The vault (and other things) in Atlantic Magazine

[Peter_Spaeth]

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/11/how-baseball-cards-got-weird/598345/

[ValKehl]

Peter, thanks for this interesting read, which came across to me as somewhat of an infomercial for PSA.

[pokerplyr80]

2700 distinct rookie cards for Ohtani. I obviously knew modern players had a lot of different rookie cards, more than I can keep straight. But I never would have guessed that many.

[Peter_Spaeth]

2700 distinct rookie cards for Ohtani. I obviously knew modern players had a lot of different rookie cards, more than I can keep straight. But I never would have guessed that many.

Jesse, you can start a master set.

[frankbmd]

2700 distinct rookie cards for Ohtani. I obviously knew modern players had a lot of different rookie cards, more than I can keep straight. But I never would have guessed that many.

The one I own is the valuable one.;)

[HRBAKER]

2700 distinct rookie cards for Ohtani. I obviously knew modern players had a lot of different rookie cards, more than I can keep straight. But I never would have guessed that many.

I only have 2700 to go.

[samosa4u]

This is mostly a history on sports cards. There are so many articles like this online - boringggg. The author also briefly mentions the vault at the end and that's it. The only section that stood out was this:

The market for the new hit cards has been fueled by a new generation of young buyers. At Manhattan’s Midtown Sports Card Show, I met Sharon Chiong, half of a two-woman partnership called BlackJadedWolf. Chiong is a high-end broker-dealer and card-buying consultant with a network of clients around the world. Born in Manila and raised in Queens, Chiong collected basketball cards as a fan during the last boom but came to cards as a profession only after leaving the diamond trade. “I went from one luxury business to another,” she told me. The day I met her, she had $1 million worth of inventory listed on eBay.

Chiong’s typical buyer is a Wall Street guy in his 30s or 40s who loved cards as a kid, drifted away after the bust, and returned in recent years with money to spend. Some collect anew the cards that had filled childhood closets, only now they are seeking ones in Gem Mint 10 condition; others are drawn by the limited-edition-hit craze. Lately, Chiong has seen an uptick in slightly less affluent clients looking to invest four- or five-figure sums made from flipping other nontraditional assets, such as Bitcoin or limited-edition sneakers.

So two women started a card company and are high-end broker-dealers who have a network of clients from around the world, and a typical buyer for them is a Wall Street guy? How come I have never heard of them before? :confused::confused: Weird.

[frankbmd]

This is mostly a history on sports cards. There are so many articles like this online - boringggg. The author also briefly mentions the vault at the end and that's it. The only section that stood out was this:

The market for the new hit cards has been fueled by a new generation of young buyers. At Manhattan’s Midtown Sports Card Show, I met Sharon Chiong, half of a two-woman partnership called BlackJadedWolf. Chiong is a high-end broker-dealer and card-buying consultant with a network of clients around the world. Born in Manila and raised in Queens, Chiong collected basketball cards as a fan during the last boom but came to cards as a profession only after leaving the diamond trade. “I went from one luxury business to another,” she told me. The day I met her, she had $1 million worth of inventory listed on eBay.

Chiong’s typical buyer is a Wall Street guy in his 30s or 40s who loved cards as a kid, drifted away after the bust, and returned in recent years with money to spend. Some collect anew the cards that had filled childhood closets, only now they are seeking ones in Gem Mint 10 condition; others are drawn by the limited-edition-hit craze. Lately, Chiong has seen an uptick in slightly less affluent clients looking to invest four- or five-figure sums made from flipping other nontraditional assets, such as Bitcoin or limited-edition sneakers.

So two women started a card company and are high-end broker-dealers who have a network of clients from around the world, and a typical buyer for them is a Wall Street guy? How come I have never heard of them before? :confused::confused: Weird.


They do have a website with priced inventory and they have a calendar to let you know where they are going. Both of these sections raise a question.

All their inventory is priced 5 cents less than a round number. Does a price of $999.95 appeal to a buyer who would not pony up $1000 even???

According to their calendar, they haven't been anywhere in the last three months and have no scheduled upcoming trips for the rest of this year. If you want to meet with them in 2019, I guess this means that Manhattan is your only option.
I would suggest calling first though to make sure they are still there.:eek:

[ValKehl]

... So two women started a card company and are high-end broker-dealers who have a network of clients from around the world, and a typical buyer for them is a Wall Street guy? How come I have never heard of them before? :confused::confused: Weird.

I've also not heard of either of these women. But, then again, I'm not a deep-pocketed Wall Street guy!

[MULLINS5]

Holy cow, anyone see the altered Bobby Hull RC PSA 8 $60,000 value gain that's sitting in PWCCs Vault? Just surfaced on Blowout....

[ullmandds]

Holy cow, anyone see the altered Bobby Hull RC PSA 8 $60,000 value gain that's sitting in PWCCs Vault? Just surfaced on Blowout....

Are you sure this HULL card is in the vault?

[MULLINS5]

Yeah, I can't get the image over here but Superdan posted it on Blowout

[perezfan]

Just curious...

What’s that Hull card worth, if it properly resides in an “A” graded slab?

[MULLINS5]

Just curious...

What’s that Hull card worth, if it properly resides in an “A” graded slab?

Centering on that card brings a massive premium. My best educated guess in an A holder is $4,000

[swarmee]

A PSA 6 sold for $3K last month. You think an Auth Altered (which likely caused the centering) would still rate more for a card that fits in the Registry tied with a PSA 1 POOR?

[MULLINS5]

A PSA 6 sold for $3K last month. You think an Auth Altered (which likely caused the centering) would still rate more for a card that fits in the Registry tied with a PSA 1 POOR?

If that's the case then nope!

[griffon512]

They do have a website with priced inventory and they have a calendar to let you know where they are going. Both of these sections raise a question.

All their inventory is priced 5 cents less than a round number. Does a price of $999.95 appeal to a buyer who would not pony up $1000 even???

According to their calendar, they haven't been anywhere in the last three months and have no scheduled upcoming trips for the rest of this year. If you want to meet with them in 2019, I guess this means that Manhattan is your only option.
I would suggest calling first though to make sure they are still there.:eek:


they are very much still around, occupying a few tables at the white plains, ny show among other shows.

[pokerplyr80]

Jesse, you can start a master set.

I couldn't even give a reasonable estimate as to what that would run. Especially if some of the 1 of 1s have already went for over 6 figures.

His cards already seem to have a HOF future priced in. Not sure how much upside could be left. Plenty of risk though.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I couldn't even give a reasonable estimate as to what that would run. Especially if some of the 1 of 1s have already went for over 6 figures.

His cards already seem to have a HOF future priced in. Not sure how much upside could be left. Plenty of risk though.

He seems nothing like a HOFer so far.

[pokerplyr80]

He seems nothing like a HOFer so far.

Agreed. But his cards are selling at prices that even a career that just barely qualified for the HOF might not hold up long term. In my opinion. Of course if he is the next Babe Ruth they could look like a bargain. I am not betting on this happening.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Agreed. But his cards are selling at prices that even a career that just barely qualified for the HOF might not hold up long term. In my opinion. Of course if he is the next Babe Ruth they could look like a bargain. I am not betting on this happening.

He's 24 with a history of injuries and 200 hits to his name. Uh, no thank you.

[pokerplyr80]

He's 24 with a history of injuries and 200 hits to his name. Uh, no thank you.

We are in agreement. I don't own any of his cards.

[oldjudge]

This is mostly a history on sports cards. There are so many articles like this online - boringggg. The author also briefly mentions the vault at the end and that's it. The only section that stood out was this:

The market for the new hit cards has been fueled by a new generation of young buyers. At Manhattan’s Midtown Sports Card Show, I met Sharon Chiong, half of a two-woman partnership called BlackJadedWolf. Chiong is a high-end broker-dealer and card-buying consultant with a network of clients around the world. Born in Manila and raised in Queens, Chiong collected basketball cards as a fan during the last boom but came to cards as a profession only after leaving the diamond trade. “I went from one luxury business to another,” she told me. The day I met her, she had $1 million worth of inventory listed on eBay.

Chiong’s typical buyer is a Wall Street guy in his 30s or 40s who loved cards as a kid, drifted away after the bust, and returned in recent years with money to spend. Some collect anew the cards that had filled childhood closets, only now they are seeking ones in Gem Mint 10 condition; others are drawn by the limited-edition-hit craze. Lately, Chiong has seen an uptick in slightly less affluent clients looking to invest four- or five-figure sums made from flipping other nontraditional assets, such as Bitcoin or limited-edition sneakers.

So two women started a card company and are high-end broker-dealers who have a network of clients from around the world, and a typical buyer for them is a Wall Street guy? How come I have never heard of them before? :confused::confused: Weird.

From one diamond to another. Seems like a natural progression to me.