Memorabilia in Auctions WEAK

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by bobfreedman

Just got this back from the frame shop. Mile High has some decent memorabilia in this auction that just opened especially the Tuxedo signs

Was that Ted Patterson's, Bob? I got to spend a lot of time in Ted's basement looking at stuff like this piled up against the walls, and of course the walls themselves were full. Incredibly beautiful ads like this one. LOTG has been selling his collection, but it doesn't seem to me that most of it has surfaced, Big Al would know much better than me, though. I miss Ted, he could be a lot of fun, lots of great stories from his career in the game.

[bobfreedman]

Hank, it is not from Ted's collection, this was from a recent find.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by bobfreedman

Hank, it is not from Ted's collection, this was from a recent find.

That is an absolute stunner.

Other than perhaps the Hassan Tobacco Cobb/Matty Sign, I honestly don't think there's a more beautiful Ad Sign out there.

[rholmes]

As a tangent to this discussion, does anyone think the hot card market is softening prices on memorabilia, diverting funds from memorabilia to cards? Or is the divide between card and memorabilia collectors so great that the current market doesn't matter?

If you have higher end pre-war memorabilia you're thinking of consigning, are you holding until cards cool off, or are you selling while the money is flowing freely?

And, by the way, if anyone wants to answer: Is the market for rarer pre-war World Series programs ($10k range) usually strong/predictable, or is it prone to fluctuation based on small bidder pool etc?

[Al C.risafulli]

My opinion: the memorabilia and card markets are typically not tied to one another in any way other than "a rising tide lifts all boats."

I tend to think of a Venn diagram, with card people in one circle, autograph people in another circle, game worn in another, and memorabilia in a fourth - there are places they intersect, and certainly people who collect all four, but I don't think a run-up in one area negatively impacts prices in the other.

I wouldn't hesitate to run high-end memorabilia in an auction during a time when card prices were strong, and vice-versa.

-Al

[jgmp123]

Love this post...I honestly thought I was alone in my thinking of this....My Want/Need list is pretty small at the moment (1920 and 1920 World Series Ticket Stubs)..but they were coming up in at least one auction regularly, but now I can't find them anywhere. Ebay has a couple at outlandish prices, but that's it.....Just crazy to see what is happening in the modern card market as well....

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

My opinion: the memorabilia and card markets are typically not tied to one another in any way other than "a rising tide lifts all boats."

I tend to think of a Venn diagram, with card people in one circle, autograph people in another circle, game worn in another, and memorabilia in a fourth - there are places they intersect, and certainly people who collect all four, but I don't think a run-up in one area negatively impacts prices in the other.

I wouldn't hesitate to run high-end memorabilia in an auction during a time when card prices were strong, and vice-versa.

-Al

I agree with Al, and do collect all 4 of those categories. I have no discipline, I suppose. But I do not believe the dramatic spike in card prices indicates a negative for memorabilia at all. If anything, some card collectors who now get priced out, may turn to certain forms of memorabilia as an alternative. As Al eloquently stated... a rising tide lifts all boats.

I'll cite one example... A lot of the cards on my want-list are now out of sight. I can't justify the prices when I know this is a seller's market and not an ideal time to buy. So I turned to Original Type 1 Photos, used to create the 1955 and 1956 Topps cards. These are crystal clear images taken by esteemed photographer William Jacobellis.

I've focused on my favorite team (the Reds), and have recently acquired Gus Bell, Joe Nuxhall, Johnny Temple, Rudy Minarcin, Smoky Burgess and Al Silvera. It's really exciting when you can find the original images used for both the portrait and the action shots that appear on these wonderful horizontal cards. And it's even cooler to display the cards alongside these amazing photos.

[Snapolit1]

I'd probably put photos in a fifth circle. Seems to be universe removed from general memorabilia.

Speaking of cool memorabilia, Al this is an awesome piece.

https://loveofthegameauctions.com/Lo...entoryid=23409

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

My opinion: the memorabilia and card markets are typically not tied to one another in any way other than "a rising tide lifts all boats."

I tend to think of a Venn diagram, with card people in one circle, autograph people in another circle, game worn in another, and memorabilia in a fourth - there are places they intersect, and certainly people who collect all four, but I don't think a run-up in one area negatively impacts prices in the other.

I wouldn't hesitate to run high-end memorabilia in an auction during a time when card prices were strong, and vice-versa.

-Al

[RedsFan1941]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Speaking of cool memorabilia, Al this is an awesome piece.

https://loveofthegameauctions.com/Lo...entoryid=23409

good eye, not a fantasy piece.

[drcy]

Sweet Caporal pins, Armor Coins, Tobacco silks and leathers, Police Gazette premiums etc. are more likely to be collected by baseball card than memorabilia collectors and, obviously, they aren't cards. They fall into the "trading card genre."

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

My opinion: the memorabilia and card markets are typically not tied to one another in any way other than "a rising tide lifts all boats."

I tend to think of a Venn diagram, with card people in one circle, autograph people in another circle, game worn in another, and memorabilia in a fourth - there are places they intersect, and certainly people who collect all four, but I don't think a run-up in one area negatively impacts prices in the other.

I wouldn't hesitate to run high-end memorabilia in an auction during a time when card prices were strong, and vice-versa.

-Al

[Al C.risafulli]

Yikes, I feel responsible for that ..... like I put the kiss of death on it.

Nah, Jimmy called me about it today. I had asked him to replace the missing LOA and when he reviewed the piece he wasn't comfortable with it. Because the LOA is missing, I don't know if JSA had initially authenticated the piece and changed their mind (not very likely), or if it was originally a typo on my part (i.e. I wrote "JSA" instead of PSA/DNA or GAI or whatever - much more likely). Regardless, it's withdrawn!

-Al