The sports trading card market exploded with the COVID-19 pandemic. The market was doing well, but really took off with people stuck at home with money and eBay:

By all accounts, it should have been game over for the card industry.

Instead, virtual auction blocks exploded, rewriting record books again and again (and again!) in the past half year.

From May to early June, more than 40 cards sold on eBay for at least $50,000. From mid-May to July, that number rose to 96, with more than 35% going for $90,000 or more.

“I’ve been in this market since 1976 and I have never witnessed such vibrancy,” List says.

ESPN.com

I remember in the early 1990s a number of co-workers spending a lot of time and money on baseball cards before that market collapsed. Firms seem to be better at balancing supply and demand today. The article is interesting throughout for it’s look at both the history and economics of the market.