VINTAGE SPORTS MEMORABILIA AUCTION

[Archive]

Posted By: Lou

Inside the Park Collectibles Summer Auction ends next week- Friday August 22, 2008. We are featuring 250 quality lots of vintage sports memorabilia. It's fast an easy to view all the items, register and bid online. You can do this by visiting: www.insidetheparkcollectibles.com


Some of the highlights include:
GIBBS-CONNER BANKS
KAIL & HARTLAND STATUES
VINTAGE BOBBING HEADS
PENNANTS
RARE WASHINGTON REDSKINS ITEMS
CARTER-HOFFMAN COLLEGE MASCOT FIGURINES
AUTOGRAPHED PIECES

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Cool hat! Looks like a good auction with a lots of great figural pieces.

[Archive]

Posted By: LOU

The auction ends this week- Friday 8/22/08. There are so many cool figural items in this one. Please check out our web site at: www.insidetheparkcollectibles.com . Below are some more pics. Thanks! Lou

[Archive]

Posted By: Rob D.

Wow, another Indians "Gibbs-Conner" ...

[Archive]

Posted By: Mark

I wonder how many other "lost G-C pieces" are yet to be uncovered? Seems like a few new variations appear with every subsequent ITPC auction.

Lou...
Any comment as to how many others you have, that have not yet been revealed publicly? The Gibbs Conner find of a few years ago seems to be bearing a seemingly endless supply of "fruit".

Also.... how many of each prototype piece do you estimate were produced? Were some pieces produced in greater quantities than others?

[Archive]

Posted By: Brock G.

Mark, I remember we had this discussion a while back about just how large the "Gibbs-Conner Find" was. Hopefully now that we have Lou aboard he can provide a little insight into how many pieces were discovered, as I would also like to know.

[Archive]

Posted By: Lou

I'll try to give you a re-cap of the find and what remains. About 4 years ago we (ITPC) were contacted by a relative of a woman who had passed away. She was the artist responsible for creating most of the pieces (including the more common Indians banks) that were being proposed as a sideline business of Gibbs-Conner. Most of these pieces were never offered to the public for sale as there seemed to be difficulty in marketing them. Since the company was located in Cleveland and the artist was a big Cleveland Indians and Browns fan, many different pieces were being created for these teams.Along with buying the majority of the estate find (not as much as you might think), we also were able to obtain provenance in the form of paperwork, checks and office memos concerning this project. It is a fascinating history of this period of the Gibbs-Conner Company and may have been the cause of their eventual demise.
We have tried to dole out the pieces slowly to give everyone a fair chance at obtaining what we feel are some of the most incredible pieces of figural sports memorabilia in the hobby. The list of what we have left is not endless and sadly will soon come to an end. There are a few more unique pieces that we will auction over the next year or so. There were only a handful of each example that were made available to us and some that the family is keeping for sentimental purposes. I only hope that it is as exciting for collectors as it has been for us. We have felt priveledged to handle them- if only for a little while. It isn't often that small time dealers like us are offered finds like this.
I have posted more information about the find on our Blog which can be found at our web site: www.insidetheparkcollectibles.com

[Archive]

Posted By: Brock G.

Thanks Lou! Really is a shame that these incredible pieces never made it to the public back in the day. I can just imagine a store-front display with all these great figurals, especially those giant 2ft statues and cookie jars. But thankfully what did survive eventually surfaced and made available for others to enjoy.
Lou, of all the pieces you've auctioned/sold thus far, whats your single favorite piece? The Brooklyn Bum standing at the bus-stop takes the cake for me.

[Archive]

Posted By: Mark

Thanks Lou...

I like the Chief Wahoo atop the Giant's Foot (to commemorate the '54 World Series). Other favorites are the Milwaukee Braves "Tom Tom Club" Bank, the regular Philadelpia Athletics Elephant and the St. Louis Browns Pixie. I think G-C's weakest effort was the Senators Bank, closely followed by that goofy White Sox "Whitey" character. These look like they were crudely made by some kid in a 4th grade ceramics class.

On the football side, I like the Eagles Bank best, as well as the 1954 Brownie with his foot on the dead Lion's Head. I heard there was a similar piece from 1955 (with a dead Ram's Head), but have never seen it.

[Archive]

Posted By: Lou

There are so many great pieces that it's hard to pick a favorite. I'll have to agree with Brock that the Dodgers ashtray that shows the mascot at a bus stop (leaving for L.A.) is certainly at the top of the list. I personally love the White Sox Flying Sox bank (not the goofy character that Mark mentioned)and most of the St. Louis Browns pieces.The NFL mascots are terrific too, and one of the few NFL figural pieces that depict a mascot. The Redskins bank is awesome. Too bad the company didn't last long enough to include the Cowboys, Vikings and the early AFL teams.