Robert Edward Auctions President Brian Dwyer has been passionate about sports cards and collectibles since he could walk and talk.
Initially drawn to 1990s Topps Baseball cards and specifically set building, his involvement in the hobby has evolved over the years yet he has has always stuck to his roots.
From running a consignment business on eBay in the early 2000s to working at grading card company SGC, he gained immeasurable experience in all facets of the hobby.
In 2010, Dwyer launched his own auction platform dedicated exclusively to sports cards. After running that startup business for a number of years, he was hired by REA founder Rob Lifson, who offered him the opportunity to join Robert Edward Auctions.
In 2016, after Lifson’s retirement, Dwyer assumed ownership of REA.
We recently chatted with him about his early collecting experiences, his evolving passions within the hobby and some of the biggest items he’s ever had come across his desk.
TR-Your love for the hobby started at six years old, collecting Topps baseball cards. What players and teams captured your imagination back then?
Brian Dwyer-From a very early age, I was growing up in upstate New York. I should have been rooting for the Mets or the Yankees but I was drawn to the Baltimore Orioles. In 1992 when I started collecting, the Cal Ripken, Jr. card jumped off the paper. I loved the design. It caught my eye and that is one of my first memories from the hobby. I was a Cal Ripken fan and a Baltimore Orioles fan in upstate New York. I look back on 1992 very fondly.
Obviously I now handle stuff that is way, way, way more valuable but when I do come across the 1992 set in box form, they have a bunch of the cards pictured on the box, and I think that is a pretty clean, cool looking set. Maybe we will cause a run on 1992 Topps.
TR–At around 12 years old, eBay became a legitimate option for you to completely change buying, selling, and collecting. Can you speak to how that time fact really changed your path and trajectory?
BD-That was a very pivotal time for me. I remember being home on Christmas break and seeing a television commercial for eBay. I went into my parents’ basement where the computer was with my dad and searching eBay for baseball cards and sports memorabilia. I loved that we could do that from the comfort of our own home. When I was growing up it was an hour and a half drive to the biggest card show. You might have 10 or 20 tables roll through a Holiday Inn but if you really wanted to go to a card show you had to get in the card and drive for a bit. eBay really brought everything to me in a very fun, new and exciting way. To your point, I was buying and selling with people all over the world, which is what I do today. We are very privileged to have clients in over two dozen countries. I am doing, 20 years later, the same very exciting stuff that got me rolling on this path.
TR–In the early 2000s, you are running a consignment business on eBay. What did you enjoy most about your eBay business?
BD– I loved the art of the deal and I loved grading and turning a card with a Beckett value of $6 into a card that would go for $600. One of my best friend’s dad turned his vintage collection over to me at that time. I joined PSA. I sent a bunch of stuff in for grading. I was selling $15,000-$20,000 worth of 1950s and 1960s cards in PSA 7s and 8s online. I loved learning about what made cards valuable and desirable. It was all about learning for me. Then the wheels were going in my head as to how I could parlay this into something. I have this set of skills and this knowledge of this niche industry, wondering what I could do.
TR– In 2007, you took a position leading business development for SGC. What was your experience working directly in the card grading aspect of the hobby?
BD– I loved it. My buying and selling slowed down tremendously. Working for a third party grading company, you are seeing stuff on a daily basis and your impartiality is more important. I was never a grader but I was all in on the grading side of the business. I loved it. I traveled all around the country to trade shows. SGC was and is a very exciting company for me to represent. I loved being in the belly of the beast, like seeing a T206 Honus Wagner. One of my first big exposures was to REA working at SGC grading a Baltimore New Babe Ruth and T206 Honus Wagner for them. I loved grading but I always missed that buying and selling and the art of the deal. I spent three and a half years there before moving on.
TR–What inspired you to launch your own auction platform, Sterling Sports Auctions, back in 2010?
BD-I love meeting people and I loved learning about different parts of the hobby. I got to do that day in and day out with SGC. I missed the excitement of turning an item with a book value into a $1,000 card because I went out and got it graded or I leveraged my expertise for people. At that time there was no middle ground between doing it yourself on eBay and consigning to a large auction house. Large auction houses were geared toward large $10,000 and $100,000 items. I decided to go out with Sterling create a blueprint for collectors to get that auction house experience on cards that were worth $100 or $500. That became the blueprint for our Encore auctions that we launched in 2020 here at REA. Everything starts at $10. You might get a card that sells for $10 or you might get a card that sells for $612,000. We had a PSA 10 Jordan rookie that went for $600,000. I really wanted to give collectors of all budgets and inclinations the auction house experience.
TR–At some point, you got on the radar of REA founder Rob Lifson. How did your relationship form and grow?
BD-I had come into contact with him during my work at SGC. SGC and REA, geographically, were only 20 to 30 minutes apart. If they had a Baltimore News Ruth or a Wagner I might go pick it up or they might drop it off. That was my first exposure. The level of service I was able to deliver to REA as an SGC representative coupled with the level of service and the service I was able to provide to the hobby with Sterling caught Rob’s attention. At that point in time he was only doing one auction a year. He was looking to expand. The hobby was demanding more of what REA was very good at.
REA, for over 30 years, has been known for excellent customer service, tremendous results and bringing the best of the best. He had two employees plus himself at the time. The hobby was clamoring for more auctions. He brought me on board. The next year we went to two auctions. Then a couple of years later we went to three and last year we did 11 auctions. It’s been great. He retired in 2016. I have taken on full ownership and operation of the company and I been loving it every day.
TR-When you took the position with REA, what was your vision for the direction of the company?
BD-In the first six months it was just learning the business. I had been in the hobby at a high level but there was nothing like jumping into center field with the Yankees, so to speak. I learned how REA operated. I learned what was important to the clients. I looked at what REAs strengths and weaknesses were. Then we put out to the public that we are going to give you more opportunities to do business with us. We found out very quickly that people loved what we were doing. The expansion was very natural, very quick and it was very successful frankly.
TR–In 2016, you took ownership of REA. How special was it for that to come to fruition?
BD-It was the culmination of almost 20 years of being a hobbyist and being a professional. It was special. It was very exciting but I also knew I had this incredible responsibility. REA has always been at the top of the hobby when it comes to every metric. There were big shoes to fill and a lot of responsibility but I really thrive in all of that. I have a great team behind me. It makes it fun and a lot easier than if I was doing it myself.
TR–You’ve been involved in countless significant transactions, but what has been the most memorable consignment you were a part of at REA to date?
BD-It’s hard to argue with the $6.6 million Wagner. There were a lot of exciting elements leading up to securing the transaction. There were a lot of exciting elements about advertising it. It was a huge boom for the company and our exposure and it was great for the hobby as well.
There have been a number of very exciting consignments that have come in over the years. We had a Babe Ruth card found in a jewelry box by a woman working in a hospital during COVID. We are getting in great items every day. We are breaking down a National Chicle football set that was built over decades in (our current) auction. We have great collection of rare Spanish cards from a guy in Spain. We have a never before seen card from a collector in Australia. You never know what is going to be on the other end of that phone call and that makes everything that we do exciting.
TR- You’ve handled a number of Wagner cards in one way or another over the years. What’s it like now, remembering yourself as a young kid collecting Topps cards, to hold a holy grail, the hobby in your hands?
BD- It never gets old. I think back to when I was 16 years old going to my first National Convention. I had one item on my checklist and that was to see, just physically see, a 1952 Topps Mantle in person. To think that I now own a few of those personally and I sell dozens every year, it’s not lost on me that I am very fortunate and that I have had quite a ride since those early days of breaking down my 1992 Topps factory set.
TR–I have to ask what does the PC look like today?
BD-I tell people I have the best collection in the world every month. That is very exciting. I don’t have any million dollar pieces in my personal collection. Right now, I am heavy on blue chips. I am heavy on Mantles and Ruths and Cobbs and Hall of Famers that are key to their sets. What people may be surprised by is that I have deviated away from sports. Some of my favorite personal collection items are from the world of coins and currency. I have a $500 bill and a $1,000 bill. I have gold coins from various countries around the world. I am into historical and Americana. I have an Abraham Lincoln signed document. I have a Beatles signed photo and a Neil Armstrong signed photo and stuff I find fascinating culturally, great for discussion and in my opinion undervalued relative to other collectibles. It’s a wide and varied collection.
TR-What category do you see and wonder why its so undervalued or underappreciated, relatively speaking, the the sports collectibles market?
BD-I have been beating the game used memorabilia drum for years now. It always surprised me that for what you would pay for a PSA 8 Hank Aaron rookie card you could get a great career bat of Hank Aaron or you could get a large way toward a game used jersey of his.
We have seen those types of memorabilia increase in value of the last several years but I do still think there is a lot of room in those. Going back to photography, I think there are a lot of underrated, very significant images and I think you will continue to see original photography grow year over year.
TR–April 15th was Jackie Robinson day. What are some of the nicer Robinson issues you’ve had or pieces that are on the horizon?
BD-Jackie is one of those iconic players. We are always selling his stuff. The Leaf rookie card is one we see more often. We are breaking up a very high grade 1948 Leaf set that includes a Robinson in a 6 in it in this spring auction. We have a 1953 Topps Robinson in a 9. We have a 1949 Bowman Jackie in a 9. We have an original photo of Jackie Robinson from 1947. I believe it was taken a day or two after he broke the color barrier. It’s a hugely early, significant photo of a young Jackie Robinson. Jackie is special. Original photography is special.
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