multiple occasions: we are still in the early innings of the fractional industry. So much growth, many new ideas, and perhaps new companies will be found in the future.
To conclude, a big congratulations to the Collectable team! Looking forward to following the journey ahead.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. You can reach me at jbmintcondition@gmail.com or on Twitter @jbmintcondition
Card Product Releases
New Drops on June 3
No releases today…but a handful tomorrow so stay tuned
Fractional Drops
Recent Drops
Rally Rd.: Muhammad Ali ‘60 Rookie PSA Mint 9. Market Cap of $235,000. $10/share. 22% ownership left available (vs. 21% on 5/26)
Rally Rd.: Steph Curry ‘09 National Treasures Rookie Patch Auto /99 BGS Gem Mint 9.5. Market Cap of $525,000. $25/share. 30% ownership left available (vs. 29% on 5/26)
Rally Rd.: MJ ‘85 ‘Shattered Backboard’ Signed Jersey. Market Cap of $280,000. $14/share. 51% ownership left available (vs. 51% on 5/26)
Rally Rd.: Muhammed Ali Sparring Gloves inscribed to Sylvester Stallone. Market Cap of $75,000. $7.50/share. 19% ownership left available (vs. 23% on 5/26)
Rally Rd.: Pelé 1958 Colecao Quigol Rookie PSA NM-MT 8. Market Cap of $225,000. $20/share. 30% ownership left available (vs. 31% on 5/26)
Rally Rd.: Julius Erving ‘85 Game-Worn Signed Jersey. Market Cap of $45,000. $4.50/share. 40% ownership left available (vs. 38% on 5/26)
Rally Rd.: LeBron James ‘02 High School Sneakers Gifted by Kobe. Market Cap of $180,000. $10/share. 27% ownership left available (vs. 31% on 5/26)
Collectable: LeBron / Carmelo ‘04-’05 Dual NBA Logoman Auto 1/1 BGS Mint 9. Market Cap of $1,070,000. Seller retaining 46.73% ownership. $10/share. 10% ownership left available (vs. 39% on 5/26)
Collectable: Willie Mays 1952 Topps PSA NM-MT 8. Market Cap of $239,000. Seller retaining no ownership. $10/share. 19% ownership left available
New Drops on June 3
Collectable: Kobe Bryant Game Worn Signed 1/1 Sneakers. Market Cap of $88,000. $10/share. Seller retaining no ownership (Opens @ 8pm ET)
Top Auctions
Ending Soon
Lelands Mid-Spring Classic 2021 (Ending 6/4/21): Premier items include Tom Brady ‘00 Contenders Rookie Auto /100 BGS Mint 9, Tom Brady’s 1st Career Touchdown Football, and Kobe Bryant Lower Merion High School Game Worn Jersey
Goldin June Card Auction (Ending 6/5/21): Premier items are led by basketball this time around. There are 2 different MJ ‘86-’87 Fleet Rookie PSA Gem Mint 10s for sale. Other hot items include a LeBron James ‘03-’04 Topps Chrome Rookie Refractor PSA Gem Mint 10 and a Kevin Durant ‘07-’08 UD Exquisite Rookie Jersey Auto /99 PSA Mint 9
Heritage Auctions - The David Hall T206 Collection Part VII (Ending 6/17/21): David Hall is the founder of Collector’s Universe. He has amassed a 5,000+ T206 card collection and has been selling them piecemeal over the years. Highly encourage everyone to check out the auction…some incredible stuff here
Around the Horn
Lot of NFT news, even as the market slows down…the most interesting one to me is MLB launching another NFT with Candy Digital, a new company started by a group that includes Fanatics Chairman Michael Rubin and Gary Vaynerchuk. Side note...Topps isn’t involved here
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, The National will go on July 28 - August 1. Love to hear this!
Beckett is suspending all grading except its Premium service starting June 7. The company states its focus is on working through its growing backlog and getting as many cards as possible back to customers prior to The National
Thank you for reading, folks. Be sure to subscribe and share with friends and family. See you soon!