Would you pay nearly $1,000 for an empty box? Someone did late Wednesday night. It wasn’t just any old box, though. This one was a bit of a collector’s item. The rare container held boxes of 1986-87 Fleer basketball cards. The winning bidder shelled out $922 at Goldin Auctions, which also sold seven full boxes of the product that contains what’s … [Read more...]
Wild Tale of the “All-Star Cafe” Wagner Subject of New Story
It’s a crazy story involving a T206 Wagner, a 1990s sports restaurant, a chef, Charlie Sheen, Mr. Mint, the FBI…and presidential pardons. If you know the story of the “All-Star Café Wagner,” you probably don’t know all of it. While the Gretzky-McNall Wagner has had its own taste of federal law enforcement, this Wagner card is one with a story that’s even more … [Read more...]
1933 Goudey Set Prominently Featured Last Washington Team To Reach World Series
These are happy times for the nation’s capital. The Washington Nationals’ four-game sweep against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS means the World Series will be played in Washington, D.C., for the first time since 1933. Franklin D. Roosevelt was completing his first year in the White House in 1933, and Adolf Hitler was consolidating his power as chancellor of … [Read more...]
T206 Honus Wagner PSA 2 Sets New Record of $1.35M in Mile High Auction
Another T206 Wagner sale. Another record price. The latest example of the most famous baseball card in the world sold for $1,353,625 in Mile High Card Company’s latest auction. The same PSA 2 example had sold privately for $1.2 million less than a year ago. It had sold twice at auction twice before in the last five years, realizing $657,250 through Lelands … [Read more...]
Notes: 1st Full-Time Dealer; High-End Vintage Auctions; Fun Card Segments with Murphy, Baldelli
He was let go from his job as an accountant and became the hobby's first full-time dealer in May of 1963, selling baseball cards mostly to kids. Bruce Yeko's ads resulted in a lot of orders with nickels, dimes and quarters taped on sheets of paper as the youngsters tried to fill out sets or buy a favorite player's card they couldn't seem to pull from … [Read more...]
Ruth’s 1932 Contract Reaches Nearly $300,000 at Auction
He was still the greatest attraction in sports and paid like it, but even Babe Ruth fell victim to the Great Depression. The Bambino took what for him was unprecedented—a pay cut. That $75,000 pact he signed with the New York Yankees in 1932 just sold for a lot more. Boston-based RR Auctions has sold the “George Herman Ruth” signed contract, dated March 16, … [Read more...]
Historic Baseball Photography Collection Kicks off Hunt Auctions Sale
Hunt Auctions is offering a huge private collection of historic baseball photography in its newly-launched Premier Live Internet catalog. Curated over a 30-year period, the company says the collection "is one of the most substantive and important baseball photographic groupings to have ever been offered at public auction." Images taken by numerous master … [Read more...]
Legendary Player Contracts, Goudey Lajoie, Vintage Sets Headline RR Auction
RR Auction has launched its latest major catalog sale, one that features what it says is the most significant collection of history-making player contracts ever offered. Among those up for grabs: a 1932 New York Yankees contract where Ruth takes a pay cut signed amidst the Great Depression. It dates to the legend of Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert asking Ruth to … [Read more...]
Top-Ranked Goudey Set Break Generated Multiple Records, $3.65 Million Total
Heritage Auctions says last month's sale of the top-ranked 1933 Goudey baseball set on PSA’s Registry netted $3.65 million, nearly doubling pre-sale estimates. Several new records were set in the card-by-card auction of a set in which each card was rated 8 or 9 by PSA. In general, the 1933 Goudey set, especially the Hall of Famers, has been generating a lot of interest … [Read more...]
Mint Mickey, Other Hobby Icons Push Mile High’s 2018 Finale
Mile High Card Company pulled the curtain down on its final auction of 2015, headed by some big-time rarities and more than a few record prices. Some of the biggest names and most coveted cards were part of the auction, which featured more than 500 items. A 1956 Topps gray back card of Mickey Mantle that carried a PSA 9 grade was the highest seller, with a realized … [Read more...]