Legendary Boxing Prices

[wondo]

OMG! Stuff has dropped more than I ever imagined! A card I sold for $5k a couple of years ago to a dealer (and then was resold) went for $2400 (E78 Johnson).

I picked up the Stevengraph Silks set for about half of what they sold for in a 2006 auction. Great time to buy.

What did any body else get?

[Exhibitman]

There has definitely been a retrenching in the market since the recession and the sales of the Dreier cards will show us all how much. I was surprised to see marquee type cards selling for half of their pre-recession highs, but pleased that the floor seems to have stabilized and that there has been a rebound in interest since the lowest point [by my analysis that was the fall of 2010, btw]. What's gonna be real interesting is to see where the Red Sun set sells. The last time one went it was over $50K cumulatively [Hull again], and lots of the Hull cards will be in the Dreier selloff.

So who won the E78 Johnson? $2K plus vig. As rare as it is and as high on the want lists of JJ collectors as it is I expected this card to top $4,000.

N269 Sullivan? $2,500 plus vig for the side view variation. Back in the Hull liquidation we had this result: 1887 N269 Lorillard's #17 John L. Sullivan, Three-Quarter Profile SGC 50 VG/EX $4,481.25

1889 N223 Kinney "Magic Changing Cards" John L. Sullivan SGC 40: $850 plus vig. In 2007 Mastro sold the same card same grade for $1,516.80. Ebay sales on this card recently--there have been a few--have been around this level, adjusted for grade.

I thought this one finished a bit low: N310 Mayo uncut trio @ $1200 plus vig. My recollection is that the last time this card sold it was over $1900 including the vig. And we're talking one of a kind item.

Also thought the Robertson Candy cards generally went for low. Back in the Hull sell-off they went for more: V153 Robertson Sugar Candy lot of 4 SGC 20 (2) and SGC 40 (2) $1,314.50 and lot of 3 SGC 40 $956.00.

Lots of others but I haven't had a chance to analyze and compare results yet.

[Leon]

My auction partner, Scott, and I have spoken about Boxing card prices recently. They seem to have gone the way of the lower grade caramel cards and baking cards. Now would be a great time to start collecting them.

[Exhibitman]

No, after the auction season ends would be a great time to start collecting them

You are correct, my friend. Prices have dropped markedly even on premium items and it is a great time to pick them up and hold for medium term profits, if that's your bag. As for "simon-pure" collectors w/o any intent to profit, there is great stuff out there at relative discounts to past prices, so now is the time to fill out the collection. If/when the economy rebounds I expect that a lot of these cards will do the same. Of course, that presupposes that the cards show up for sale, which they really don't do very often when it comes to the good stuff; you kind of have to strike while the iron is hot. But that's always been the case with vintage stuff.

OK, found out who got the E78 Johnson but I won't out him/her.

[Jerry G]

I have always been a set builder type of collector. The T9 Turkey Red Boxers were always the Holy Grail for me. Two years ago I had five of them and came to the realization that I would never be able to justify completing the set. So, I sold the those five and went in a different direction. When I noticed that there was not a lot of bidding activity on the Legendary set I placed an intentionally low bid, just for sh*ts and grins. I watched it daily knowing that my bid would never hold up.

Son of a gun! It ended two notches below my max bid. Awesome! I hope I'm as happy when I actually receive the cards.

Here's another example of price fluctuation that was recently noticed. I completed the N28's back in the early '80's and recently decided to complete the N29's. It seems that the current A & G's are surprisingly similar in price to what I paid many years ago. I didn't know whether to cuss or celebrate!

This thread offers a good explanation of what's up. Thanks for the discussion.

[Exhibitman]

FWIW, my research indicates that the boxing market bottomed in the fall of 2010 and has been mildly rebounding since then. Still a very choppy, maddeningly unpredictable one. This series of auctions is going to set a benchmark like the Hull sales did before the crash.