The Attic Update Vol. 19 - Marbles, Magazines, and Digital Labs
Beyond Alternative Assets
Thanks for reading The Attic Update, a weekly look at the exciting world of collecting and investing in alternative assets.
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Featured Article -
You might not consider old marbles a collectible item, but let me assure you, they are definitely valuable.
Some of the rarest marbles are worth tens of thousands. And judging by the interest in this simple article, there are a lot of marble fans out there.
I had no idea. But the more I think about it, marbles might be humanity’s original collector’s item ten thousand years ago.
The very first thing found, kept, traded, played with, and sold?? Check out valuable and rare old marbles!
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, curiosity, and investigation.
1 - Fractional Ownership - Rally continues fresh and ground-breaking offerings, this time in the graded-magazine segment.
The very first Sports Illustrated issue #1, complete with a CGC 9.8 grade. If you’re late, too bad. The $10,000 IPO sold out quick. Don’t care for 70-year-old magazines?
How bout a basket of 350 Yeezy sneakers from the 2015-2020 collection? Rally has them. Check it out.
2 - Memorabilia & Collectibles - A life-sized Lego Ferrari F40 built with 360,000 Lego pieces will go on display at Legoland, Cali. This might surprise you, but vintage Lego sets are big business.
The most valuable Lego sets sell for thousands of dollars. Here are the top 20.
3 - Sports Cards - The lowest possible graded card from PSA sold for $1.5 million. This card appears to have been to hell and back. Rips, tears, folds, scuffs, trims! and creases.
How could this card still be worth A Mill and a half?? Because it’s the T-206. The Honus Wagner that some call the Holy Grail of card collecting. It was the same card that sold for $198,000 in 2012.
The Wagner card was graded by PSA, which blessed it with an “Altered” rating. That’s the lowest grade possible from PSA. This card was in nearly - off the charts - awful condition.
4 - Rare Books - Two giant sales in the rare book roundup this week. The first is Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein,’ which sold for $400,000. Another large sale of the week was the $3.1 million first issue of ‘Captain America.”
It’s the fourth-highest-priced comic book ever to sell at auction. If you need a refresher on comic book collecting, here ya go.
5 - Crypto & NFTs - Both Robinhood and Coinbase stocks have lost half their value in the last four months. We’re talking tens and tens of billions of dollars in lost value.
Robinhood stock has gone straight into the toilet since its IPO last August. That’s 70 bucks a share to $9. Part of the problem is Robinhood’s 39% drop in cryptocurrency trading volume.
Crypto retail traders are pulling in the reins, at least for the time being.
6 - Watches - Watchpro.com has a few ideas for the vintage watch collector. Are you out of ideas?
Do you need a little watch inspiration? Sick of the same old Rolex models? Here’s a few fresh takes from Davide Parmegiani, a vintage watch dealer from Milan, Italy. - Heuers from the 70s. Omegas, Tudors, and Breitlings.
Check out the article at Watchpro for the full rundown. That 1972 Breitling Chronomatic Ref 2130 is amazing!
7 - Markets & Investing - You may or may not care about the U.S. Dollar, and its value relative to a basket of other global currencies.
I’m not saying you should pay attention to the USD. And you should definitely not listen to me when it comes to matters of foreign exchanged Euros, British Pounds, or Japanese Yen.
But I know for a fact a few people much smarter than me have their eyes on the US Dollar lately, while it nears 5-year highs.
What does all that mean?? I have no idea - but I did write a semi-entertaining article about the World’s Reserve Currency a year ago titled, “The Greatest Store of Value Ever Created.”
8 - Collector Cars - This is pretty cool. I must admit I did not see this coming from Hagerty, the collector car insurance and valuation resource.
Hagerty announced the launch of '“Digital Labs.” It’s an initiative to focus on tech-driven solutions for auto enthusiasts. Hagerty will begin with a mileage verification app for insurance policies. Then, revamp its valuation tools.
I’m looking forward to checking out the new tools. Great idea, Hagerty!
9 - Art - Sotheby’s sold a Picasso painting for $21 million during its Hong Kong auction. An impressive sale, but not even close to scratching the top 10 most valuable Picasso paintings list.
The number ten most valuable Picasso? Femme Assise - $63 million. The most valuable Picasso?? Les Femmes D’Alger - $180 million.
Quote from the Legends -
“It is foolhardy to make a second trade, if your first trade shows you a loss. Never average losses. Let this thought be written indelibly upon your mind.” - Jesse Livermore
Featured Pod -
I would be out of my mind if I didn’t mention the new Rally pod - “The Best Money I Ever Spent.” Episode 4 drops tomorrow, featuring Jeff Carvalho from Highsnobiety.
Past episodes have included Gary Vee, Bobby Hundreds, and Liz Eswein. Rob Petrozzo from Rally hosts the pod, and delivers, as always.
Question for You -
What alternative assets would you like more discussion about next week? There are only 9,000 alternative assets out there to choose from, let’s hear your favorites. How about a rare and original $10,000 bill? A German Baden 9 Kreuzer stamp? How about a first edition Lugia Pokemon card??
Leave your comments, I’d love to hear them -
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!