Sellers Schilling Sales Sucks

I have been looking to pick up a 2008 UD Piece of History Superman Cape for quite a few years. It is a piece of the cape that Christopher Reeve wore during the filming of Superman III. Usually the cards go for $25-30 range and every time I have bid, I always end up losing by $1 or 2 in the last seconds

This auction showed up 2 weeks ago with a reserve. I bid, but my $26 bid didn’t top the reserve, so the card was reposted. The second auction ended at $25 and change, again, didn’t hit the reserve so it was put up a third time. Suddenly today, someone with 0 feedback bids enough to top the reserve. Of course, the bidder with 0 feedback has 100% bidding with this seller so there is no question about shilling. I called him out, he responded claiming innocence and saying I shouldn’t accuse him without proof.

What are the chances this card shows up for auction in 2 weeks by either this same seller (oh… the buyer fell through) or from the 0 feedback buyer?

The guy is a new seller, but he jumped right in to shitty selling tactics.

Calling All Ruth Collectors

If you are interested in owning a piece of Babe Ruth history and have around $1 million in disposable cash you are in luck. The catcher’s mitt dates back to 1912 when Ruth was playing catcher for his high school, St. Mary’s High School in Baltimore in 1912. He gave the glove to a kid who’s family has held on to the glove for over 100 years. In 1993 they loaned it to the Babe Ruth Museum where it has been on display for the past 23 years but the family has now decided it is time to sell the glove.

According to TMZ Sports the auction is being run by Goldin Auctions on April 30^th in New York City, the opening bid is $125,000 but is expected to top the $1 million mark easily.

There are some collectibles that I am ok with companies purchasing and cutting up to include as relics in cards. Anything modern is fine as long as it is not a milestone item, most items dating back in to the early 1900s is also ok within reason but once we start talking about a one-of-a-kind item like this mitt or Joe Jackson’s Black Betsy, these items need to remain complete and in a collection, even a museum is possible. I am really hoping this card goes to a collector or a museum and not in to the hands of card company.

Collecting Movie Props Can Be An Expensive Hobby

In 1983 Return of the Jedi came out and every boy in their tweens/teens had a new love, Princess Leia. Sure she was pretty in Episode IV and V but in Episode VI she was captured by Jabba the Hutt and we were introduced to Slave Leia.

The image of Princess Leia in her gold bikini imprinted a fantasy for every breathing boy, even making it in to pop culture when Racheal wore a Slave Leia costume for Ross in a 1996 Friends episode, though Racheal mistakenly wore her hair in the cinnamon bun hairstyle of Episode IV Princess Leia (I am willing to forgive her for this error). The costume is now a major staple for cosplay characters at almost every comic book and sci-fi convention.

Now comes the time for one lucky fan to own the actual costume worn by Carrie Fisher. In an upcoming Hollywood auction by Profiles In History Auction House fans can bid on this costume. The costume is expected to hit $80,000-120,000, I think I will have to pass but thanks anyway.

A 1919 World Series Ring For Auction

I came across a story recently and it drew my interest due to the connection with the 1919 World Series. Following the 1919 World Series the Cincinnati Reds players were awarded World Series pins, as was the tradition of the era. The manager, Pat Moran, requested and was given a ring instead of a pin.

 

Leland’s Auction House has just posted Moran’s ring for auction with a starting bid of $25,000. The auction ends torrow, June 28^th ,and currently sits at $33,275 with 4 bids. In a 2011 auction Cincinnati Reds First Baseman Jake Daubert’s 1919 World Series pin sold $82,250. Considering that this is a one of a kind item, the connected historical value and that the origination can be tracked, what could a ring like this be worth?

A Babe Ruth Jersey Goes For Big Bucks

UPDATE 5/24:  There is a rumor that LT and his agent Mark Leipseiter were notified that it was Charlie Sheen who was the winning bidder of Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl Ring.

In an auction conducted by SCP Auctions, a well-known sports cards and memorabilia auction house, a Babe Ruth 1920 Yankees jersey closed at a whopping $4.4 million when the auction ended yesterday. This is the earliest known game-worn Ruth jersey and it is from his first season in New York. The winning bid was placed by Lelands.com, an online auction house, who plans on selling the historic jersey themselves.

A treasure like this needs to remain whole and in someone’s personal collection, I would hate to see this specific jersey end up getting chopped up and inserted in to a card.

Other amazing items included in the auction:

A 1934 Babe Ruth Yankees game-used baseball cap, which had been owned by David Wells who wore it during the 6-28-97 game against the Cleveland Indians, I guess that makes it a double game-worn cap. This sold for $537,278 in the auction.

A 1924-28 Babe Ruth game-used bat which sold for $591,007

An autographed 1968 Mickey Mantle game-worn road jersey that sold for $366.967

A 1931 Lou Gehrig game-worn home jersey for $275,706

Bobby Thompson’s “Shot Heard Round the World” cap for $173,102

Jackie Robinson’s 1950 All-Star game bat for $133,234

Also in the auction was Lawrence Taylor’s 1991 Super Bowl XXV ring for $230,401 and Dmitri Young’s card collection, which included a 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card ($537,954) and a 1955 Roberto Clemente rookie card ($432,690), which Young has said all the proceeds from his card collection sales will go to starting a foundation for kids in Ventura County.

There is an interesting story connected to the LT Super Bowl ring, current Giant Osi Umenyiora had promised that if he reached 1 million Twitter followers by Sunday he was going to bid/purchase the ring and then randomly select one of his followers to bring the ring to LT. On Saturday (5/19) when he was sitting at 50k followers he lowered the request to 500k followers. When the auction closed Sunday night Umenyiora was sitting at 52,899 followers so he never made the bid and the ring sold to another collector. This has led to a number of football fans wondering why he could not at least bid for the ring even though he fell short, i.e. - do a good deed.

The Great One Sells At A Great Price (Well...Expensive)

In a day where one subject is the topic of almost every news outlet a single rookie card went up for auction through SCP Auctions and ended up making waves in the hobby. A 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky PSA Mint 10 that less than 3 years ago sold on eBay for $50,000 ended up closing at $94,162.80.

 One thing that has been pointed out is the rough edges of the card and the question of this being a true Gem-Mint card. If you look closely you will notice that three of the edges (right, left and bottom) are in rough condition. Is this card really a PSA 10 or did PSA error (on the side of the Great One)? I included the scans of the front and back of the card so you can get a better look.

Worth $50,000?

Aron Phillips of Dime Magazine calls this Upper Deck Black Michael Jordan and LeBron James dual autograph-dual patch- 1/1 card “The Most Coveted” basketball card in the world.

I can understand why any basketball collector would love to have this card in their collection I am just not sure that the card would be considered the most coveted. I am positive many people would be willing to argue this point. I would think that any number of Exquisites could make it to the list of “Most Coveted” or how about a top graded ‘87 Fleer MJ or even the Buyback autographed version? And while I realize they may not be priced as high as this MJ/LJ dual card, a ‘48 Bowman Mikan would be a happy addition to any vintage collection.

If you do happen to have $50,000 available burning a hole in your pocket and you feel like making an offer then check out the auction for the card. The seller is respectable (he has 100% feedback with over 1800 deals) but the card has been up for auction since September 4th and there have been 28 offers all declined so I am guessing the seller is pretty set on the sale price.

Any guesses at what you think the card might actually sell at finally?