The end of a year is a time for reflection.
At cllct, our team decided to take stock of the collectibles we acquired over the last 12 months.
Founder Darren Rovell put together his list of the 10 best buys from 2024, and the rest of our editorial staffers share their picks below:
Kevin Jackson: Buy the ticket, take the ride
Our most cherished memorabilia is often deeply personal.
By definition, nostalgia connects us to moments that bring back feelings of happiness.
It could be the last game you attended with a parent, the first game you took a child to, or the day your team won a championship or finally beat its rival.
An investment-minded collector might look at the ticket I bought on eBay from the Washington-Oregon game on Oct. 8, 2016, and assume it was a bet on the promising future of Justin Herbert.
After all, that game represents the first college start for the Chargers’ 26-year-old franchise quarterback.
I don’t see it that way at all.
To me, that ticket takes me back to the day the streak died.
Below the grade of PSA 10 and above the footnote on Herbert’s collegiate debut is the score: Washington 70, Oregon 21.
For Huskies fans, it wasn’t just a seven-touchdown victory over our most despised rival, it was the day we exorcised a demon.
Oregon, which for most of my youth held “little brother” status and was a Pacific Northwest foe that I hardly considered a rival, somehow, someway beat Washington 12 consecutive times between 2004 and 2015.
All that changed on that fall Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, in an emphatic way as the Dawgs scored the most points in the history of the rivalry and silenced Autzen Stadium.
So, when I look at that ticket on my desk, I see Herbert’s first pass being intercepted by UW safety Budda Baker. I smile at the thought of Huskies QB Jake Browning pointing at an Oregon defender as he ran into the end zone for the opening score as Washington scored the day's first 28 points.
And I remember the relief I felt at the buzzer — even if I was a tad nervous into the second half of a game my team led 35-7 at halftime. The streak was that traumatic.
It’s definitely the best $90 I spent in 2024.
Kevin Jackson is the Chief Content Office for cllct and attended his first Washington Huskies game with his father in November 1981.
Ben Burrows: The end of the quest
If a stranger asked about my collection, this set of 10 cards would be the first thing I showed them. They are nearly worthless to almost any other collector, but, to me, they represent a long journey that was finally completed in 2024.
I first read about the 1910 Murad Cigarettes Collegiate Silks set in a blog on prewarcards.com in 2018. After seeing my alma mater, Syracuse, represented, I knew I had to put the S22 set together.
The silks themselves aren’t terribly expensive — I believe the most expensive one was about $120 — though I did take care to find examples that weren’t drastically trimmed, folded or stained.
After quickly putting together the first five, my collection stagnated for years as I attempted to track down the two variations that rarely surfaced. Once I found silks for hockey and the hammer throw, I immediately assembled the final five and submitted the set to SGC.
There are 25 schools featured in the set, with 10 silks for each representing a different sport, and mine is the only complete graded set in existence. That’s likely because no one else has cared to put one together, but it remains the collecting goal I’m most proud of.
Ben Burrows: One for dad
Of the cards in my collection, none was a more emotional acquisition than this one.
I started collecting with my father, Ron, roughly 30 years ago at our local card shop in South Williamsport, Penn. His favorite player was always Sandy Koufax, and though he picked up several playing-days cards over the years, he never dared explore purchasing a rookie card.
Truthfully, I think he just had more fun making sure my collection was packed with my own childhood heroes.
My father died in 2014, and after a decade of grieving, it was clear I needed to finally start healing. I made it a priority to acquire cards for him at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland this past summer, and I was able to purchase a 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax, graded PSA 3, along with two Koufax autographs from the Perez-Steele sets.
If he was collecting today, I think these would be cards he’d covet.
Ron might not be able to collect for himself anymore, but I can certainly do it for him. Those three cards are the founding members of a new collection dedicated to my father that I’ll continue to curate alongside my own. He started my collecting journey three decades ago, so it’s only right I continue his.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.
Matt Liberman: An ode to Rafa
The Rafael Nadal 2007 Ace Authentic card, graded PSA 6, was not actually a purchase, but rather a birthday gift from cllct's Will Stern.
Anyone who knows me, or even follows me on social media, knows my love of tennis.
It's a beautiful game of ebbs and flows, and the best part about it, in my opinion, is the solo nature of the game.
It's just you on the court, and your game is measured by your skill, your mentality and most importantly your heart.
From the time I first became a tennis fan, way back in the mid 2000s, when I was in elementary school, Nadal was always my favorite player. And in a country dominated by football and basketball, Nadal was my favorite athlete.
He was this firecracker on the court, an athletic specimen unlike anything tennis had ever seen, and yet also a monk, with no one seemingly unable to topple his mental jenga.
Famously, he never once broke a racket. The only other player I've seen do that is Casper Ruud, who grew up idolizing Nadal.
Above all else though, no one ever showed more heart on the court. He never took a break. He played every point like it would be his last. Ask any player and they will all tell you Nadal had the greatest fighting spirit the sport had ever seen, maybe any sport had ever seen.
The Spanish sensation played the final match of his legendary career Nov. 19, a straight-sets loss in the Davis Cup. He wanted to finish his career representing his country.
Many players, once they begin amassing a small fortune, move to tax-exempt places, such as Monte Carlo. Not Nadal. He lives in Mallorca, where he grew up. He has opened one of the world's greatest tennis academies, that also serves as an incredible school. Roger Federer has spoken publicly about the chances of sending his own children to Nadal's academy.
Nadal was always on the front lines of fighting for justice in both the sport and the world, especially once Federer retired and Nadal was seen as the de facto leader of the sport.
He famously thanked every employee and volunteer at tennis tournaments he played it. And it wasn't famous because he spoke about it, but because everyone was in awe that this 22-time Grand Slam champion would go through the effort to personally extend his gratitude to each individual working to make these tournaments happen. I happen to know several of these employees and volunteers, and to say it made their experience worthwhile is a vast understatement.
Everyone Nadal met and everywhere he touched is better off for it. I know I certainly am.
And for myself, someone who is new to collecting, I wouldn't want to begin it with any other athlete.
So, thank you, Will, for starting my collection the right way.
Matt Liberman is a video producer and reporter for cllct.