On a night when Michael Jordan was back in the news, it wasn’t surprising to see Jordan items bringing some of the biggest prices at Robert Edward Auctions, but some top pieces from icons who passed on long before MJ weren’t forgotten.
An autographed Jordan jersey photo-matched to wear during the 1992 Olympics set a record price for any 1990s Jordan shirt when it netted $216,000 including the buyer’s premium late Sunday night. It was the second highest price paid for any Jordan jersey, trailing only his 1984 Olympic jersey which hit $273,000 in 2017.
A 1986-87 Fleer Jordan rookie card graded PSA 10 sold for $51,600, setting a record for the highest Gem Mint 10 Jordan card ever sold at auction. The going rate was less than half that just a year ago. Five years ago, you could have owned one for under $15,000.
The top-selling item in the auction also set a record. An early 1900s W600 Sporting Life Ty Cobb cabinet card graded PSA 2 went for $300,000, setting a new mark for any Cobb rookie or W600 ever sold. A Honus Wagner (street clothes version) from the same set sold for $192,000, setting a new high for that card.
Modern era collectors jumped on a sealed case of 1993 Upper Deck SP baseball. Unopened boxes of the product containing Derek Jeter’s top rookie card usually sell for around $3,000 but the 18-box case netted $114,000–an average price of $6,333 per box.
A 1916 M101-5 Babe Ruth rookie card graded SGC 5.5 sold for $192,000, but the real star among Ruth items was a 1915 Ruth photo from Boston photographer G.T. Murray. One of the earliest images ever taken of the 20-year-old star of the Red Sox, the Type I image from the club’s spring training camp in Arkansas 105 years ago soared to $174,000.
Other six-figure sellers included a PSA 9 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card ($156,000); a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente graded PSA 8.5 ($111,000), an SGC 7 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle ($105,000) and a 1967 Topps baseball first series cello box of 48 packs ($102,000).
In all, the auction grossed $9,145,302. A total of 65,703 bids were placed.
“We are thrilled at the results of this auction, which boasted the highest participation for one of our auctions ever,” stated company president Brian Dwyer. “It is clear that the very best material continues to be highly sought after by serious collectors and prices indicate an incredible level of confidence in our hobby.”
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