Former Boston Braves catcher Phil Masi snared Babe Ruth’s autograph when the Bambino visited the Braves’ spring training camp during the 1940s. The brand new baseball, originally packed inside a Spalding wrapper, was tucked in a drawer where it remained for decades before being passed down through his family.
Early Sunday, that ball, still in virtually pristine condition and graded 8 by PSA, sold for $137,620 at Lelands.
The ball dates to the 1947-1948 manufacturing period, therefore it was signed by Ruth sometime during the final two years of his life.
The second biggest seller in the auction was an 1870s CDV of baseball pioneer Lipman Pike that netted $131,971.
The image was part of a find of early baseball photographs recently discovered in a 19th-century photo album. Included in the album were team-composite CDVs for seven of the nine founding members of the 1871 National Association, baseball’s first professional league, plus individual portrait images of many of the game’s earliest stars. All were sold in the auction, including one featuring Albert Spalding that was purchased for $63,750.
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One of the 50 1998 Skybox Premium Star Rubies Michael Jordan cards sold for a $216,000 in PWCC’s Premier Auction, setting a record for the elusive parallel card from the latter stages of his Chicago Bulls career.
Graded PSA 7 (five higher), it’s also now the second highest-selling Star Rubies parallel of all- time.
Skybox’s Star Rubies line played a large part in popularizing serial-numbered cards within the hobby. These parallels, along with other cards like Skybox’s Precious Metal Gems, introduced the scarcity that has carried over into today’s collecting landscape.
Another tough to find late 1990s card also set a record price when a BGS 9 1999 Upper Deck Game Jerseys Kobe Bryant autograph (#1/8) sold for $32,700.
Bryant was one of only six players in Upper Deck’s 1999 autographed Game Jerseys set. Each card was hand-numbered to match the player’s jersey number, making Bryant’s card one of the scarcest from the set.
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Auction of Champions is now offering daily auctions of autographs, cards and memorabilia.
The Phoenix-based company is also holding trading card auctions every Saturday, All-Star Auctions of higher priced items on Wednesdays and Mystery Box Auctions on Friday.
All are hosted on AOC’s newly designed website and include items consigned by collectors.
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Something you don’t see everyday….a nearly complete 1966 Topps Venezuelan complete set stuck in the original album.
This one is up for auction at Greg Morris Cards on eBay.
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