Some collections span decades. Others measure their scope in centuries. An example of the latter is now on the auction block. Pieced together by a single collector who used a discriminating eye and a love of baseball to tell the story of the game’s best players from the 1880s to the early 2000s, it’s now being liquidated through Heritage Auctions, card by … [Read more...]
Trio of Cards from Top Leaf Baseball Set Brings Over $1 Million
It pays to be first. The finest PSA-graded 1948-49 Leaf Baseball set was broken up and sold in Heritage Auctions' latest catalog sale and it took just three cards to push the combined total realized price to over $1 million. Many of the cards in the set had either never been offered at auction before or hadn't been available for a long time. A PSA 8 copy of the rare … [Read more...]
Number One Rated 1948 Leaf Baseball Set Up for Grabs
If you've snuck a peek at the PSA Set Registry anytime in the last ten years, you've seen it atop all registered sets of 1948 Leaf baseball. A cardboard unicorn of virtually impossible high-grade cards from a production run that was notorious for overprints and off-center cards galore. Now, the old gang is breaking up. All of the cards in the long-running number … [Read more...]
Crunching the Numbers: High-Grade Jackie Robinson Cards
The checklist is a short one. During his relatively short playing career, Jackie Robinson appeared on baseball cards for a very limited amount of time. While they're all very desirable and many represent key cards in some very popular vintage sets, high-grade Robinson cards bring robust interest whenever they're offered for auction. But which years … [Read more...]
Clean Sweep Auctions Sale Includes Vintage Cards, Mays Contract, Rare Autographs
Clean Sweep Auctions has opened bidding on the largest catalog auction in the company’s long history. Nearly 600 lots are on the block in the sale, which runs through January 31. As usual, there are popular and rare baseball cards and autographs, but the company’s first auction of 2018 also has an extensive lineup of autographs from golf and boxing. T206 collectors … [Read more...]
7 Must-Have Baseball Cards from the 1940s
The 1930s brought Goudeys and Diamond Stars. The '50s saw the dawn of Topps. The 40s? "Limited" would be the word that comes to mind for collectors. After the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, there were no major mainstream sets issued until 1948--a full three years after the hostilities ceased. Surprisingly, though, there is plenty of history … [Read more...]
The Underappreciated 1949 Leaf Premiums Set
Youngsters who bought Leaf baseball cards nearly 70 years ago had another set to collect, but unless dad was willing to share some knowledge, those “old timers” may not have generated much of a buzz on the playground. Today, the 1949 Leaf Premiums might be among the most underappreciated vintage cards in the hobby. Each box of Leaf bubble gum cards supposedly … [Read more...]
5 Great Cards of Baseball Pioneer Larry Doby
He was the first player to go directly from the Negro Leagues to Major League Baseball. His struggles as the first black player in the American League are sometimes overlooked by the focus on Jackie Robinson but they were every bit as real. The vast majority of his Cleveland teammates were chilly at best in those early days. On the field, he struggled too, in the … [Read more...]
Minty Mickey Mantle Rookie Headlines New Mile High Auction
Some of the hobby’s most recognizable sports cards, including what could well be the best PSA 8 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie in existence, go on the auction block Monday as Mile High Card Company opens its 2017 Spring Auction. The 700-lot event offers a parade of valuable and rare cards and memorabilia, some of which haven’t been on the market in a long time. In … [Read more...]