Wie memorabilia flood eBay
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Joel Martel nearly fell out of his chair at his home in Montreal this week when the final eBay bid rolled in for the Michelle Wie card he had torn out for free from a sports collectors' magazine.
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The same card of Wie sold for no more than $20 last month on eBay, Martel said. But that was before the 14-year-old Punahou School freshman displayed both her golf game and her charisma before a televised national audience at last week's Sony Open, barely missing the cut of male professional golfers by one stroke.
Michelle Wie memorabilia are flourishing on Internet bidding sites such as eBay since her heralded appearance last week in the Sony Open in Hawaii and more exposure on the ESPN television network as a commentator.
This week, hopeful sellers responded by flooding eBay with nearly 400 Michelle Wie photographs, collectors' cards, autographs and magazines and newspapers featuring Wie on their covers.
At one point this week, Martel's rare, platinum edition, rookie card from All Sports Magazine topped them all, selling for $280.
"When I see how she played and all the publicity around that event, I decided that it was the time to put this card on eBay," Martel said from Montreal. "Because she is hot I was hoping to obtain $35 to $40. But when I saw the final bid I almost fell from my chair."
The online auction site's increased activity for all things Wie represents just one part of the global collectors' market that's exploded since Wie's performance at the Waialae Country Club, said Bill Froloff, the owner of a sports memorabilia company called 65 Mustang Sports, based in Mission Viejo, Calif.
"Once somebody does something spectacular, such as Michelle's done, then these things start to snowball," Froloff said. "It's kind of like a fever pitch. It's hot right away and then the fever dies away until something else happens."
Wie cannot accept any compensation from the sales or she would jeopardize her amateur standing. But that hardly slows the activity surrounding her.
At her next tournament, Froloff expects Wie to be swarmed with people wanting her autograph on hats, programs, golf balls and just about anything else.
And it won't necessarily be for a keepsake, Froloff said.
"They're going to turn around and try to sell it just because it has her name on it," he said. "People see superstar written all over her."
Andy Duckett, a veteran eBay sports memorabilia seller from Atlanta, believes that anyone with a ticket stub from this year's Sony Open could easily sell it online for $30.
Duckett found an old Golf World magazine he had picked up for free last year at a golf trade show that featured Wie on the cover. This week he offered it on eBay, hoping to make $2.99.
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Yesterday the bid was up to $10.51, with nearly two days to go.
Michelle Wie tees off on the first day of the Sony Open in Hawaii. The tournament was held last week at Waialae Country Club in Kahala.
"I guarantee if I had put this thing on eBay a month ago it wouldn't have sold at all," Duckett said. "Timing is everything. I wish I had picked up more of them. It makes me want to go dig through some of my old stuff to see if I have any more articles about her."
Not everyone producing Wie-related items these days, however, is looking to make money.
The Ko Olina Golf Club made 300 red-lettered "Go Michelle" buttons for the Sony Open and passed them out to children for free.
Wie practices at Ko Olina, helps the junior program and lets the club display her Women's Amateur Public Links Championships trophy. The club, in turn, made the buttons to show its support for Wie, said Greg Nichols, the club's director of golf.
But people have been asking to buy the buttons ever since the Sony Open, Nichols said.
"We say, 'They're not for sale,' " Nichols said. "You probably could sell them, but they weren't made for sale. We're not trying to profit off of Michelle's notoriety. It was really a show of support for her."
Wie has let the club auction off a round of golf with her for thousands of dollars that benefited the Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association, Nichols said. And if she should do it again, Nichols expects the bids to go up.
"Especially if it's at a national event," Nichols said, "the sky's the limit. Michelle is the hottest thing in golf right now."
"Very hot," said Brian Murphy, an All Sports Magazine writer who has been auctioning Wie collector cards since summer and currently has 15 Wie-related items on eBay.
Since the Sony Open, Murphy said, the typical price of a Wie card has tripled and is selling for an average of $40.
"These things are like Nasdaq, hot and cold, and she's definitely hot," Murphy said.
When told about the premium Wie card that Martel sold for $280, Murphy said he has the same card — and still attached to the magazine.
"I guess I should put that up for auction, too," Murphy said. "It should be worth more if it's still in the magazine."
Murphy calls himself a longtime Wie fan whom he hopes to meet at her next tournament.
If he does, Murphy would love to interview Wie for All Sports Magazine. And he'd especially like to ask for Wie's autograph — which he'd then sell to the highest bidder.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
