Heritage Auctions’ Platinum Night Sets New Sports Memorabilia Records
After a record-setting year for the sports collectibles market in 2016, the first premier event of the new year once again raised the bar. Heritage Auctions’ recently concluded Platinum Night Auction may very well be the forecast of a continuing bull market for the upcoming year. When the event concluded, many new records were set in the hobby’s first eight-figure event of 2017.
Totaling more than $12 million in sales, an astounding 28 items eclipsed the $100,000 mark. The top two spots included Mickey Mantle items and both set new records. Mantle’s 1952 Topps baseball card, graded in a PSA 8, sold for an astounding $660,000 shattering all pre-auction estimates.
In a real-world example of the importance of condition on the value of vintage baseball cards, another copy of Mantle’s 1952 Topps card also sold the same night. Despite receiving just a half-point lesser grade, a PSA 7.5 copy sold for $228,000. The dramatic drop-off in value is indicative of the emphasis collectors with deep-pockets place on condition.
The event also featured the highest amount ever paid for a Mickey Mantle game-worn jersey. This particular example was worn in 1968 on the day he hit his 535th home run. It sold for $486,000. Rounding out the top three sales, the Yankees kept it in the family with Babe Ruth’s signed player contract from 1930-31 selling for $384,000.
Commenting on the success of the auction, Chris Ivy, director of Sports Auctions, said, “Success breeds success and we continue to add significant players to our bidding clientele with each auction. You need a pretty deep bench to sell so many six-figure items in a single auction, and nobody works harder than we do to match elite collectibles with elite collectors.”
Other highlights from the Heritage Auctions Platinum Night event included the most money ever paid for a Ted Williams game-used bat. Attributed to being used during his Triple Crown winning season of 1947, the bat sold for $180,000. Interestingly enough, this was also the exact same price paid for an early 1940s Babe Ruth signed baseball.
A rather lengthy list of other vintage baseball cards eclipsed the revered $200,000 barrier, with several setting new records highlighted by the following:
• 1958 Topps Jim Brown rookie card PSA 9 – $336,000;
• 1916 Standard Biscuit D350 Babe Ruth rookie card PSA 4.5 – $288,000;
• 1938 Godey Joe DiMaggio PSA 9 – $288,000;
• 1957 Topps Bart Star rookie card PSA 9 – $288,000;
• 1909-11 Ty Cob T206 Red Background PSA 2.5 – $240,000;
• 1933 Goudey Napoleon Lajoie PSA 9 – $204,000.
Other notable cards setting new records also included:
• 1893 Cy Young Signed Cabinet Card – $120,000;
• 1949 Bowman Jack Robinson PSA 9 – $102,000;
• 1949 Bowman Satchel Paige – $84,000.
Other notable vintage card sales were highlighted by:
• 1909-11 T206 Piedmont Christy Mathewson Portrait PSA 8.5 – $168,000;
• 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth PSA 8 – $132,000;
• 1909-11 T206 Sweet Caporal Eddie Plank PSA 5 – $114,000.
One of the more unusual items to sell at the auction was once owned by legendary motorcycle daredevil and stuntman, Evel Knievel. His iconic motorcycle leathers, colored in red, white and blue, and worn in multiple performances between 1972-73, sold for a remarkable $108,000.
The leather outfit was one of several personal items consigned by his family. Another highlight from Knievel’s personal collection included his famous diamond studded walking stick. This iconic piece of memorabilia contains a hidden liquor storage compartment, which would seem like an occupational hazard for a motorcycle stuntman. Regardless, it sold for $78,000.
Other rare and unique oddities sold at the auction included:
• Russian gymnast Olga Korbut’s Olympic Gold Medal, from the team’s win at the Summer Games in Munich in 1972, sold for $66,000. This was just one of several of her gold medals that sold;
• Arnold Palmer’s tournament worn and signed shoes from the 1958 Masters sold for $66,000;
• Muhammad Ali’s fight-worn gloves against Larry Holmes in 1980 sold for $38,400;
• 1975 Topps Baseball Unopened Cello Case, which may contain several high-grade George Brett and Robin Yount rookie cards, sold for $114,000.
Heritage’s annual Platinum Night event has typically served as a benchmark for the year to come in the sports collectibles market. If these results are any indication of what is still to come for the remaining part of the year, we may see even these marks eclipsed.
For a complete listing of realized prices from the 2017 Heritage Auctions Platinum Night event, click here.
Rob Bertrand has been an active collector of sports cards and memorabilia for more than 20 years. His involvement in the hobby community is well documented, having been the content manager for the Card Corner Club website before the company’s merger with CardboardConnection in 2011, where he is now a staff writer and multimedia content producer. Rob is also the co-host of the sports collectibles hobby’s only live and nationally broadcast radio show, Cardboard Connection Radio. He is the author of the highly respected and trafficked blog, Voice of the Collector and you can follow him on Twitter @VOTC. A dealer himself, Rob runs an online business through eBay, and is frequently asked to consign collections.
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