In 2014, Steven and Alan Spiegel paid $35,000 for a LeBron James rookie card. The 2003-2004 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection LeBron James Rookie Patch Autograph card had James’ signature and a piece of a jersey he had worn, so it seemed like a good buy. Only 99 of these cards were ever made. When it was bought, most collectors would have called it a good hold for a long time. It looks like the Spiegels had bigger plans than that.
The market for sports cards was doing something that almost no one had seen coming by early 2021. Values were going up quickly because of stimulus checks, collectors who were bored with the pandemic, and cryptocurrency fans who were looking for a new place to put their money. There was a LeBron Rookie Patch Autograph that sold for more than $1.5 million. Soon after, a rarer gold edition sold for $5.2 million. It looked like the right time for Steven and Alan to finally cash out.
They gave the card, which was number 44 of 99, to Goldin Auctions, which is run by Ken Goldin, who became famous during the pandemic. He put up videos on Instagram of himself and Drake and La La Anthony breaking expensive boxes. He was the subject of a reality show on Netflix. His brand seemed to be at its peak, and if you wanted to sell a valuable card, his platform was the one to be at.
Bidding on the Spiegels’ card reached $690,000 on the first day it was up for sale. Goldin then called. The card was being taken from the auction. No sale for good. We only made a phone call and took money out.
The really tricky part comes from what happened next. In their lawsuit against Goldin and his company, the Spiegels said that his actions cast doubt on their card by making it seem like it might have been involved in some kind of scandal, which they said hurt its value and reputation. They thought Goldin’s actions cost them more than just a sale. It made them look bad.
Goldin, for his part, has said he did nothing wrong. From public records, it’s still not clear what caused the pull, and the legal arguments on both sides are still being debated. It’s clear that the Spiegels felt their card and the money they’d put into it for almost ten years had been publicly harmed by someone they had trusted to sell it.
It’s hard not to notice that this story is about trust and change at the same time. There has always been a small amount of faith involved in collecting sports cards. You have to believe in the grading companies, the auction houses, and the cardboard that you’re holding. There are more effects than just money when that faith fails. They are private.
The hobby also depends a lot on when you do it. It’s possible for a card that was worth twice as much in January to be worth only 40% as much by March if the player on the front has a bad season or teams lose championship games. In this market, a few weeks can make the difference between a windfall and a loss, which makes disputes over delays, misrepresentation, or auctions that are pulled feel extra weighty.
The Spiegel case is one of the more famous ones, but it’s not the only one. The trading card business is going through a rough patch of growing pains right now. There are antitrust suits against grading monopolies, legal battles over licensing rights, and now collectors are going after auction houses directly. The cash grew. Things became more important. And then the fights started.
It seems like the hobby is still trying to figure out what it is: a fun activity, a market for speculation, or something more like a financial asset class, complete with all the legal framework that comes with that. Based on the Spiegels’ lawsuit, the answer could be any of the three, depending on who you ask.
