North American sports fans don’t have a monopoly on collecting stuff that spills from one room to the next.
“The Missus Wants to Burn Them All” screamed the headline in the Daily Mirror of London over the weekend. Their story was on a man who owns hundreds of thousands of football (soccer) programs—so many he’s had to find creative places to store them. From century-old rarities to important and not-so-important publications from more recent action, Ian Wilson has what might be the most expansive collection of its kind in the world. He bought his first one at age 8 and he’s 55 now.
“I don’t do it for the money,” he told Ben Rossington of the Mirror. “I do it for the passion and interest. If I ever got them valued and sold them, I would be lying on a beach in the south of France somewhere.”
Check out the amazing photos and his story here.
The first pinstripe jersey worn by Giancarlo Stanton in his Yankees home debut on April 3 has sold for $25,957 through Steiner Auctions. The 2018 Opening Day jersey donned by Aaron Judge went for $23,597 in the same sale.
For a few thousand more, you could have owned a Lou Gehrig signed Yankees payroll check from the summer of 1925.
There was a T206 Honus Wagner listed—briefly—on eBay Monday.
The asking price was $1.5 million; $900,000 more than the same card had sold for last year through Memory Lane. By Tuesday, though, the auction through a long-time Pennsylvania dealer had been pulled down because the card was “no longer available.” That’s all we know.
We recently received a note from the producer of a new TV show about collectors of memorabilia. Decades, a network based in Chicago, is doing a casting call and they’re hoping to feature sports as part of the show. If you have a large or unique collection you think might be interesting to others and you live within an hour of the city, they’d like to hear from you.
Decades says they’ll have a “celebrity host” for the series.
You can email with details about your collection (how long you’ve been collecting; how big it is; some of your favorite pieces; what makes your collection amazing) along with some pictures to: [email protected] if you’re interested.
Related Stories:
T206 Honus Wagner PSA 2 Sets New Record of $1.35M in Mile High Auction
1925 Gehrig Contract Brings $197,287 at Auction
Photo of the Day: Young Lou Gehrig
Notes: Wagner, Mantles Closing at Auction; Topps NOW Talk; Don West
Signed Lou Gehrig Mitt Headlines All-Star FanFest Auction
Editor’s Blog: Football Programs from Weekend of Kennedy Assassination
