The top Mickey Mantle collection on PSA’s Set registry, rare and high-grade vintage sports cards and sets, older wax and cello packs, and World Series programs — some more than 100 years 0ld — are among the featured items in Memory Lane’s Winter Extravaganza auction.
Bidding opened for 860 items on December 26; auctions will close on Saturday, January 16. More than $1 million in bids were 
placed on the first day of the auction.
The Empire State Collection, a high-grade group featuring all 21 basic Mickey Mantle cards, including the 1951 Bowman rookie and the iconic 1952 Topps high number, is being broken up and sold card-by-card.
The collection features 17 cards graded PSA 9 and one PSA 10 (the 1968 Topps card). The 1951 Mantle rookie grades out at 8, while the 1952 Topps is graded 7.5. Every card from the 1955 Bowman through Mantle’s final card in the 1969 Topps set is graded at least a PSA 9.
The Mantle cards are generating plenty of buzz already, with the 1952 Topps card already topping $150,000 in bidding. The ’51 Bowman rookie card of the Mick already has reached $63,000 while a 1953 Topps at PSA 8.5 is closing in on $50,000.
Two original 1933 Goudey advertising window display posters are also up for bid. One displays 24 cards, including Babe Ruth, and the 14-inch by 11 3/4 –inch poster even retains the factory-issued glue at the top and bottom of the poster back.
The second Goudey poster depicts 24 of the 1933 Sport Kings cards and measures 14 inches by 14 ½ inches.
Ruth is also featured in a 1934 Al Demaree Die-Cut that is graded PSA 4. This set, distributed by the Chicago-based Dietz Gum Company, had more than 120 subjects and measured 6 ½ inches by 1 5/8 inches. Ruth, of course, is one of the key cards in the set.
A 1916 Ruth M101-5 has a blank bank and is designated as altered (most likely due to some trimming), but it shows the Babe in his pitching form. Other than a surface blemish on the card front, it is a stunningly stark example of Ruth’s rookie card.
Ernie Banks’ 1954 Topps rookie card (PSA 9) and a 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams rookie (PSA 8) are also included, along with a scarce 1936 Lou Gehrig World Wide Gum (PSA 4.5).
Other rookie cards up for grabs include a PSA 7 1952 Topps Eddie Mathews and higher grade examples featuring Hank Aaron (1954), Sandy Koufax (1955) and Lou Brock (1962).
Baseball is not the only sport represented in the Winter Extravaganza. One of hockey’s most coveted cards is offered for sale — a 1911 C55 Imperial Tobacco PSA 7 rookie of iconic goalie Georges Vezina.
A PSA 10 1966 Topps Joe Namath — the only certified gem mint card of Broadway Joe — is one of the top football offerings. The 1966 Topps set, because of its brown borders, is an extremely condition-sensitive product.
Another football item is a complete 1959 Topps set, with all 176 cards graded PSA 8. The set sports a clean, simple design and has great value with Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Bart Starr, Bobby Layne, Paul Hornung and an Alex Karras rookie card among the key components.
A PSA 10 1981 Topps Joe Montana rookie card is also up for sale.
Unopened material includes a 1953 Red Man Tobacco pack with Warren Spahn, a 1956 Topps penny pack, 1957 Topps nickel pack and numerous 1950s cellos from baseball and football
Four very valuable World Series programs are being offered. The first is from Game 4 of the 1914 World Series, the title-clinching game for the Miracle Braves. Games 3 and 4 in Boston were played at Fenway Park. The 20-page program includes a scorecard (neatly giving the play by play), and the cover has a large color portrait image of Braves manager George Stallings.
Until the Mets stunned the Baltimore Orioles in 1969, the Braves’ four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics has been recognized as the greatest upset in World Series history.
Two more programs involve Boston teams — this time, the Red Sox. One is from the 1916 World Series, and was sold at Braves Field (the Red Sox used the newer, larger Braves Field for the 1915 and ’16 Series). Game 2 from 1916 is scored and marks the World Series pitching debut of Babe Ruth, who outdueled Brooklyn’s Sherry Smith in a 14-inning, 2-1 classic. Normally, a collector might covet a pristine program, but the neatly penned scoring and the fact that Ruth got the victory make this offering even more attractive.
The second program is from Game 3 of the 1915 World Series, partially scored, that depicts Dutch Leonard outdueling Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander 2-1. The Red Sox scored the tiebreaking run with two outs in the ninth inning for the victory.
The final World Series item is a scorecard from the 1924 World Series, the first postgame appearance for Washington Senators Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.
Autographs will also be part of the sale with multiple examples of Ruth’s signature joining a 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson, 1966 Topps Roger Maris and 1953 Topps Satchel Paige among the offerings.
And for American history buffs, cut signatures of presidents James Madison, Herbert Hoover and pardons signed by presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant are being offered for sale.
To register for the auction or view the listings, visit MemoryLaneInc.com or call (877) 606-5263.
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