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Collectors Like Their MVPs Young

According to the July issue of Beckett Basketball, if you want to improve your stock in the collectibles market, you better do it before your 30th birthday. Last week, the Suns' Steve Nash became the seventh player past the age of 30 to be named MVP for the first time. Unfortunately for him, players who don't take off early in their careers have a tendency to lose impact among memorabilia collectors. The average price of key Rookie Cards for players who won the award for the first time in their 20s is $325.67. For players who won the award for the first time after age 30, that number drops to $51.67.

"The Rookie Cards of players who won their first MVP award past the age of 30 tend to be less than six times as valuable as those of guys who won the award in their 20s," says Beckett Basketball editor David Lee. "Now, there are some extenuating circumstances that inflate those numbers, like the scarcity of sets. Still, it's clear that the older winners - and we're talking about some all-time greats here - just don't have that intrigue of what they'll do in the future. Their careers have long been mapped out."

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-Bob