When you were a kid, there was nothing like paging through the Christmas catalog, folding over the corners of pages that held the things you hoped might be under the tree. While most of those thick wish books have disappeared, Memory Lane’s 2022 Winter Rarities Auction catalog is a pretty good replacement.
The company is set to unwrap a thick tome filled with 1,818 lots of higher quality sports cards and memorabilia, with everything from early World Series relics to stacks of Babe Ruth items to modern era cardboard gems.
The auction is set to open December 10 and close January 7.
The catalog leads off with a copy of the “Holy Grail” of baseball publications: a program from the first game of the first modern World Series in 1903. Fully scored by a fan in attendance at Boston’s Huntington Grounds, it tells the tale of Deacon Phillipe beating Cy Young 7-3 and is one of only three known copies from Game 1.
The same program sold for a six-figure price in the Fall of 2021 and returns to the auction block as the hobby heads into 2023.
The auction includes numerous Babe Ruth pieces, including a high-grade single-signed baseball with authentication from both Beckett and PSA that was penned for U.S. Ambassador Paul McNutt in the 1940s.
Among the thousands of vintage cards are more than 200 lots of high-grade 1952 and 1953 Topps baseball, including the lone PSA 7.5 (only seven higher) of card #1, Andy Pafko. A 1924 Willard’s Chocolates Ruth, a PSA 7 1932 U.S. Caramel Ruth, a PSA 7 1933 Goudey Nap Lajoie, rookie cards of Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and a 1952 Topps Mantle (EX 5) are among the other cards featured.
The auction includes complete sets across all eras and sports including the fourth best set of 1921 Exhibit baseball with the Ruth card being offered as a standalone lot.
There are several pages of unopened sports card packs dating back to the 1950s as well as the best of only two known packs of 1962 Topps Mars Attacks. There is a full vending case of 1977 Topps Baseball and several unopened boxes from all major sports.
Several high demand tickets are featured including a 1984 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls/NBA debut, Tiger Woods’ pro debut and first PGA Tour event, Pele’s World Cup debut in 1958 and numerous tickets to milestone games in the career of Tom Brady–all autographed.
There’s a group Type 1 historic photos and among the lots in the new catalog are a 7×10 newspaper photo of Joe Jackson dating to the Black Sox season of 1919, an image from Lou Gehrig’s 1939 “Luckiest Man” speech and a 1940 photo of Jackie Robinson as a UCLA running back.
Memory Lane is also expanding into various other categories for the first time with the catalog including rare comics, vintage video games and Star Wars action figures.
A preview of the entire catalog will open December 5 at MemoryLaneInc.com.
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