1955 Topps Sandy Koufax prices

SDSportsFan

PSA sent out an email today about their "Card of the Day", the 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax. It includes a link to their website, where they have a price study of all Koufax RCs that have sold via the major auction houses since around 2009 or so (doesn't include ebay).

Here's the link:

https://psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1955-topps/sandy-koufax-123/24717/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=marketingemail&utm_campaign=email-psa-cotd-1955topps-2017oct29&spMailingID=55237277&spUserID=MzgyNzM1Njk3MzAS1&spJobID=1265146203&spReportId=MTI2NTE0NjIwMwS2

It really brings into focus, the price increase over the last several years, along with the price drop over the last year. I've copied and pasted the prices for PSA 8s and 9s below. Going to the link and looking at all the prices, you can see the price drop includes every grade.

Steve

Grade Price Date Firm
MINT 9 $132,000 Aug-17 Heritage Auctions
MINT 9 $156,000 May-17 Robert Edward Auctions
MINT 9 $204,000 Mar-17 Heritage Auctions
**MINT 9 $215,100 Aug-16 Heritage Auctions
MINT 9 $89,625 Jul-15 Heritage Auctions
MINT 9 $44,813 May-14 Heritage Auctions
MINT 9 $41,974 Aug-13 Memory Lane, Inc.
MINT 9 $16,886 Oct-09 Mile High Card Company
MINT 9 $26,317 Jul-08 SCP Auctions
MINT 9 $21,430 Nov-07 Goodwin and Co. Auctions
MINT 9 $17,217 Dec-06 Memory Lane, Inc.

Grade Price Date Firm
NM-MT+ 8.5 $31,776 May-17 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT+ 8.5 $33,600 Feb-17 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT+ 8.5 $38,240 Nov-16 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT+ 8.5 $71,700 Aug-16 Heritage Auctions
**NM-MT+ 8.5 $89,625 May-16 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT+ 8.5 $10,684 Dec-14 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT+ 8.5 $5,676 Apr-11 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT+ 8.5 $4,716 Dec-10 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT+ 8.5 $5,640 Aug-10 Greg Bussineau Auctions

Grade Price Date Firm
NM-MT 8 $9,000 Aug-17 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $11,400 Jun-17 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $10,496 Jun-17 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $13,475 May-17 Goldin Auctions
NM-MT 8 $12,250 Apr-17 Goldin Auctions
NM-MT 8 $11,400 Jan-17 Goldin Auctions
NM-MT 8 $14,660 Jan-17 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $16,800 Dec-16 Goldin Auctions
NM-MT 8 $13,743 Nov-16 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $9,560 Nov-16 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $16,800 Nov-16 Goldin Auctions
NM-MT 8 $12,438 Nov-16 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $17,925 Aug-16 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $20,660 Aug-16 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $18,797 Jul-16 Mile High Card Company
**NM-MT 8 $80,626 Jul-16 Goodwin and Co. Auctions
NM-MT 8 $19,120 May-16 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $18,720 Apr-16 Greg Bussineau Auctions
NM-MT 8 $6,642 May-15 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $3,346 Nov-14 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $4,536 Aug-14 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,963 Apr-14 Robert Edward Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,880 Mar-14 Greg Bussineau Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,760 Dec-13 Greg Bussineau Auctions
NM-MT 8 $3,086 May-13 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,760 Apr-13 Greg Bussineau Auctions
NM-MT 8 $3,000 Apr-13 Greg Bussineau Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,666 Jan-13 Robert Edward Auctions
NM-MT 8 $3,585 Oct-12 Heritage Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,301 Aug-12 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,992 Jun-12 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,499 May-12 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,804 May-12 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $4,822 Jan-12 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,963 Jan-12 Robert Edward Auctions
NM-MT 8 $377 Dec-11 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,143 Dec-11 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $1,948 Aug-11 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,143 Aug-11 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,460 Jul-11 Greg Bussineau Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,520 Apr-11 SCP Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,350 Jan-11 Robert Edward Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,357 Dec-10 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,272 Nov-10 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,772 Nov-10 SCP Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,357 Aug-10 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,178 Jun-10 Goodwin and Co. Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,851 Jun-10 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,520 Jun-10 SCP Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,142 Apr-10 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,339 Jan-10 SCP Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,440 Oct-09 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,213 Aug-09 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,221 Oct-08 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,443 Oct-08 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $1,948 Sep-08 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,852 May-08 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $3,285 Apr-08 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,685 Feb-08 Mile High Card Company
NM-MT 8 $2,143 Sep-07 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $3,231 Jan-07 Robert Edward Auctions
NM-MT 8 $2,143 Dec-06 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $1,948 Aug-06 Memory Lane, Inc.
NM-MT 8 $2,077 Mar-06 Memory Lane, Inc.

** = Peak Price

KendallCat

Who "paid" $80k for the one from Goodwin when they were selling for $18-25k has always been a head scratcher. The 8.5's were in the $35-50k range, so this sale is very odd to say the least.

70ToppsFanatic

KC, that was definitely a high-end "8" that someone may have been looking to bump, but my gut tells me that the bid was not honored. I'm sure we could call Goodwin and ask him to confirm if the sale was consummated.

ElvisP

Why didn't they include eBay sales?

mintonlypls

There is a nice psa-7 on an REA auction ending Sunday night that is currently at $9k w/the buyer premium...

ReggieCleveland

Ahhh.... summer 2016.

mattyc_collection

I think there are certainly anomalous spikes in price for a special card that two or more collectors simply fell in love with.

That said, I also believe such spikes can also sometimes be the product of created "run-ups" to help benefit the owner of a future sale(s).

Also, there are "doctors" out there who make their livings from finding bump candidates— and if they believe they can get a card into a 100k holder, they are willing to pay a seemingly shocking multiple on the card in its current holder.

The cards that tend to draw that kind of attention will also naturally appeal to those collectors who love eye appeal that transcends grade— hence such auctions can get a lot of action from collectors and doctors slugging it out.

seebelow

I'm sure we can now be reasonably assured that there was price manipulation that peaked around the summer of 2016. If there are some who still aren't convinced...well wait, I don't want to go back over that again.
thanks

Stone193

I never could find the urge to pays loads of dough for a card - tho I wish I had in the early 90s with what I had to budget.

I did pick this up for a few hundred by around 1993/4:

fiveniner

I am happy just to have to low Grade koufax .it still cost a pretty penny but affordable.

gemint

One has to be skeptical of whether those Goodwin sales ever went through. There were a number of 3x/4x the market hammer prices in his auctions. One was the '55 Clemente PSA 8's seling for $150k last year.

KendallCat

@gemint said:
One has to be skeptical of whether those Goodwin sales ever went through. There were a number of 3x/4x the market hammer prices in his auctions. One was the '55 Clemente PSA 8's seling for $150k last year.

Agree 100%. I have seen numerous auctions of his that have some serious ?? regarding pricing and figures he is getting on cards. One thing to be 10-20% up over VCP and another to be 2-3x VCP when your reach is nowhere near that of MLI or Heritage.

Sdub

@gemint said:
One has to be skeptical of whether those Goodwin sales ever went through. There were a number of 3x/4x the market hammer prices in his auctions. One was the '55 Clemente PSA 8's seling for $150k last year.

Unless the auction houses are going to come up for air and disclose payments, we all have to assume any of these cards that sell for over 30-40% of average value within 90 days are fraud and are not being paid for. Until I'm proven otherwise, that is the math I'm using.