Yogi Mania Hits: Collectors Flocking to First Autographs of Mavericks Sudden Star

February 08, 2017

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Ninety-nine cents. That’s it. That’s all you would’ve needed back in late December to pick up one of Yogi Ferrell’s 2016 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball autograph cards. Heck, you would’ve had to spend three times that just to have the card shipped to you. Back then, of course, Ferrell was an undrafted project with seemingly no clear path to the NBA, despite being Indiana University’s all-time assists leader.

By late December, Ferrell already had been waived twice by the Brooklyn Nets. Six long weeks later, he signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks. All the diminutive point guard did with that third opportunity was help lead the Mavericks on a four-game winning streak, highlighted by a 32-point outburst last Friday against Portland that sent Yogi Mania into a full-blown frenzy.

Yesterday, on the same day that Ferrell signed a well-earned multiyear contract with the Mavericks, one of his 2016 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball autographs sold for  more than $51. For the record, that’s a 5,000 percent increase over those late-December steal prices. A quick eBay search of completed sale prices reveals many other cards closing for between $40 and $62 — for a card you could’ve gotten six weeks ago for 99 CENTS!

Yogi Mania certainly impacted the sale of this 2016 National Treasures Collegiate Basketball Autograph Patch card limited to five that sold on the last day of January for a whopping $350. As it stands right now, Ferrell has autograph trading cards in just those two Panini America collegiate basketball releases. His first NBA card arrived earlier this week on Panini Instant and almost instantly became one of the most popular Instant cards of the NBA season.

In the weeks ahead, Yogi Mania is sure to continue, working wonders on what few autograph options exist right now. In the meantime, Panini America NBA product developers are planning for Ferrell’s first NBA autograph cards to arrive in the late-March release of 2016-17 Donruss Optic Basketball.

Stay tuned . . .