Memorabilia in Mastro auction

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Posted By: Rob D.

I'm curious about your reactions to prices realized on memorabilia in Mastro's auction. Admittedly there were few things this time around that drew my interest, and I think the pre-auction consensus was that this auction was pretty disappointing in terms of memorabilia.

One lot that left me stunned and amazed was the group of 21 different 1948-52 Cleveland Indians pencil clips. There aren't many -- if any -- areas of collecting where I feel really comfortable offering what even approaches an "expert" opinion, but Indians pencil clips are one collectible that I feel I know pretty well.

Of the 90 known pencil clips from these series, there are a number of known scarcities. Most of them are of lesser players (Al Gettel, Mike Tresh, Dick Weik, Merrill Combs, to name a few) although Paige and Veeck also command a premium because they're fairly scarce and they feature Hall of Famers.

The group in Mastro sold for $3,600, which works out to $171 a clip. This lot contained no clips that are considered even fairly scarce. It did have seven Hall of Famers, but all of them are pretty easy to find as far as Indians pencil clips are concerned. I routinely see clips of common players sell for less than $25 on eBay, and a quick check today showed three commons with BIN prices of $49.95. I know I'm rambling here, but it's hard to put into context just how crazy of a price this lot realized.

I understand that this is useless information to most of you because these clips are a non-mainstream collectible (which, come to think of it, makes the selling price even more puzzling). I just felt the need to post because it's so amazing to me.

I'd like to hear some opinions on other items and their selling prices.