Heritage Auctions says it sold $13.6 million worth of memorabilia in a recently concluded four-day span. The catalog auctions were anchored by the sale of the only known jersey from Jackie Robinson’s rookie season of 1947 for just over $2 million.
“It’s been a grueling but gratifying experience,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Collectibles at Heritage Auctions, of preparations for the most lucrative month of 21st century sports memorabilia auction history. “We were pleased to see that prices remain very strong despite the enormous volume — it’s a real testament to the strength of the hobby.
A third major auction, closing Dec. 10, may bring sales to more than $20 million in the span of a month, the largest monthly tally for sports auctions in 18 years.
The Times-Union was at Saturday’s Albany, NY Sports Card & Memorabilia Show. Check out their photo gallery here.
Over the weekend, WCCO-TV featured Collin Olmscheid, one of the nation’s better Division III basketball players who is also an avid collector of vintage sports cards.
The annual Thanksgiving weekend show at Moeller High School in Cincinnati also drew dealers and collectors to the alma mater of Ken Griffey Jr. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Bargain boxes are the hottest thing this weekend! There’s a reason we call them bargain boxes! Check them out at the last day of the Cincinnati Moeller show! #supportyourlcs #abst #joelembiid pic.twitter.com/hz9LPPV4r0
— RbiCru7 (@RbiCru7) November 26, 2017
Vintage sports photographs are hotter than ever.
A 1915 era Babe Ruth image from Underwood and Underwood has already rocketed past $20,000 in Mile High Card Company’s current auction with a week and half still left in the bidding. Distributed to newspapers at the time, the 6 x 7 1/2″ photo shows Ruth warming up before a game.
The annual Black Friday sales conducted by sports memorabilia retailers have generally been extended through early this week (and some longer). You can check out a few of them below:
- Steiner Sports: 40% off sitewide and daily specials
- SportsMemorabilia.com: Cyber Monday: 30% off all orders with code CYBERMON. Includes trading cards.
- Fanatics: 25% off all orders with code CYBERSAVE (thru 4pm ET), then Cyber Monday: 30% off all orders with code CYBERMON. Collectibles included.
- COMC: Discounts on vintage and modern cards consigned by sellers.