One savvy collector has decided that the magical 2011 World Championship run of the St. Louis Cardinals and their future Hall of Fame first baseman provides the perfect storm to unload what the auction house is calling the greatest collection of Albert Pujols rookie cards ever assembled.
“Just 1,000 copies of the 2001 Donruss Elite Pujols card were ever printed,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Heritage Sports Auctions. “Our consignor bought every one he could find.”
He wound up with 315. Each card is serialized at the left edge in gold numerals.
The assemblage is almost equally divided between professionally graded and “raw” examples and includes 10 exceedingly rare and valuable autographed examples. Dozens carry authentication grades of 8-10.
High bid as of late Thursday was $28,000, without the buyer's premium.
“This opportunity to control such a significant percentage of one of the most important trading cards of the 21st century is unprecedented in the collecting hobby,” said Ivy. “We can only imagine what the value of this collection will be once Albert has rewritten the record books at the close of his career.”
The auction is presented in an online only Extended Bidding format, closing Saturday, Dec. 4 at 10 p.m. CT.
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 2001 TOPPS CHROME TRADED 596 ALBERT PUJOLS ROOKIE BASEBALL CARD $11.50 (7 Bids) Time Remaining: 31m |
 2001 TOPPS FINEST AUTOGRAPHS ALBERT PUJOLS GRADED BGS 9 MINT AUTO 6 $289.95 Time Remaining: 1h 18m |
 2001 TOPPS GALLERY ALBERT PUJOLS 135 ROOKIE Bccg 10 Mint or Better bv120+ $22.50 (10 Bids) Time Remaining: 1h 31m |
 2001 ALBERT PUJOLS ICHIRO TOPPS CHROME rookie GEM 10 $58.49 Time Remaining: 2h 8m Buy It Now for only: $58.49 |
 2001 01 Upper Deck Baseball 295 Albert Pujols Cardinals Rookie Card BGS BCCG 10 $74.99 Time Remaining: 2h 11m |
 2001 Fleer Futures Albert Pujols Rookie Graded BCCG 10 $124.95 Time Remaining: 2h 35m Buy It Now for only: $124.95 |
 ALBERT PUJOLS 2001 UPPER DECK SWEET SPOT BEGINNINGS ROOKIE 121 $110.00 Time Remaining: 4h 6m Buy It Now for only: $110.00 |
 2001 Fleer Premium Prospects ALBERT PUJOLS Rookie Card ed 1570 1999 $45.00 Time Remaining: 4h 14m Buy It Now for only: $45.00 |
 2001 Upper Deck Albert Pujols Rookie Card $59.95 Time Remaining: 4h 39m Buy It Now for only: $59.95 |
