{"id":1970,"date":"2019-05-10T15:51:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T15:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/?p=1970"},"modified":"2019-10-14T16:07:34","modified_gmt":"2019-10-14T16:07:34","slug":"the-insider-memorabilia-is-a-rookies-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2019\/05\/10\/the-insider-memorabilia-is-a-rookies-game\/","title":{"rendered":"THE INSIDER: Memorabilia Is A Rookie’s Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Here at Icons.com<\/a>, we make a point to not only sign with the biggest superstars on the planet but to select the cream of the crop from the next generation as well, <\/strong>writes Sales Manager, Ben Soley.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, a lot can change in a year. Over the last 12 months, France displaced Germany as world champions, Luka Modric<\/a> became the first man in 11 years to dethrone Lionel Messi<\/a> and Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> as the World Player of the Year, and Liverpool<\/a> qualified for a UEFA Champions League<\/a> final\u2026 okay, so maybe not everything changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re Callum Hudson-Odoi<\/a>, the last year has seen you promoted to Chelsea<\/a>\u2019s first team; make your debut; start matches in the UEFA Europa League<\/a>, FA Cup and Premier League<\/a>, getting an assist on each debut; be constantly linked with a move to European behemoth Bayern Munich<\/a>; and get your first senior England<\/a> cap. Not forgetting, of-course, becoming an Icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost a year to the day that Callum<\/a> became an Icon, conducting his first signing with us in London on May 14th, 2018. Since then his rise has been as rapid as he is. Indeed, his four goals in nine UEFA Europa League<\/a> appearances puts him among the top scorers for the competition and is a clear indication of his undoubted quality. Over the same period, Hudson-Odoi<\/a> has outsold traditional bestsellers on our website. Items signed by the Chelsea<\/a> and England<\/a> starlet have sold quicker and in more quantities than memorabilia signed by Luis Suarez<\/a>, Philippe Coutinho<\/a> and many more established stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re regularly asked how we pick and choose who we sign for Icons.com<\/a>. Hudson-Odoi<\/a>\u2019s talent is not questioned but of all the talented youngsters out there, we opted for Callum<\/a> because he hit a sweet spot for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Firstly, he plays for a top-six team with a solid international fan base. Chelsea<\/a> fans have been crying out for young talent to break through at their club so Callum<\/a>‘s rise presented us with the chance to provide that considerable supporter base with a name they are interested in. Our exclusive contract with Eden Hazard<\/a> also means we have a strong database of Chelsea<\/a> fans to target. He also fits in well with our licenses \u2013 as an Adidas player we can include Callum<\/a>‘s signed boots in our Official UEFA Europa League<\/a> (an Adidas-sponsored tournament) range. As a member of the England<\/a> setup, we can add his products to our Official England Licensed Memorabilia<\/a> range. Finally, Callum<\/a> has a social media presence and can promote his signing with Icons to help us sell his products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In baseball<\/a>, rookie trading cards are often valued higher based on the limit to supply \u2013 the player’s first year being the only year for which the athlete is considered a rookie. Babe Ruth\u2019s 1916 rookie card sold for $717,000 at auction in 2016, in the same year ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson’s rookie card sold for $667,149. Mickey Mantle, another great of the game, has a rookie card from 1951 which is now worth a staggering $750,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why? Many athletes\u2019 rookie year isn\u2019t spectacularly successful. An athlete’s appearance may also radically change and their rookie year look is rarely how they are best remembered. Perhaps this the point. For many collectors it boils down to the bragging rights, the idea that you can claim that you were there first, you saw that athlete’s potential earlier than anyone else and you saw something special in them from the off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then, of course, there is the financial benefit. It\u2019s a textbook example of buying low and selling high. Last month, I wrote about women\u2019s football and the importance of getting on board early as it explodes in popularity. This is much the same. In order to yield the biggest returns, you must get the item at its lowest cost value, and that is best done at the start before an athlete has achieved greatness in the eyes of everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings us back to Icons and Callum Hudson-Odoi<\/a>. To the untrained eye, it may look like we got lucky with Hudson-Odoi<\/a>. But Icons have a proven track-record of finding stars among the youth. Sergio Aguero<\/a> first signed for us while he was plying his trade at Atletico Madrid<\/a>; Gareth Bale<\/a> was still at Spurs<\/a> when he signed for us first; Neymar Jr<\/a> was at Santos<\/a>. And then there\u2019s the small matter of Lionel Messi<\/a> and Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>, signed by Icons at 18 and 19-years-old respectively. Icons are in fact Messi<\/a>\u2019s longest serving commercial partner \u2013 longer even than Adidas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, it\u2019s one thing to get ahead in business, but to stay ahead you must look to the future. Admittedly, it\u2019s not without its risks. But those risks are minimised by our staff\u2019s extensive knowledge of sport and our acute sense of what will sell and what won’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll leave you with this. Ajax<\/a>‘s former head of talent development Ruben Jongkind recently told the following story: “When FC Barcelona<\/a> were so good and so dominant seven or eight years ago, I was walking with [Johan] Cruyff<\/a> on the training ground at La Masia. He told me: ‘Everybody is looking at the first team and I am looking at the academy. Things are not right and they have to change.'” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have the same mentality here at Icons.com<\/a>. We never rest on our laurels and we are always looking to the future for the next set of superstars and Ballon d\u2019Or<\/a> winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t just sign the Icons, we scout them too.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here at Icons.com, we make a point to not only sign with the biggest superstars on the planet but to select the cream of the crop from the next generation as well, writes Sales Manager, Ben Soley. After all, a lot can change in a year. Over the last 12 months, France displaced Germany as… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[462],"tags":[467,464,420,57,14,38,165,463],"class_list":["post-1970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-insider","tag-baseball","tag-ben-soley","tag-callum-hudson-odoi","tag-chelsea","tag-football","tag-memorabilia","tag-signed-memorabilia","tag-the-insider"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfQcey-vM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1868,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2019\/03\/25\/the-rise-and-rise-of-womens-football\/","url_meta":{"origin":1970,"position":0},"title":"THE INSIDER: The Rise and Rise of Women’s Football","author":"Icons.com","date":"March 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"What a fortnight it has been for women\u2019s football, writes Icons.com Sales Manager, Ben Soley. Amid the feverish anticipation for this summer\u2019s FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, club-level attendance records were broken and investment in the sport continued to reach new heights both on and off the pitch. It is becoming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Insider"","block_context":{"text":"The Insider","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/the-insider\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1131337688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1131337688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1131337688.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1131337688.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1131337688.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4040,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2025\/06\/18\/from-our-ceo-messis-in-america-now-we-are-too\/","url_meta":{"origin":1970,"position":1},"title":"FROM OUR CEO: Messi Is In America. Now We Are Too.","author":"Icons.com","date":"June 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Icons.com was launched in 1999. To give you a sense of how long ago that was, Google had gone live just a few months prior. Back then, the plan was to share stories from the players themselves while simultaneously delivering the world\u2019s best signed sports memorabilia from a tiny office\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Announcements"","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Messi-Blog-V1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Messi-Blog-V1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Messi-Blog-V1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Messi-Blog-V1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Messi-Blog-V1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2014\/06\/12\/we-predict-the-2014-fifa-world-cup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1970,"position":2},"title":"We Predict… The 2014 FIFA World Cup","author":"Icons.com","date":"June 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time again. Who is going to win the World Cup? Who is going to score for fun? Will there be suprises and disappointments?\u00a0Here are the Icons team's expectations for the World Cup in Brazil. Dan Jamieson, Managing Director World Cup winners: Germany Runner-ups: Argentina Top goal scorer:\u00a0Sergio Aguero\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Previews and Predictions"","block_context":{"text":"Previews and Predictions","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/previews-and-predictions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":561,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2016\/02\/18\/why-we-love-messis-300-la-liga-goals\/","url_meta":{"origin":1970,"position":3},"title":"Why We Love Messi’s 300 La Liga Goals","author":"Icons.com","date":"February 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"With the opening goal of FC Barcelona's 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon on Wednesday evening, Lionel Messi became the first player in the history of La Liga to reach 300 league goals. So, to celebrate Messi's landmark achievement, the staff of icons.com have picked their favourite of Messi's now 301\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Why We Love"","block_context":{"text":"Why We Love","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/why-we-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FBL-ESP-LIGA-BARCELONA-SEVILLA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/GettyImages-459420070-1024x726.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/GettyImages-459420070-1024x726.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/GettyImages-459420070-1024x726.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3215,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2024\/03\/27\/introducing-mystery-memorabilia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1970,"position":4},"title":"Introducing\u2026 Mystery Memorabilia","author":"Icons.com","date":"March 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Icons.com is thrilled to introduce Mystery Memorabilia, a brand new mystery box product that brings you all the excitement of authentic signed memorabilia with a surprise twist.\u00a0\u00a0 The Mystery Memorabilia concept is simple. 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