Value of Hall of Famer statue

[orator1]

It's been a while since I posted, but I would appreciate some opinions as to the value of a 12 inch statue of Hall of Famer James O'Rourke. In August 2010 a life size statue of O'Rourke was unveiled in his hometown of Bridgeport, CT at Harbor Yard, home to the Bridgeport Bluefish team. Faye Vincent gave the keynote address before the unveiling. Details are in this Net54 link:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ghlight=statue

What hasn't been public knowledge until now is that the same sculptor also sculpted a miniature version of the statue for O'Rourke family members. About a dozen mini-statues were created from the same bronze the original statue is made from. I am the only O'Rourke relative who purchased two, and I am considering selling one of them. I think it's unlikely other relatives will sell their statue any time soon since they only have one statue per family. They will probably be passed down to their kids.

I've searched auction archives and the Baseball Hall of Fame's records, and have not found any O'Rourke sculptures for comparison. Given this scenario, I was wondering what this statue might be worth. Below are photos of the mini-statue along with the life-size statue in Bridgeport, CT.

Paul

[Econteachert205]

So I'm sure you looked at the price of Susan Clinards work. A bronze sculpture about 3x larger than yours is valued somewhere in the 5k range. The question is what proportion of the value is attributed to the artist,and what proportion to the subject and rarity. Based on size and artist alone,I would guess she would charge 2k for a similar piece. Due to the scarcity and subject matter, I would suspect an additional premium is in order. If I were to guess an auction value,and its just a guess, I'd say somewhere in the 2500-3k range assuming it is bronze as well.

[murphusa]

A Bronze statue in limited numbers of a HOF baseball player would bring a premium. If I was selling it my price would be $7,500.00. Susan's work is well known
and with only family members owning the others, a collector of 19th century baseball would love this.

That said, this price would leave you room to negotiate a price up to the asking

[orator1]

Thanks Dennis and Jim for your estimates along with your reasons. The sentimental value I have for this statue is greater than its estimated market value. I was hoping it was worth $10K.

[Econteachert205]

Originally Posted by orator1

Thanks Dennis and Jim for your estimates along with your reasons. The sentimental value I have for this statue is greater than its estimated market value. I was hoping it was worth $10K.

Paul, my estimate was in my mind more of a ground floor of what it minimum should bring. Because it is such a unique rare piece it's going to be all about how much 2-3 high end collectors want it, which I think is more indicative of Jim's appraisal. You could always throw a reserve on it and see what happens...

[murphusa]

As they say, insure it for 10

12 inch statue have a tough time getting to 10 grand. Yours is great and a hof'er but not a big name.

Still geat item that if you ever want to sell you will get the 7500

[GaryPassamonte]

Love your statue, Paul!

[orator1]

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

Love your statue, Paul!

Thanks Gary. It was an exciting day when I picked up the finished statues from the foundry. I had been anticipating that day for months.

Hey - it was nice meeting you in Cooperstown. I hope to return this year or next.

[murphusa]

to maybe help judge you statues worth, in the Heritage Auction in NYC that is running now lot 80158 is a 1993 Babe Ruth 28" bronze statue.

this one is big and weighs 90 lbs but it might give you an idea

[orator1]

Originally Posted by murphusa

to maybe help judge you statues worth, in the Heritage Auction in NYC that is running now lot 80158 is a 1993 Babe Ruth 28" bronze statue.

this one is big and weighs 90 lbs but it might give you an idea

Jim, thanks for the heads up. A mini Ruth statue of the Camden Yards Ruth statue. I'll be keeping an eye on this auction.

http://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/ci...a/7130-80158.s

[murphusa]

they were $10,000 from the factory. They did not sell 100

[orator1]

Ruth statues for comparison

[murphusa]

Bump

[murphusa]

$9560 which includes the juice. That is what I said earlier. Getting 10 grand for a statue is very hard