Significant, interesting and a little strange at times… Many reasons to check out Heritage’s archives database

Jan, 6, 2010

Written by Chris

It’s only natural to concentrate on the major sports of baseball, basketball, football and hockey when you think about some of the most notable and unique pieces in the hobby.

However, if you normally only have an eye for the classic pinstripes, the extraordinary lumber or the fantastic garments of the gridiron, hardwood and ice rink, I urge you to escape your comfort zone in order to explore the amazing memorabilia that surfaces from some of the more obscure sports.

All it took was a quick run through Heritage’s handy archive database, and I was able to pick out some of the most peculiar, and at the same time, significant pieces of memorabilia, which have nothing to do with the major sports.

When searching through the archives, I like to search from highest price to lowest, but there’s no rule when surfing through our amazing variety of sold auction lots. Here’s a select few I picked out in order to show the collecting public that even some of the “smaller” sports should still have a place in your memorabilia show room, right alongside some of the top dogs that regularly frequent the hobby world.

Some people refer to the legendary horse Secretariat as one of the best athletes to ever live, and others don’t feel comfortable placing an animal next to names like Ali and Jordan. All debating aside, this 1973 Secretariat Triple Crown worn bit and bridle, which the famed horse wore during the peak of its career has got to be one of the most intriguing pieces Heritage has ever offered. This Hall of Fame-caliber lot realized more than $26,000 in our May 2005 Signature sale.

The sport of boxing has graced the collecting world with many spectacular, and sometimes, downright peculiar robes and trunks over the years. Sold by Heritage in October 2008 for nearly $20,000, this beautiful blue and gold satin garment was worn by boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson. There’s just something about this robe from Robinson’s Gold Glove days in New York that’s sure to impress collectors, even if they aren’t boxing fans.

Interesting and eccentric pieces of memorabilia don’t always have to be pricey. Now, I’m not sure if wrestling should actually be considered a sport, or merely entertainment, but there’s no question that these crazy guys are great athletes. Offered in September 2008, for a little more than $1 per card, is this set of 1954-55 Parkhurst Wrestling cards. Colorful characters such as Gorgeous George, Primo Carnera and Mighty Atlas are featured in this rare and affordable collection.

Now, I’m not going to lie. I am in no way a NASCAR fan, and don’t think I’ll ever spend more than a few minutes watching cars drive around a track, but how cool is this item that we sold in April of this year? This uniform, which was worn by the iconic Dale Earnhardt Sr. during his 1996 Daytona 500 race, realized $12,000 in our Signature sale.

Whether it’s these types of unique items you’re looking for, or you simply want to find out the realized prices of your personal memorabilia collection, I want to stress that our auction archive database is unmatched in the sports memorabilia industry. The photo quality and lot descriptions, and the vast array of pieces we have sold over the years are just as impressive as the site’s user-friendly features.

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

-Chris Nerat

"Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes" or, best wishes to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from Heritage Auctions

Nov. 10, 2009

Posted by Noah

I never really liked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar until I was 10 years old, it was 1980, and my babysitter took me and my brothers to see Airplane! Kareem's cameo as co-pilot "Joey Murdock" was a great turn for the imposing Lakers big man, and funny, too.

Now, growing up in Dallas, in the years just before the Mavs came to town, the Lakers weren't much on my radar, or that of any of my friends. During the finals, in his classic battles against Bird and the Celtics, we watched and played, imitating Kareem's towering sky hook on the under-sized playground hoop, but that was about it. For most of us it was the Cowboys or nothing, and a few sad sacks - like me - even perpetually pined for a winning season for the hapless Rangers? Where have you gone, Buddy Bell?

The news today that Kareem is suffering from Leukemia, and that his prognosis is good, is welcome news to sports fans in general, many of whom - like me - are realizing today how much we've always like Kareem, and how much we wish him well.

Abdul-Jabbar has always been a class act, and an advocate for civil rights. He was impressive on the court, as his numerous records attest to, but his legacy off the court has been no less impressive. He has lived his life well and has continued to contribute to the NBA, via his position as a special assistant with the Lakers, and now will carry the banner for chronic myeloid leukemia, a form of the disease most of the world had not heard of until Kareem came forward this morning.

As with most any major sports stars, Kareem has a presence in the Heritage Auctions Archive. There are several autographs, sculptures of him and numerous signed balls. The top of the top, however, is a 1980s Abdul-Jabbar game worn Jersey that brought more than $7,000 in October of 2006. It's a prime Kareem jersey from the era of them an in his top professional form. It's also safe to say that most kareem autographs and cards, from the least to the best, are probably worth a little more today due to the man's brave admission.

I don't reckon Kareem frequents this blog, but just in case you are reading, Kareem, here's hoping you stay healthy and strong. The world is a better place with you in it.

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

-Noah Fleisher

The cautionary tale of Lenny Dykstra

Sept. 15, 2009

Posted by Noah

If you're remotely a fan of sports - as a concept and and industry - then the name Lenny Dysktra is familiar to you. If you follow any sport religously then you have watched SportsCenter enough times to have heard at least something about Lenny Dykstra. And if you are reading this blog post, then you probably know that Dykstra's demise has now partly intersected with Heritage Auctions in the form of the trove of his World Series and MVP memorabilia that will be in our Oct. 1-2 Sports Auction.

Over the weekend AP broke the story about the auction and it has since traveled to hundreds of outlets worldwide - yet it is a bittersweet PR victory. It's always good to have our name out there in association with an important collection or individual lot, and even better when it attracts potential bidders, but would that Dykstra had never pawned his memorabilia to a high-end shop in Los Angeles. Desperate times led the man known as nails to such measures. It is well-chronicled in the story from the New York Times that I have linked to here.

I'm not one to pile on the man, he certainly has his fair share of detractors, but I take his story as a cautionary tale, one so atypical yet sadly typical of professional athletes. His rise from MLB star to financial wizard - almost a poster boy for the lost wealth of the last year - is equaled only by the dizzying fall from grace at breakneck speed. If, for some reason you don't know the story, just Google his name and take your pick. Dykstra's hubris earned him much animosity when he was at the top, and it has resulted in an entire huge sector of Cyberspace dedicated to salaciously documenting the tumble.

From my perspective, I hope the auction makes a ton - it's a superb collection of amazing stuff, and the Dykstra material is just one course in a huge meal, a buffet, a virtual smorgasbord of the rarest stuff you've ever seen, even if it's not quite as juicy as the older, more-seasoned slice of Lenny Dykstra.

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

-Noah Fleisher

Cross-category gem: A circa 1900 Unidentified Baseball Game Spinner in the April Sports Auction

April 7, 2009
Posted by Noah

This is one of those things that’s just plain cool that I like to dig through our catalogs for. It’s enigmatic, artistic, bespeaks an era unto itself and looks like it’d simply be a lot of fun to play with. It’s also in our April 23-34 Signature Sports Auction, which features a ton of great stuff. What this thing is, exactly, is hard to say. It’s obviously a baseball game of some kind from around 1900, and it’s obviously well made. It doubles as baseball memorabilia and American folk art alike, and I’d love to get my grubby little paws on it.

Jonathon Scheier, one of the sports consignment directors – and a writer I am trying to recruit to post occasionally to this blog - wrote the catalog description for it, which is quite good:

“Try as we might, we've been unable to solve the mystery of this beguiling game piece, a rather ingenious and fully-functional toy that simply oozes Dead Ball Era charm. A four and a half inch batter, complete with high-collared jersey and wide-handed grip, is spun into place against the resistance of a coiled spring. A push of a button releases the batter's powerful swing, and the bat smacks a small roulette wheel with a satisfying ‘ping,’ causing it to spin at a high rate of speed. An arrow points to one of a number of random scenarios when the wheel stops, signifying hits, outs, balls, strikes and home runs. It's definitely one of the most attractive and outright cool game pieces we've ever encountered for the sport of baseball, certain to pique the interest of many a collector with a concentration in the field...”

In the field, or out of it, I might add again, as this thing would fit as well in a hobby memorabilia shop as it would on the floor of a high-end Northeastern U.S. antiques show. I saw more than a few oddities like this little beauty on that circuit, and this thing has all the hallmarks of working beautifully across any number of categories.

It reminds me of the games my brother Cris and I would play as kids, drafting players from our baseball cards and rolling dice to signify hits and strikes and outs. We later switched to Mattel Intellivision Baseball, where we played the game as our respective teams and players and kept in-depth stats. I once had a team that, if I remember, had Gary Carter, Thurman Munson, Jim Sundberg, Buddy Bell and Catfish Hunter. On one magic, blisteringly hot 1979 afternoon – the baseball gods smiling on me – I managed to play a perfect (video) game against my brother with this team. It was a rare victory for me, let alone in such spectacular fashion. It led to my brother smashing his fist on the game console, ripping up his stat sheet and then punching me in the arm several times before sticking a finger in my face and telling me never EVER to talk about this again.

It was akin to having an opponent wreck the board in the middle of a game of chess because he had an obviously losing position. I never had that pleasure in my competitive chess playing days, but I know the pleasure from watching my brother freak that sun-bleached July day. We never played the game again, but I can still show you exactly where the three bruises from his knuckles appeared on my left arm.

Check out the spinner here. A real beauty in an auction full of amazing stuff.

Another Steelers Championship? Meh…

Feb. 2, 2009
Posted by Noah

Given that Heritage is a Dallas-based company, that most of its employees live here in the Metroplex and given the bad blood between the Cowboys and Steelers – not to forget that I despise the Pittsburgh Steelers almost as much as I do the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins – don’t expect me, or anyone else here, to be waiving a terrible towel this morning. In fact, I would rather have chewed tin foil than see Pitt win another championship – Six titles for this team? The most in the NFL? That’s simply not right. The fact that it came over the lowly Cards, who shouldn’t have been there in the first place? Too easy. Ugh.

I watched yesterday’s game holding my nose, wanting only to see the vaunted Steel Curtain fall into ignominy, and I almost got my wish. Arizona, however, proved that defenses do indeed win championships by not providing any of its own and letting Pittsburgh stroll down the field for the final score. I didn’t want to watch because, somehow, you just knew that with more than two-and-a-half minutes left that the game was far from over.

I emailed Chris Ivy – the Director of Sports here – this morning with a few questions about the game and its impact on collectibles. He’s much more diplomatic than I am, and I give him credit for that. Here’s the exchange:

Me: What was your estimation of the game from a pure football standpoint?
Chris: As someone that didn’t have a particular interest in either team, it certainly delivered and was a great game from a fan’s standpoint. Both teams came from behind and made great plays; it’s a shame that one of them had to lose. (It’s a shame that Pittsburgh got to win! – Noah)

Me: Will the win affect prices on SuperBowl and/or Pittsburgh and/or Cards (Kurt Warner) memorabilia?

Chris: The Super Bowl will certainly influence memorabilia prices for items related to each team from this season. Game used jerseys from both teams will see a rise. Even though his team lost the game, Kurt Warner material will see a rise in his collectibles as well. Kurt Warner was a borderline Hall of Fame prospect if his career ended this season without any additional post season appearances, but because of this post season performance and the fact that he has taken his team to the Super Bowl three times, I think that he is now probable to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and that will affect all of his memorabilia.

ME: Just to put you on the spot, next year’s Super Bowl teams?

Chris: The Minnesota Vikings vs. the New England Patriots.

Here’s a link to some of the Steeler memorabilia that has sold at auction here in the last four years, Here’s some Kurt Warner stuff, and a single entry from the Arizona Cardinals. My picks for next year’s Super Bowl? Oakland vs. Detroit. You heard it here first.