World's best private collection

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

I just saw the biggest, baddest, most amazing private sports collection in the world. Wowzer! For all you collectors that live close to Los Angeles or are here on your next trip, I highly recommend checking out the LA Sports Museum and the collection of Gary Cypres. Espn story here

He's got everything from cards, equipment, jerseys, one of kind finds, ad pieces and games and mechanical toys. It's mind blowing. Easily $40-$50 million on display in today's market. $15 entrance fee. Open weekends only.

I took a bunch of photos to share

[Vintagecatcher]

A.J.,

Thanks for sharing this amazing display. Absolutely incredible!

Patrick

[kmac32]

Wow and only 2 hours from here. Definitely going to see it. My Great Great uncle Elmer Miller played for the Yankees in the 1921 World Series. Wonder if they had anything of the team of the 21 Yankees? Did they have any 1921 E121 cards there? Simply looks amazing.

[Shoeless Moe]

Quick question, what was the security like? any cameras?











: )

[rjackson44]

Place looks empty great stuff omg

[ruth-gehrig]

Thanks for sharing! That was very visually stimulating.

[vintagechris]

Man, that Cracker Jack Connie Mack that has fallen from its display is making me squeamish!

[MGHPro]

That's an amazing collection! Its amazing how diverse it is .. wish I was closer to go see it in person. Thanks for sharing the pictures

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Hey Chris I know right! That was the only set of cards where some had fallen out of place. As a CJ collector I was besides myself and alerted the museum manager and he said he would tell the owner who would fix. Killed me to see the Cobb had also fallen down. Looked like they were all 15's and had been previously displayed with tape at top as you could see damage on top center of each. The Shoeless still looked pretty good even with the tape mark!

I could have stayed there all day and would love to get a tour by the owner

[familytoad]

That collection is unreal.
Superlatives fall short....

This Cypres fellow has a good design flair too...it's a stunning display.
Congrats to him to be able to assemble his passion , and now for others to view.

[Thekid1]

Amazing!

[Jobu]

This is great - thanks for posting AJ. I have never heard of this museum before. I must admit I was pretty excited to see the first photo that you have, I thought the HOF had the only copy of the poster from which my Kelly was cut, but there is another one!

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Paul I know you were kidding..but yes there were cameras and docents in some of the rooms. What was amazing though was that many of the items were very accessible. Some of the turn of the last century equipment was just sitting on display and could be picked up and examined. Many of the jerseys were hanging on hangars in reach of the patrons. Game used bats were sitting in displays that allowed you to touch and feel them. I think that's what Gary wanted when he set it up was it to be better fan experience than a typical museum. My friend who I was with had also been to the Hall of Fame and said the collection rivaled that and said the displays were better seen than there.
One thing that really stood out to me was the one of kind set of 50 or so paintings of baseball players on canvas that Gary found from a collector in Chicago about 10 years ago. This collector owned gas stations and had these large portraits commissioned to hang in his stations. They were all super amazing and owning just one would be something special to have in your man cave.

[icollectDCsports]

So much fun looking through those photos. Thanks for sharing them.

[kailes2872]

Really cool pictures - thanks for sharing.

The Matty "Yer Out" photo looks familiar. I think that I remember seeing it in a recent auction catalog. I don't know if it is a 1/1 or if there are multiples, but if it was the actual one, it was neat seeing it displayed with the new owner.

[KMayUSA6060]

This is incredible. Good for Mr. Cypres on accomplishing something this amazing.

Did they say how many visitors he gets each weekend? At $15 a person, depending on the crowd flow, that's a great little side income to support his collection.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

No i didn't ask about number of visitors but they started doing local TV spots during dodger games and late night and that's helped drive traffic. There were approx 20 people there during my visit. But the place is so huge and the items so amazing you hardly notice.

[Stonepony]

Phenomenal collection!!!

[Jeff_cvc]

What can you say... Absolutely, ridiculously, incredibly amazing!

Thank you for taking and sharing all the pictures.

Did he have any of the big four?

[FourStrikes]

amazing collection - if ever I'm near L.A. on a weekend I'd love to see this stuff!

even MORE impressive is the quantity/quality of cards not entombed by the TPAs.

impressive all around, and if jealousy is one of the seven deadly sins, consider me a unrepentant sinner!

beautiful collection - congrats Mr. Cypres, and thank you for making this awesome exhibit available to the public for viewing.

DS

[pherbener]

Great pics A.J.! Thanks for sharing!

[irv]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

I just saw the biggest, baddest, most amazing private sports collection in the world. Wowzer! For all you collectors that live close to Los Angeles or are here on your next trip, I highly recommend checking out the LA Sports Museum and the collection of Gary Cypres. Espn story here

He's got everything from cards, equipment, jerseys, one of kind finds, ad pieces and games and mechanical toys. It's mind blowing. Easily $40-$50 million on display in today's market. $15 entrance fee. Open weekends only.

I took a bunch of photos to share

Unbelievable collection!

Thanks for taking the pics and sharing them in your post!

[seanofjapan]

That really looks amazing, they did a great job of displaying everything. Thanks for sharing the pics!

[1880nonsports]

thanks so much for taking the time and effort to post the pix.!

[clydepepper]

That's amazing! Thanks for sharing.

However, I think the Barry Halper Collection was much bigger....as hard as that is to believe.

Of course, that collection is spread all over now...who knows, some of it may be in what you are sharing.

[irv]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

That's amazing! Thanks for sharing.

However, I think the Barry Halper Collection was much bigger....as hard as that is to believe.

Of course, that collection is spread all over now...who knows, some of it may be in what you are sharing.

http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=1862
http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/m...f-memorabilia/

[joeadcock]

Cool
Thanks for letting me see this through your lens

[Vintagecatcher]

As Irv's links above tactfully highlight, Barry Halper's collection should have an asterisk next to it. Numerous items were questionable, and were proven to be fabrications. Just as many of Halper's stories were fabrications.

Comparing the two collections is like comparing apples to oranges....and unfortunately Halper's fruit is wax!

Patrick

[clydepepper]

Man oh man, do I feel stupid? I had no idea the Halper Collection was so full of fakes. Where have I been?



At least, I DID know what a fake Al Stump was.

I collect Baseball cards exclusively, so I guess I haven't noticed the goings on in the memorabilia market.

Once again, I have learned from the input of other board members...and I thank you for that.

[Jobu]

+1

Originally Posted by clydepepper

Man oh man, do I feel stupid? I had no idea the Halper Collection was so full of fakes. Where have I been?



At least, I DID know what a fake Al Stump was.

I collect Baseball cards exclusively, so I guess I haven't noticed the goings on in the memorabilia market.

Once again, I have learned from the input of other board members...and I thank you for that.

[vintagesportscollector]

Thanks for sharing, I haven't seen the collection in years and it has certainly grown. Up until recently it's been hard to get a view of this elusive and unparalleled collection, although it has been in this museum since 2008. It's a bit surprising that so many were not aware of this collection, and I had no idea, or did not recall, the amazing extent of the cards collection.

When it first opened it was only open to the general public for about a year before closing to limited viewing for corporate and private events. I understand it costs Gary a fortune to operate it, and it is certainly not an income generator. Now once again open to the public on weekends, I imagine the modest admissions fee barely covers much of the cost to operate.

You could even maybe remove the Private, ...possibly best collection in the world, period. Hard to compare to other museums or the HOF, because its so broad covering many sports. (and as pointed out no comparison to Halper's...Gary's is much larger and not completely bogus).

[smallpaul2002]

Thank You for posting these pictures, what a fantastic collection.

[T205 GB]

looks like some painting from a fellow board member made their way into the collection. Amazing collection there

[jchcollins]

Forget about the jerseys and the other sport stuff, the collection of baseball cards alone is stunning. I don't think I've ever seen that much 19th century stuff in one place. Yes, however - please fix those Cracker Jacks!

[kmac32]

Went today and was blown away. All I can say is WOW!!! The baseball cards were beyond belief and uniforms galore. My favorite was a 1915 Yankesss uniform worn by Roger Peckinpaugh seen below. I have a picture from 1917 with my Great Great uncle Elmer Miller wearing the exact same uniform.

[perezfan]

It's truly an amazing experience.

But don't be at all surprised if many of Halper's former items are included in the Cypres collection. Even though some prominent Halper items were proved to be fakes, the vast majority of his memorabilia was authentic. There is without a doubt, some former Halper stuff in there.