The Attic Update Vol. 15 - Celebrity Houses as an Asset Class, Collector Car Horror Stories, and the Valkyrie

Beyond Alternative Assets

Nov 7, 2021

Thanks for reading The Attic Update, a weekly look at the exciting world of collecting and investing in alternative assets. Please feel free to share any feedback you might have, good or bad, in the comment section below.

And if you have any stories or articles you’d recommend to me or any other readers, please share those in the comments as well. Let’s get started!

Featured Article -

The master of entrepreneurship, start-ups, business, and philosophy? Read how Naval Ravikant became The Most Interesting Man in the World.

The Latest -

Here’s the ‘Attic Top 10’ - The most relevant stories in collecting and investing in alternative assets over the past week. Not only to keep you informed but to provoke deeper thought, investigation, curiosity, and fun!

1 - Fractional Ownership - The buyout offer for the 1985 Air Jordan 1s on Otis was rejected. More than 61% of shareholders voted to reject the buyout offer of $66,861. It would have been a 103% return for shareholders, but they decided the offer wasn’t good enough. The Jordan sneakers will begin real-time trading again on the app @withotis.

2 - Memorabilia & Collectibles - Celebrity houses as an asset class?? I noticed Beatles legend George Harrison’s childhood home will be auctioned, and I had an idea. It makes sense a former-celebrity home has a higher value than a similar house in the same neighborhood, so maybe someone should create a celebrity real estate fund. Buy historically and culturally significant real estate, and package them on a fractional ownership platform. Operate them as AirBnB’s and spin-off cash to shareholders. Allow fans to stay a few nights at their favorite celeb’s former crib. Is anybody doing this already?

3 - Sports Cards - The “most important set ever” recently sold at Goldin Auctions. It’s the 2003 Upper Deck Exquisite Basketball factory sealed and unopened case. Inside the sealed case is three boxes of packs containing one autographed patch cart and 1 signed rookie patch card. There’s the possibility of finding LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh rookie cards. After 19 total bids, the final sale price for the sealed case of Exquisite cards was $996,300.

4 - Rare Books - The Luzzatto High Holiday Mahzor, A German Hebrew prayerbook dating back to the late 13th century, sold at Sotheby’s for $8.3 million. This was more than double the estimate of $4 mill. According to Sotheby’s, the illustrated manuscript was purchased by an American collector with “significant holdings of Medieval Hebrew manuscripts.”

5 - Crypto & NFTs - Imagine being a beginner in the NFT world. How do you get educated? I’ve noticed something, maybe it’s just me, but there are almost as many “Intro to NFTs” guides as there are NFTs themselves. It seems every website has its own “NFT Tutorial,” I just saw Northface publish a “Beginner Guide to NFTs While Hiking Kilimanjaro” video. So, where do you turn for information? My only advice would be to gather a handful of sources, so you can compare and contrast the information. And don’t forget to have fun!

6 - Watches - Hodinkee lists their top vintage watches of the week. Their latest installment includes estimated values and a brief description of three classic watches: the 1986 Rolex GMT-Master, a 1964 Tudor Oyster-Prince Ranger, and a 1987 Domino’s Rolex Air-King.

7 - Wine & Whiskey - I can’t say investing or collecting whisky is the right decision for you - that’s something you need to figure out for yourself and your financial situation. But if you decide to dip your toes in the whisky market, at least do some homework upfront. Decanter has a nice rundown of the top 8 best whiskies for investment. A few of the top picks are Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Macallan 36 year, Mortlach 21 year, and Rosebank 30 year ‘Release One.’ What are your top picks?

8 - Markets & Investing - Interbrand released the Top 100 Most Valuable Brands. This is always fascinating, not only to see who’s topping the charts lately but also who’s rising and who’s falling among the ranks. This year it’s Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in the top 4 spots. Tesla saw a huge jump of 184% in value over last year moving into #14 on the list. One of the big losers was Canon, falling to #84 after a loss in brand value of 14% this year.

9 - Collector Cars - Once again, my mind is on Ferrari. Bring A Trailer listed a 1988 Ferrari Testarossa with 5,000 miles on the odometer. This rig is incredible. See for yourself. The current bid sits at $151,350 with 3 days to go. What will this thing sell for? Hagerty values a perfectly clean ‘88 Testarossa at 221k, so this auction should see a flurry of activity in the next 3 days. Is the Testarossa the greatest Ferrari ever?

10 - Art - We’re always watching for any Claude Monet piece heading to auction. Sotheby’s will auction a large-scale Monet from the “Water Lilies” series titled, “Coin Le Bassin aux Nympheas.” Estimates are for the painting to sell for $40 million, but we’ve seen initial estimates shattered over and over in the fine art world lately. The same painting was purchased 24 years ago for $6.7 million. I would not be surprised to see this Monet sell for $100 million.

Quote from the Legends -

“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” - Richard Branson

Featured Pod -

This is a fantastic episode of the Collecting Cars Podcast. Chris Harris, along with Edward Lovett, host a special Halloween episode of collector car horror stories.

Anyone who’s bought and sold cars can imagine how many different horror stories are out there, just waiting to be told. Some of the stories are both unbelievable and terrifying.

Sometimes the only thing you can do is share your stories, and hope others can learn a few lessons from your incredible collector car experiences.

In the world of cars, Chris Harris is the man. Check him out on Top Gear.

Tweet of the Week -

Here’s a great Twitter thread from Codie Sanchez, an expert on building cash flow businesses.

Codie Sanchez 💥 @Codie_Sanchez

I get DM's from investors with one main problem. Here's a list of public places to buy businesses…

If you’ve ever wondered where to begin searching for businesses to buy, here’s a preview of the top 8 sources. Twitter threads are great not only for the actual threads written by the author, but for the comments that follow. Be sure to check this one out.

If you’re interested in finding cash flow businesses for sale online, Codie recommends Flippa, BizBuySell, Empire Flippers, and LoopNet, for starters.

Featured Video -

The Aston Martin Valkyrie has arrived. The first F1 inspired hypercar has just rolled off the production line, and deliveries will begin in the next few weeks.

The facts - 85 cars produced. $3.8 million each. 6.5 L V12 producing 1155 HP.

If you want to HEAR the Valkyrie, press play on the video below. Crank up your volume and thank me later.

Question for You -

What’s your favorite fractional ownership platform for alternative asset investing?

Who is providing the best assets, service, and experience? And what new platforms have you tried recently?

Leave your answers in the comments below, each response will be eligible for The Attic Update Award. Stay tuned for details in upcoming issues.

Thank you!

Please feel free to share any feedback you might have, good or bad, in the comment section below.

And if you have any stories or articles you’d recommend to me or any other readers, please share those in the comments as well. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

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