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An Ode to Paper Tickets
TL;DR
The article discusses the charm of paper tickets and their decline in the digital age, highlighting personal anecdotes from collectors. It emphasizes the nostalgia and significance of physical tickets from memorable sporting events.
Key points
- Paper tickets are becoming less common at sporting events.
- Collectors cherish physical tickets for their sentimental value.
- The author shares a personal story about a ticket from a Shohei Ohtani game.
- Digital ticketing is replacing traditional paper tickets.
- Grading services assess the authenticity of sports tickets.
An Ode to Paper Tickets
Collectors,
The Athletic has a good piece (linked below) about the allure of paper tickets, and their decreasing availability at sporting events in this digital age. Most people reading this probably have a bunch of old tickets from favorite sporting events, maybe shoved in a shoebox, maybe preserved, graded and displayed on a shelf. I sure do…
One of my favorite tickets is from the 2024 game where Shohei Ohtani hit his 60th home run. I wasn’t there, but I DM’d a priest on Twitter who said he had extras, and bought one from him. I later sent it to PSA to be graded and it was returned as ‘not original’… So why is it one of my favorites? It represents two amazing achievements… Shohei hitting 60 homers in a season, and me maybe getting scammed by a baseball-loving padre!
Mantel: Everything You Need to Know About 2025 Topps Chrome Football
Topps relaunched Chrome Football yesterday, marking its return to the NFL after a decade. The 2025 release features extensive autograph checklists, including first licensed autos for many current players, and new game-used programs like Rookie PREM1ERE Patch Autographs and 1-of-1 NFL Honors Gold Shields. The set includes nearly 300 signers, multiple themed inserts, and box configurations designed to deliver a mix of rookies, parallels, and autographs. I particularly love the TECMO Bowl inserts, shown above. Brings me back.
The Athletic: Stadiums Are Phasing Out Paper Tickets, But Some Fans Want Them Back
As teased in the newsletter open, a longtime Montreal fan has kept her first 1986 Expos ticket for decades, highlighting the emotional value of physical tickets as they disappear from sports. Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers are moving fully digital, accelerating a shift that began in the 2010s. While collectors still value historic ticket stubs, newer efforts from apps and designers aim to recreate tangible keepsakes as demand for physical memorabilia persists. As much as I love paper tickets and want one for every game I attend, I do like the Momento app for digitally capturing my favorite live events.
Baseball and Brands: Eighty Years of the Robinson Signature
The 80th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s 1946 endorsement deal with Hillerich & Bradsby represents a major moment in sports marketing history. Signed before his MLB debut, the contract made him the first African American player with a Louisville Slugger bat bearing his name, breaking longstanding equipment segregation. The standard agreement, preserved in archives, reflects both his position change in Montreal and a broader shift toward inclusion in professional baseball.
Mantel: Why A 35 Year-Old American Flag Card Is the Hottest Thing in Collecting
A coordinated push led by a collector on social media (and then amplified by our own J.R. Fickle) drove a surge in demand for the 1991 Score American Flag card (#737), a widely produced junk wax-era card. Prices rose from a few dollars to over $14 as buyers joined in (ca-ching!), turning the effort into a social experiment. The initiative later shifted toward raising money for charity, giving the card newfound relevance beyond its original market value.
Hagerty: This Ex-Cormac McCarthy Lotus Esprit S4S Sure Is One Pretty Horse
A 1995 Lotus Esprit S4S once owned by author Cormac McCarthy is being offered as a no-reserve project car through Hagerty Marketplace. McCarthy, who died in 2023, owned a wide range of vehicles later in life after achieving financial success. The Esprit, acquired in 2010, was never registered and is not currently running. We’ve read a lot of McCarthy here at Mantel HQ, and this is not the type of horsepower we’re used to.
New York Times: How to Win a $1.2M Picasso Without Really Trying
A Paris-based software salesman won a Pablo Picasso painting valued at over €1M through a charity raffle after purchasing two €100 tickets. The 1941 work, “Tête de femme,” was raffled by 1 Picasso for 100 Euros, raising €12M, with proceeds supporting Alzheimer’s research. The portrait, depicting Dora Maar, previously hung in Picasso’s home and was selected for its subject and accessibility. The lesson? Always enter the charity raffle.
Q&A
What is the significance of paper tickets in sports culture?
Paper tickets hold sentimental value for collectors, representing memorable moments and achievements in sports history.
Why are paper tickets becoming less available at sporting events?
The increasing digitization of ticketing systems and the convenience of mobile tickets are leading to a decline in the availability of paper tickets.
What happened to the Shohei Ohtani ticket mentioned in the article?
The author purchased a ticket from a priest on Twitter for Ohtani's 60th home run game, but it was later graded as 'not original' by PSA.
How do collectors preserve and display their paper tickets?
Collectors often grade, preserve, and display their paper tickets in various ways, such as framing them or storing them in protective cases.
