Thoughts on best auction house for vintage memorabilia (Jackie etc)

[ValKehl]

Jeff, if I had your 2 items, I'd consign them to LOTG because I feel that Al C. does a great job with memorabilia. My second choice would be REA.

[ooo-ribay]

IMHO, REA is not the place for something like like. As a “memorabilia guy,” their catalogs always seem to be 99% pre-war/turn of the century stuff; mostly cards. I agree, LOTG might be a good place.

I would get the spine repaired. If not by a profe$$ional, at least by a bit of Elmer’s.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

IMHO, REA is not the place for something like like. As a “memorabilia guy,” their catalogs always seem to be 99% pre-war/turn of the century stuff; mostly cards. I agree, LOTG might be a good place.

I would get the spine repaired. If not by a profe$$ional, at least by a bit of Elmer’s.

Agree. Some of the cult board members here respond REA to every comment inquiring about any item of any kind . . . .Al at LOTG would be a far better place. He sells tons of memorabilia in every auction.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Jeff, if I had your 2 items, I'd consign them to LOTG because I feel that Al C. does a great job with memorabilia. My second choice would be REA.

Thanks! I've worked with Al in the past and met him at a number of shows, and I'm definitely considering using LOTG.

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

IMHO, REA is not the place for something like like. As a “memorabilia guy,” their catalogs always seem to be 99% pre-war/turn of the century stuff; mostly cards. I agree, LOTG might be a good place.

I would get the spine repaired. If not by a profe$$ional, at least by a bit of Elmer’s.

Thanks!

On the repair, I assume the Elmer's is a joke, but wanted to check whether the repair would likely enhance the value or hurt it? I know for cards any alteration is a big no-no, and am not familiar enough with this kind of market.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Agree. Some of the cult board members here respond REA to every comment inquiring about any item of any kind . . . .Al at LOTG would be a far better place. He sells tons of memorabilia in every auction.

Thanks!

[mrreality68]

For your items I agree Love of the Game would be best.

REA is great auction house but for your type of items I think LOTG is better

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

On the repair, I assume the Elmer's is a joke, but wanted to check whether the repair would likely enhance the value or hurt it? I know for cards any alteration is a big no-no, and am not familiar enough with this kind of market.

Thanks!

Not entirely….it would enhance the aesthetics and I personally don’t see the harm in a little dab of glue. The whole “enhancement” topic can be tricky, I guess, but I do my own “restorations” all the time. Others will no doubt disagree and I respect that. My “restorations” are on my own stuff that is never leaving my collection.

[perezfan]

If you restore, you must disclose. Only fair to the new owner...

I think restoration is warranted in this case. It looks pretty sloppy as-is, and I believe that vintage book restoration is an accepted practice. Restoration of the binding would not deter me as a bidder, as long as the signatures are in no way impacted. I'd probably bid higher if the piece had a cleaner look.

Probably best to consult Al for his opinion, if you indeed choose LOTG (who I think would be an excellent choice for this piece). Al is a straight shooter who will provide you stellar advice.

[Hankphenom]

Nobody has mentioned this as a possibility, so I will throw it out: taking the yearbook apart to create four separate pages with beautiful early Jackie Robinson autographs for auction bidders to fight over. I'm not the biggest autograph expert, but I'm not sure this wouldn't be the way to maximize the return on your piece(s). Otherwise, you will have a beat-up or restored version of this yearbook, with four Jackie autos hidden inside in this case, to put up on a bookshelf. If those buying the separated pages want to have a nice copy of the yearbook to show the complete original source thereof, that wouldn't be too great a challenge at too great a price. Just my two cents, and something I would at least consider if this was my piece.

[rand1com]

I have to agree with Hank if you want to maximize the dollars for the 4 autographs. You won't have to spend any money to repair the binding and you can likely expect to get $2000 or possibly more for each autograph. No way in my opinion that the intact book with 4 autos inside will bring near that total. However, I would hate to see it separated as it is a piece of history as is. I had one of these about 5 years ago with only (3) autographs and sold it intact for $3000 to a collector. It is obviously better in today's environment but probably only $5-6K since it is not really displayable.

You can't really go wrong with any of the well established auction houses but you have an item that is not likely to have a duplicate in any auction so I would go with one of the most widely recognized ones. Heritage, REA, Hunt, and Memory Lane are all good options in my opinion.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by rand1com

I would hate to see it separated as it is a piece of history as is. I had one of these about 5 years ago with only (3) autographs and sold it intact for $3000 to a collector. It is obviously better in today's environment but probably only $5-6K since it is not really displayable.You can't really go wrong with any of the well established auction houses but you have an item that is not likely to have a duplicate in any auction so I would go with one of the most widely recognized ones. Heritage, REA, Hunt, and Memory Lane are all good options in my opinion.

Normally, I, too, would cringe at the destruction of a piece like this just to maximize your return, but it's quite likely the winning bidder would be a dealer who would turn around and do exactly that anyway. In addition, this is not a one-of-a-kind, these yearbooks are around, and I like the idea that the individual pages would get framed to make four wonderful display pieces as opposed to being hidden inside a book residing on a shelf. Lots to consider here, and you win whatever choices you make!