2020 has been a wild ride for sports cards and memorabilia but the final blitz of major auctions is just starting. Mile High Card Company will be the next to launch, with its December auction set to launch Monday.
There are some heavy hitters in the lineup, including a PSA 8 1952 Topps card of Mickey Mantle and a signed Cap Anson bat from the 1880s.
A pair of teammate sluggers — Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig — are featured in the auction with autographed 1933 Goudey cards. The Ruth card is a PSA/DNA 9, while the Gehrig is a PSA 2 for the card and a PSA/DNA 7 for the autograph.
There are more Mantle cards in the December auction, including a 1953 Topps graded PSA 8; a 1954 Bowman graded PSA 8.5; a 1956 Topps card that grades at PSA 8; and 1961, 1963 and 1964 Topps cards that each have a PSA 9 grade.
A 1914 Cracker Jack card of Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson, graded SGC 20 tops the prewar card offerings. Other attractive baseball cards on the block include a 1954 Johnston Cookies card of Hank Aaron, graded PSA 9; and a rare 1968 Topps 3-D Roberto Clemente.
Football cards include a PSA 9 1957 Topps rookie card of the “Golden Boy,” Paul Hornung, who died Nov. 13; a 1958 Topps cello pack that features a Jim Brown rookie card and is graded PSA 7; and a 2000 SP Authentic Tom Brady PSA 10, numbered 0516/1250.
Basketball collectors — and fans of Michael Jordan — will have more than 140 items to sample. A PSA 9 1986 Fleer rookie card of Jordan is accompanied by the more intriguing 1997 Skybox Metal Universe Precious Gems Red card of MJ (# to 100), which grades PSA 6. Other tough 1990s Jordan cards up for grabs include a PSA 9 1997 Skybox E-X2001 Jambalaya, a 1998 Skybox E-X Century Dunk ‘N Go-Nuts PSA 10 and a 2004 Upper Deck Exquisite Jordan Limited Logos Auto Patch PSA 8/10 numbered 20/50.
The auction also includes autographs and memorabilia. An official National League baseball autographed by Mathewson and an official Will Harridge American League ball signed by Ruth tops the group. Signed Baltimore Orioles jerseys by Hall of Famers Robin Roberts and Jim Palmer are part of the auction, along with a game-used and autographed 1957 road jersey by football great Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch. The auction also includes a game-used helmet worn by Hirsch when he played for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Mile High auction also will showcase unopened material. Topping the group is an unopened wax box of 1933 R136 National Chicle Sky Birds. Jumping ahead nearly four decades, an unopened 1972 Topps Series 1 baseball box offers collectors the possibility of pulling a Carlton Fisk rookie card (No. 79), Willie Mays (No. 49) or Willie Mays In Action (No. 50).
An unopened 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks and Prospects hobby box could even yield a Mike Trout rookie card. Other unopened product includes a 2003-04 Topps Chrome NBA retail box, 1973 Topps football, 1974 Topps basketball and the 48-pack, Series 1 box of 1985 Topps Garbage Pail Kids.
“The silver lining to this difficult year has been the enormous growth within our hobby and we’re ready to turn the page with one more fantastic auction,” Mile High President and CEO Brian Drent promised.
The auction is slated to run through December 10 on the company’s website.