How about that Cowboys memorabilia! - a Lone Star trip through the Heritage Auction Archives

Jan. 13, 2009

Written by Chris Nerat

(Before getting to Chris's blog post for today, I have to give him a heartfelt round of applause for picking himself up off the floor and writing this post about this subject, after his beloved Packers were so unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs by the pesky cardinals and some bad officiating. So here you go, Chris, listen closely right now and you'll hear my clapping.

The subject of Chris's post is indeed the Heritage hometown team, none other than the Dallas Cowboys, and - needless to say - Chris is not going to get a lot of sympathy for his dilemma down here. Right now people in Dallas are excited, yes, but wary. It's one game at a time for most Cowboy fans, nice and easy. It's been a dozen years since we tasted glory, and no one wants to get too overexcited. That said, thanks to Chris for pointing out some of the great Cowboys memorabilia that has come through Heritage, and that hopefully there will be more to come! -Noah Fleisher)

The Dallas Cowboys are probably the hottest team in the NFC, and possibly the team with the most momentum in the entire NFL right now. This late-season run has provided a lot of excitement around the Heritage offices, especially in the sports department. Whether it’s Cowboys memorabilia from yesteryear, such as game-worn jerseys from players like Roger Staubach and Tom Landry, or modern day superstars like Tony Romo, Troy Aikman or Emmitt Smith, our Dallas-based auction venue seems to have the inside track on obtaining pieces featuring “America’s Team.”

After a lengthy drought in the NFL Playoffs, the Cowboys finally proved victorious in a post-season game this past weekend, and serious Dallas collectors are definitely ready to take some of the funds they have saved up from the past 15 years, and unload their wallets on high-quality Cowboys memorabilia.

Let’s take a look at a few key pieces we have sold over the past few years, which are of similar quality that collectors can expect from our weekly and Signature auctions:

1969 Roger Staubach Game Worn Rookie Jersey:
There’s something about that little NFL 50th anniversary patch on the sleeve of a 1969 superstar jersey that drives collectors wild. When you combine that enthusiasm with one of the most iconic players in NFL history, and on his rookie jersey nonetheless, this combination transforms it into a piece that is Canton-worthy.Sold for $22,705 in May, 2007.

1971 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Championship Ring:
Salesman’s sample rings are some of the most attractive pieces in the hobby, and also help provide a nice alternative to an actual Super Bowl ring, which normally would break the bank. This beautiful 1971 Cowboys Super bowl ring featured Ten karat white gold, and a fantastic array of faux gem stones. Sold for $5,676 in October of 2009.

1970s Tom Landry Game Used Clipboard with Handwritten Plays, Coaching Whistle:
We sold this intriguing lot only a few months ago in one of our weekly sales. A killer investment for the lucky winning bidder, this lot was equally as affordable as it was significant. Any time you have the chance to purchase a piece that was used by an NFL legend, I advise you to snag it. You can’t go wrong when purchasing items from an iconic figure. Sold for $388 in October 2009.

1995 Super Bowl XXX Lombardi Trophy Salesman's Sample:
There’s nothing more breathtaking than walking into a memorabilia room and seeing a replica of the most recognizable trophy in sports. This salesman’s sample Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl XXX would look extremely nice next to a Troy Aikman or Emmitt Smith gamer … By the way, we have sold those too! Sold for $2,031 in October 2009.

1961-63 Dallas Cowboys Bobblehead:
Vintage nodders will and always will be some of the most desirable pieces in the hobby. Due to their condition-sensitive nature, Mint examples command the most investment potential. This charming little fella comes from the early days of the franchise’s history, and he looks happy to have fetched a nice price of nearly $400. Actually it was $388 in August of 2008.

To leave a comment, click on the title of this post.

-Chris Nerat

Put me in coach! Landry's Fedora(!) part of October Sports Auction

Sept. 2, 2009

Posted by Noah

In the second episode of the eighth season of The Simpsons, "You Only Move Twice," Homer is offered a job at The Globex corporation, working for a seemingly benign boss, Hank Scorpio, in the bucolic little burg of Cypress Creek. It turns out Scorpio is bent on world domination, but that takes a backseat to Homer's problems concerning his family's homesickness for Springfield. In fact, I'm getting choked up thinking about it...

It's one of my favorite episodes for many reasons, not the least of which is that Homer manages to do what so many great supervillains have not managed to do in more than 40 years; that is, stop James Bond. "I stopped a a slacker at work today," Homer tells his dejected family.

What I really love this episode for, besides Albert Brooks' awesome voicing of Scorpio ("You have 72 hours to deliver the gold!") and remedial kid Gordy in Bart's class who is in the class for no other reason than he is Canadian and speaks with an accent (I'm laughing as I write this just thinking about it) is that Homer, in order to motivate his workers to get the nuclear reactor online in time reveals to Scorpio that he has always dreamed of coaching the Dallas Cowboys, and subsequently buys a Tom Landry signed fedora for use as a motivational tool. Hilarity ensues...

All of that is a long way to get to the fact that you can have your own Homer/Scorpio moment this fall as a Tom Landry game-worn fedora, sported regally on the sidelines of Texas stadium during the 1980s by the legendary Dallas Cowboys coach, will be up for auction as part of the Oct. 1-2 Signature® Sports Memorabilia Auction.

The hat is just part of an impressive trove of Cowboys' memorabilia that will certainly have die-hards of America's Team keenly attuned to the early October event at Heritage's Uptown Dallas headquarters. Tom Landry represents everything hallowed about the glory days of the 1970s Cowboys and there was no symbol more emblematic of those amazing '70s teams than Landry's iconic fedora.

Along with Coach Landry's stylish 7-3/8s Churchill, Ltd. Gray hat, Heritage will also be offering a 1970s-era Coach Landry game-used clipboard complete with handwritten plays and coaching whistle, making a complete suite of game-used Landry memorabilia and an enticing grouping for any coach or fan aspiring to the greatness achieved by Dallas's favorite head coach.

A game-used jersey worn by Roger Staubach and an early 1990s game-used uniform from Troy Aikman - easily the two most-beloved Dallas Cowboy quarterbacks - are being offered in compliment to the Landry lots, and will be yet another reason for Cowboy fans to keep a close eye on the early October auction.

The Staubach jersey is from the early '70s. It's a version of the dark blue uniform worn by the cowboys mostly as road-jerseys during that part of the decade. My mother always insisted that the Cowboys would lose when they wore those jerseys, and I don't remember her being wrong. Ever. Since the dark blue jerseys were worn with much less frequency than the home white there is much less wear and tear on this shirt than you might otherwise find, which makes it all the more desirable.

Troy Aikman's circa 1992 game-used uniform comes to Heritage in fantastic shape and is a hard-to-find relic from the beginning of the 1990s Cowboy dynasty, of which Aikman was arguably the biggest part. Aikman may well be the one Cowboy player able to rival Staubach in terms of fan adoration. This uniform bears the battle scars of those intense 1990s-era battles that saw the team dominate like no other.

Yes, you too can own a Landry hat and motivate your employees like Homer did. If, by wearing it, you can help your employer take over the world, then good for you! You'll probably benefit greatly from your actions, though I can't guarantee that you'll be given - as Scorpio rewarded Homer - the Denver Broncos. I can guarantee, however, that, just like Homer, you'll be equally disappointed it's not the Cowboys...

Marge: I think the Denver Broncos are pretty good...

Homer: Oh... You don't understand.

To post a comment, click on the title of this post.

-Noah Fleisher