The Heritage Auctions' Winter Sports Card event set new benchmarks, featuring a Babe Ruth rookie card that fetched $630,000 and a Michael Jordan rookie card that soared to a record price, contributing to an impressive total of over $11.1 million in sales. This auction not only highlighted rare vintage cards but also included significant sales of unopened vintage boxes from notable collections.
In an extraordinary auction held by Heritage Auctions, a 1916 M101-5 Babe Ruth rookie card with no back printing achieved an unprecedented sale price of $630,000. This card, graded 5.5 by SGC, is exceptionally rare, being one of only eight of its kind documented by SGC. The auction itself was a monumental success, with total earnings exceeding $11.1 million. Among the high-value items, seven exceeded $100,000 in sales, inclusive of the buyer's premium. A significant highlight was the sale of a 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card, graded PSA 10, marking the highest sale for a Gem Mint PSA graded card since September 2021.
The auction's offerings were remarkable, featuring a selection of vintage, unopened boxes. A standout was a 1965 Topps Baseball wax box, authenticated by BBCE, which contained cards from its second, third, and fourth series. This box, originating from the estate of Adolph “Herky” Rupp Jr., son of the famed basketball coach Adolph Rupp, fetched $336,000. Additionally, a 1953 Topps Willie Mays card from Rupp’s collection, graded PSA 8, sold for $186,000.
A newly discovered collection, acquired in the latter part of the previous year, featured several unopened boxes that were auctioned for the first time. Among these, a 1970 Topps Baseball 6th series cello box set a new record with a sale of $105,000. Similarly, a 1968 Topps Football 1st series 36-pack cello box reached $99,000, and a 1973 Topps Baseball 3rd series 500-count vending box sold for $18,600. The initial sale of items from this collection, linked to a former Topps employee, totaled $284,455, with expectations of achieving seven-figure totals as more items are auctioned in future events.
Additionally, the auction featured an array of vintage autographed cards, collected by Mike Greenbaum during their era of production. A 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson card, graded 1.5 with an autograph grade of 8, fetched $117,000, leading this category. A signed Roy Campanella card from the same set, sharing the grades, was sold for $69,000.
Key sales of individual cards included a T206 Ty Cobb Green portrait, graded PSA 6, which sold for $105,000. A 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle card, graded PSA 9, achieved $80,533, while a 1962 Topps Manager’s Dream card, featuring both Mantle and Mays, garnered $75,000.
Complete sets were also among the auction's highlights, with a top-rated set of 1909-1912 Colgan’s chips discs selling for $54,000. A 1969-70 Topps Basketball set, ranked 16th, reached $93,000, and an all-PSA 8 1952 Bowman baseball set sold for $84,000, underscoring the auction's vast and diverse appeal to collectors and enthusiasts alike.
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