It’ll be a few more weeks until its massive annual Spring Catalog Auction opens but Robert Edward Auctions is setting the table with the latest edition of its Encore auction. It’s the biggest one to date at 2,600 lots and interest has been sizeable, too. In the first 24 hours of the sale, more than 10,000 bids were placed.
The auction opened on March 10 and will run ten days.
A number of key, high-grade rookie cards kick off the auction, including a 1951 Bowman Willie Mays (PSA 7), a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron (PSA 8), a 1976 Topps Walter Payton (PSA 9), a 1981 Topps Joe Montana PSA 10, and a 1986-1987 Fleer Michael Jordan PSA 9.
From there, collectors are offered hundreds of different type cards from the 19th century through the present day. More than 800 T206 cards, including rare backs, Hall of Famers, and condition rarities are up for bid. There are multiple lower grade Babe Ruth cards and a stack of vintage unopened material as well. Autograph and memorabilia collectors have plenty to choose, with hundreds of signed cards, baseballs, and other items available.
REA launched Encore Auctions in January 2021 in response to growing customer demand for more frequent auctions. Since then, the company has developed a seven-times-a-year schedule to complement its existing three catalog auctions, held in the spring, summer, and fall. The response from both buyers and sellers, has been even better than anticipated.
“This new way to buy and sell with REA has really excited our clients and allowed for us to grow the offerings and our user base consistently,” said company president Brian Dwyer. According to Dwyer, the first year of Encore auctions saw the company process more than 13,000 lots and gross nearly $10 million in sales from those seven auctions. “We’re able to offer the best of all worlds to our clients by bringing more of their items to market in a quicker fashion and presenting them to an industry leading group of bidders,” added Dwyer.
The current Encore Auction will be the last one prior to the April catalog auction; the Encore schedule will pick back up in June. As for the big city phone book-sized spring auction catalog, Dwyer wasn’t ready to run down the highlights just yet but said consignments that have arrived over the past few months have been stellar and promised free catalogs to any collector who isn’t currently on the company’s mailing list.
“We are very excited about what we’re going to be showcasing this spring,” said Dwyer. “We’re bringing a lot of great items to market for the first time in a long time, and we expect many records to fall as a result of the unique opportunities and the strong market.”
Bidding in the Encore Auction will wrap up Sunday, March 20.
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