While America ponders what will be on their Thanksgiving table next week, Love of the Game Auctions is already serving up a tasty feast of sports cards and memorabilia. The company’s newly launched Fall Auction includes some very popular vintage rookie cards and rarities, the usual stacks of pre-War cards, hundreds of vintage programs, ticket stubs, photos and display pieces and a selection of modern unopened material.
The auction’s marquee item is a 1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy Babe Ruth.
One of just PSA graded examples, the card has already attracted strong bidding in the first several days since the auction opened with a high bid pushing toward $50,000.
LOTG’s pre-War selections include several other cards of Ruth and forever connected teammate Lou Gehrig along with cards from the breakup of the ninth best 1911 T3 Turkey Red set on the PSA Registry.
High grade cards are led by a 1965 Topps rookie card of Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, graded GEM MINT 10 by PSA, one of just eight cards to reach that plateau.
Classic rookie cards and early issues of post-War icons Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays are featured including a PSA 6 Mantle Bowman rookie and a PSA 5 1952 Topps.
Vintage Programs and Memorabilia
The auction features an assortment of vintage baseball and football programs, many originating from the world class collection of former broadcaster Ted Patterson. The highlight is one from the November 27, 1921 game between the Chicago Staleys and Green Bay Packers – the first Bears/Packers game in their long-running rivalry. Programs from this game are extremely rare, with the Staleys represented in their final season before changing their name to the Bears.
The auction features a host of rare college and pro football programs, including several more early Bears, Giants and Packers programs, along with teams like the Stapleton Stapes, Frankford Yellowjackets, Wilson’s Wildcats, Rochester Jeffersons, and Providence Steam Rollers. College football programs date back as early as 1894.
Baseball programs are also featured throughout the auction, most notably a 1915 Boston vs. Philadelphia World Series program, which was Babe Ruth’s first postseason appearance.
The auction includes a number of other pre-War World Series programs, as well as large collections of programs for a number of teams, including Washington Senators, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Athletics, New York Yankees and more.
The baseball memorabilia section is one of the largest in LOTG history, with more than 150 lots, including a number of original photos with subjects that include Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Jim Thorpe, Ty Cobb, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnson and Jackie Robinson. Large-format team photos are also well-represented, as are 19th Century cabinet photos.
Unopened
While LOTG is known for its focus on vintage items, the auction features a large assortment of unopened football, basketball and hockey boxes, largely from the 1990s and 2000s. The highlight here is a number of different football boxes from 2000, likely including rookie cards of Tom Brady, as well as a number of basketball boxes from 1996 that could contain rookie cards of Kobe Bryant.
The auction features more than 100 lots of factory-sealed boxes, all from a large original-owner collection, fresh to the hobby.
Complete and Partial Sets
The 25th best 1975 Topps Baseball set on PSA’s registry leads off the assortment of sets and near sets. Twenty-one of the 660 cards grade PSA 10 with just two cards grading below NM-MT 8.
Other complete and partial sets include 1932 U.S. Caramel baseball, 1933 Goudey Sport Kings, 1957 Topps baseball, 1958 Topps baseball, 1959 Fleer Ted Williams, 1960 Topps baseball, 1962 Topps baseball, 1963 Topps baseball, 1960 Topps football, 1963 Topps football, 1987 Wheaties football, 1986 and 1987 Fleer sticker basketball, 1910 T218 Champions, and non-sports sets like 1950 Bowman “Wild Man,” 1950 Topps Flags of the World, and 1963 Topps Astronauts.
Registration is open on the Love of the Game website with bidding set to run through Saturday, November 27.
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