Roundup: What the $700 Million Collectors Universe Deal Means for Cards
December 10, 2020
Rupa Bhattacharya

What the $700 Million Collectors Universe Deal Means for Cards

Every week, it seems like there’s a new landmark sale in trading cards. Earlier this week, a Michael Jordan rookie card from the ‘86-87 Fleer Set set a record, selling for $150,000 at auction, while another seems poised to break that record mere days later. 

Now, billionaire Steve Cohen’s Cohen Private Ventures, plus card collector Nat Turner and Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital partners, just announced a $700m deal in which they’ll be taking grading company Collectors Universe private. 

The industry as a whole has seen major growth in the last bit; the last 3 years saw eBay card sales rise by 40% into a over-$600-million business. 

The Collectors Universe deal seems to suggest that these folks anticipate continued growth for the field -- not just for collectibles themselves, but also for the mechanisms that provide market legitimacy to this relatively new asset class. 

The company itself, even before this announcement, said they’ve seen a big rise in authentication requests (and record backlogs) and will be increasing their operational capacity to meet demand. 

This Week in Otis

Michael Jordan led one of the most mythic careers in sports history, and frankly, an architecture-sundering superdunk feels like a natural piece of the legendarium. 

But when you zoom out, and focus on the boring, imagination-neutering laws of nature… how did this happen? Michael Jordan is an outlier athlete with boundless athleticism, but as far as measurables go, he was never that different from the many other shooting guards in his class, none of whom have a backboard to their name. So how did Jordan manage it? How is he the exception?

In honor of Otis’s upcoming ”Shattered Backboard” AJ1 drop, we asked Luke Winkie to dig into the science behind how (and why) this happened at all. 

Read: How Michael Jordan Actually Shattered That Backboard

Of Interest

• What are the rarest Dragon Ball Super Trading Cards?

• A pair of hand-painted leather-and-porcelain Adidas ZX 8000 may fetch $1m at auction. 

• ...as may a 1979 Wayne Gretzky rookie card.

• How do collectors end up with fake/looted antiquities -- and how do countries get them back?

• The 25-year-old curator shaking up the art world.

• The best Batman artists of the Bronze Age...

• And the best Dunks of 2020.

• The joy of art sneakers. 

News From the Otis Collection

• Our upcoming “Shattered Backboard” AJ1 drop got pickup in Hypebeast, DL Magazine, Input, and GQ Germany. 

• Meanwhile, the jersey Michael Jordan held up at his signing to the Bulls just sold for $300,000.

• Banksy and Tracey Emin will be sharing a stage at the upcoming Moments exhibition in the UK.

• The arresting energy of Emin’s new Munch exhibition.

• Felipe Pantone and J Balvin released a pajama collab. 

• Watch KAWS turn London into art. 

• You can now smell like Travis Scott. 

• This week’s Phillips auction set records for a number of Black artists, including Kehinde Wiley and Michelle Obama portraitist Amy Sherald.

• A signed set of KAWS x Supreme skate decks are up for auction at Christie’s. 

Roundup

Related Posts

No items found.
View All
DisclaimerTermsPrivacy
Company
AboutCareers
Learn
How It WorksHelp Center
Connect
InstagramTwitterContact Us
OTIS WEALTH, INC. (“OTIS”) OPERATES THE WITHOTIS.COM WEBSITE (THE “SITE”) AND A MOBILE APP-BASED PLATFORM (THE “APP”), AND IS NOT A BROKER-DEALER OR INVESTMENT ADVISER. ALL SECURITIES-RELATED ACTIVITY IS CONDUCTED BY DALMORE GROUP, LLC (“DALMORE”), A REGISTERED BROKER-DEALER AND MEMBER OF FINRA (WWW.FINRA.ORG) AND SIPC (WWW.SIPC.ORG), LOCATED AT 525 GREEN PLACE, WOODMERE, NY 11598. YOU CAN REVIEW THE BROKERCHECK FOR DALMORE HERE. AN UP-TO-DATE DALMORE FORM CRS IS AVAILABLE HERE.
‍
YOU SHOULD SPEAK WITH YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR, ACCOUNTANT AND/OR ATTORNEY WHEN EVALUATING ANY OFFERING. NEITHER OTIS, ITS AFFILIATED ISSUERS NOR DALMORE MAKES ANY RECOMMENDATIONS OR PROVIDES ADVICE ABOUT INVESTMENTS. THE SITE AND THE APP MAY MAKE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. YOU SHOULD NOT RELY ON THESE STATEMENTS BUT SHOULD CAREFULLY EVALUATE THE OFFERING MATERIALS IN ASSESSING ANY INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, INCLUDING THE COMPLETE SET OF RISK FACTORS THAT ARE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.

OTIS GALLERY LLC (“GALLERY”) AND OTIS COLLECTION LLC (“COLLECTION”) ARE CONDUCTING PUBLIC OFFERINGS PURSUANT TO REGULATION A AND PRIVATE OFFERINGS PURSUANT TO REGULATION D UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, THROUGH THE APP. THE OFFERING CIRCULAR FOR GALLERY CAN BE FOUND HERE, AND THE OFFERING CIRCULAR FOR COLLECTION CAN BE FOUND HERE. THE PRIVATE PLACEMENT MEMORANDUM FOR ANY OFFERING CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO REGULATION D HAS BEEN OR WILL BE, AS APPLICABLE, DISTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO INVESTORS. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS. INVESTMENTS SUCH AS THOSE ON THE OTIS PLATFORM ARE SPECULATIVE AND INVOLVE SUBSTANTIAL RISKS TO CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING, OUTLINED IN THE RESPECTIVE OFFERING MATERIALS AND INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ILLIQUIDITY, LACK OF DIVERSIFICATION AND COMPLETE LOSS OF CAPITAL. KEY RISKS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, LIMITED OPERATING HISTORY, LIMITED DIVERSIFICATION, RISK OF ASSET DAMAGE OR THEFT AND LACK OF VOTING RIGHTS. ALSO, THE ADVERSE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ARE UNKNOWN AND COULD MATERIALLY IMPACT THIS INVESTMENT. AN INVESTMENT IN AN OFFERING CONSTITUTES ONLY AN INVESTMENT IN A PARTICULAR SERIES AND NOT IN OTIS, GALLERY, COLLECTION OR THE UNDERLYING ASSET(S). INVESTORS SHOULD CAREFULLY REVIEW THE RISKS LOCATED IN THE RESPECTIVE OFFERING MATERIALS FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE DISCUSSION OF RISK.

INVESTMENT OVERVIEWS CONTAINED HEREIN CONTAIN SUMMARIES OF THE PURPOSE AND THE PRINCIPAL BUSINESS TERMS OF THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. SUCH SUMMARIES ARE INTENDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DO NOT PURPORT TO BE COMPLETE, AND EACH IS QUALIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REFERENCE TO THE MORE-DETAILED DISCUSSIONS CONTAINED IN THE RESPECTIVE OFFERING CIRCULAR FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (“SEC”) OR OTHER OFFERING MATERIALS RELATING TO SUCH INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY.
‍
FROM TIME TO TIME, AFFILIATES OF OTIS WILL SEEK TO QUALIFY ADDITIONAL SECURITIES UNDER REGULATION A. FOR OFFERINGS THAT HAVE NOT YET BEEN QUALIFIED, NO MONEY OR OTHER CONSIDERATION IS BEING SOLICITED AND, IF SENT IN RESPONSE, WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. NO OFFER TO BUY SECURITIES CAN BE ACCEPTED, AND NO PART OF THE PURCHASE PRICE CAN BE RECEIVED, UNTIL AN OFFERING STATEMENT FILED WITH THE SEC HAS BEEN QUALIFIED BY THE SEC OR UNLESS AS STATED IN THE OFFERING MATERIALS RELATING TO AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, AS APPLICABLE. ANY SUCH OFFER MAY BE WITHDRAWN OR REVOKED, WITHOUT OBLIGATION OR COMMITMENT OF ANY KIND, AT ANY TIME BEFORE NOTICE OF ACCEPTANCE GIVEN AFTER THE DATE OF QUALIFICATION BY THE SEC OR AS STATED IN THE OFFERING MATERIALS RELATING TO AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, AS APPLICABLE. AN INDICATION OF INTEREST INVOLVES NO OBLIGATION OR COMMITMENT OF ANY KIND.
‍
OTIS DOES NOT OFFER REFUNDS AFTER AN INVESTMENT HAS BEEN MADE. PLEASE REVIEW THE RELEVANT OFFERING MATERIALS AND SUBSCRIPTION DOCUMENTATION FOR MORE INFORMATION.
‍
AN ACTIVE TRADING MARKET FOR ANY SERIES OF GALLERY OR COLLECTION INTERESTS MAY NOT DEVELOP OR BE SUSTAINED. IF AN ACTIVE PUBLIC TRADING MARKET FOR GALLERY OR COLLECTION INTERESTS DOES NOT DEVELOP OR IS NOT SUSTAINED, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO RESELL YOUR INTERESTS AT ANY PRICE. EVEN IF AN ACTIVE MARKET DOES DEVELOP, THE MARKET PRICE COULD DECLINE BELOW THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR YOUR INTERESTS. THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THAT THE OTIS PLATFORM WILL PROVIDE AN ACTIVE MARKET FOR RESALES OF GALLERY OR COLLECTION INTERESTS. FURTHER, WITHOUT THE OTIS PLATFORM, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO DISPOSE OF YOUR INTERESTS. IF THE MARKET DEVELOPS FOR ANY SERIES OF GALLERY AND/OR OTIS COLLECTION INTERESTS, THE MARKET PRICE OF SUCH INTERESTS COULD FLUCTUATE SIGNIFICANTLY FOR MANY REASONS, INCLUDING REASONS UNRELATED TO PERFORMANCE, THE UNDERLYING ASSETS OR ANY SERIES, SUCH AS REPORTS BY INDUSTRY ANALYSTS, INVESTOR PERCEPTIONS OR ANNOUNCEMENTS BY COMPETITORS REGARDING THEIR OWN PERFORMANCE, AS WELL AS GENERAL ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY CONDITIONS.

Otis
iOS and Android
Download App