1933 Goudey Sports Kings Premiums. / why did I toss out all those old auction catalog
 

About a week ago I was cleaning up my hobby room and in a group of old price guides I saw this an old Auction Catalog from Christies 1991. I thumbed through it and saw an Obeck T212 Album. Well up until that moment I would have said there is no album for T212. I posted in under Leons please post your BST in right catagory / PCL cards thread. But I think I will post in this thread as well.
A couple days ago I go through the album page by page and I am blown away by some if the items. The first is the item listed in the thread. An R-340. You can see the image below. And it brings up some questions. To my eyes the premium is a drawing not a photo. The Ruth and the boxing examples are photo's. Anyway it is about as rare a card as exists in our hobby and I am happy to have found a picture and share it.
Now the second part of my post. About 6 years ago I tossed out a large group of lipsit Mastro etc. Auction catalogs. I realize now that was a mistake. I tossed out a great trove of Hobby referance material.

I wouldn't feel too bad about tossing those out. All collectors get them in the mail free, and they just take up too much room. I toss all mine out too and don't think twice about it.

They are retouched photos; how heavy depends on the image and what they were trying to bring out. I wouldn't read much into that. I wonder where the Weissmuller is now? Here's the Dempsey

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...y%20boxers.jpg

Those auction catalogs are heavy as hell and take up too much space. Just throw them out as you're saying "WTF"

+1 agreed. Many of them are nice and sometimes good to refer back to.
But if space is a premium then get rid of them.
Unless you look at them regularly and have the space

Don't think that cost or that everyone got one is a factor in the OP's regret.

Anyway, to his second point I used to hang onto all of mine with prices realized printed out. Then one day I went to look for something rare and could not recall which house sold it let alone approximately what year and that was the day they all got recycled. Thankfully most of the houses are still in business and most sales can be found on their websites. Only a few that come to mind who we can no longer access their sales.

Bobby, JC, Jeff I agree that for the most part I dont have the space or the will to keep most Auction catalogs around. But I was referring specifically to a group of mostly 25 years and older catalogs that had made the cut for 3 decades until I one day just said adios. Because they were pre internet and from mostly Auctions that are no longer with us. They contained a number of unique items that looking back, I should have reviewed and at least saved some digital record.
Adam Thank You for posting your Dempsey could you please post a picture of the back.. it would be most appreciated.
This os the T212 Album I mentioned along with the adjacent page with a Wajo Jacket and a Ruth cap and photo that Ruth gifted to Hazen Cuyler.

When I moved three years ago, I cursed my stupidity for having piled up box after box of catalogs going back to their earliest days. During the several hours it took me to haul them one at a time--there might have been a hundred boxes, each weighing at least fifty pounds--from my basement up to the curb for what I prayed would be a recycling pickup (can you imagine the reaction of the garbage guys!), I seriously wondered if this folly might not be the death of me. Since I did survive that ordeal, however, I am here to say that they truly are beautiful things and will undoubtedly be collectors items themselves eventually, when enough of us have almost killed ourselves getting rid of them.

Hank congratulations on surviving the move. I am 60 + and in 2 to 5 years I will be moving as well. I am trying as best I can to downsize. ( as I stare at the pile of stuff I bought this month). I know the catalogs are making their way to recycling plants but my point is before the wholesale dump. Take some time to go through some of the pre internet catalogs and take some pictures and create a catalog of your own. Post 5 or ten unique items here or on other boards you post on to create a trail that collectors can follow in the future.

Thanks, Jonathan. Wouldn't it be incredible if someone would index and digitize the catalogs, what an amazing resource that would be! I got to try on that jacket, by the way, during the Christie's auction in 1991, although it seems to have have a lot more color to it back then.

Lol well what a small world. Jacket looks good on you I hope you took it home.
Yes it would be a terriffic resource. But since you and I have already tossed our catalogs it will have to be someone else. Or maybe I will put out a call to borrow old catalogs especially those that have the price realized sheets still attached. I would also ask folks for any pictures they took at previews. It dose seem a shame to loose that group of knowledge. I will sleep on it and think about the best way to collect and return them. Because stright through the mail would get expensive. Maybe I could narrow down my first set of asks to auctions before 1980 and see if I could collect some at the Philly show and next group at National in AC? And of course I need a reasonable cost effective way to scan the catalogs. Anybody here on Net54 have a trove of catalogs they would be willing to share? Or experience with this sort of project? Maybe some good can come out of my mistake.

J

Great read

I wasn't suggesting you take it on, more just fantasizing about what a great thing that would be for all collectors, present and future. HOWEVER, should you or someone else seriously consider attempting such a project, I don't think you'd have any trouble finding Net54 guys with collections of catalogs like ours (were) who would lend or give them gladly for such a cause. I'm sure all of us wish these beautiful objects could be put to a better use than sitting in our basements or heading for the recycling machines. Heritage has the best organized previous auctions function on their website, and it's an amazing experience to plug in searches just for that one auction house and see what comes up, imagine what it would be like to be able to do that with the hobby's entire auction history.

I might still have some old catalogs stashed away somewhere. Are you interested in them??

I had Two stacks of catalogs each 4-5 feet tall, recycled them, never looked back. Have started another stack in the last few years. Lol

When I recycled mine I tore out the pages with stuff that interested me and have a nice small stack that someday I will digitize for my reference library.