Goldin 100 auction

[rlevy]

Jeff, I had thought the pre-sale estimate was $1mm+ but can't be sure. I tend to take pre-sale estimates on baseball game used jerseys with a grain of salt since every jersey is unique. Mantle jerseys are scarce and highly desirable, however year, originality, and condition all can affect the pool of prospective buyers and hence the price. I was a little surprised it didn't go a bit higher given it was from his MVP year and photo-matched to his cycle game that year, and I imagine Goldin was a little surprised as well, but the impact of the restoration on the price was impossible to predict.

Rick

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by rlevy

Jeff, I had thought the pre-sale estimate was $1mm+ but can't be sure. I tend to take pre-sale estimates on baseball game used jerseys with a grain of salt since every jersey is unique. Mantle jerseys are scarce and highly desirable, however year, originality, and condition all can affect the pool of prospective buyers and hence the price. I was a little surprised it didn't go a bit higher given it was from his MVP year and photo-matched to his cycle game that year, and I imagine Goldin was a little surprised as well, but the impact of the restoration on the price was impossible to predict.

Rick

The market has swung so rapidly in the last few years that it is hard to get any sort of handle on the market.

Heritage had some huge jerseys their last sale. The Koufax rookie jersey at $1.8M and Walter Johnson jersey for $2M missed estimates by a decent amount if I am not mistaken.

Time will tell where these settle. Truly remarkable pieces.

[ichieh]

Well, Mantle's jerseys don't grow from tree, so to me this jersey was way under valued and should have gone higher.

[perezfan]

Hard to say the Jersey was undervalued with the front being restored.

Think of it like a '52 Topps Mantle Card with the script "Mickey Mantle" portion erased and then re-written in. Serious Uniform collectors want them to be all-original and as worn by the player.

[ichieh]

last time I checked a 1952 Topps Mantle in any grade is doing pretty well, including those that are trimmed or has major crease.
5-10 years from now, if people still collect Mickey Mantle's jersey, this one will look dirt cheap.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Hard to say the Jersey was undervalued with the front being restored.

Think of it like a '52 Topps Mantle Card with the script "Mickey Mantle" portion erased and then re-written in. Serious Uniform collectors want them to be all-original and as worn by the player.

I definitely get the preference, but I don't think I agree with the comparison. If a collector has the budget, they can find 50+ 1952 Mantle's to choose from at any moment without much work. Finding another Mantle jersey is a much harder task.

[packs]

Do you guys think the jersey would have done better with no restoration? I'm interested in what the better decision is. With game used it seems like eye appeal can get in the way of what's preferred.

[rlevy]

No question, restoration of the NY was the right decision. Without it, the jersey would have sold for much less.
As a side-note, five years ago, Mantle jerseys, all-original, sold in the $500k-600k range. Last year, a 1958 all original sold for over $4mm. Kind of crazy to think that the restoration of the NY, which would be undetectable by most, probably resulted in the jersey selling for a small fraction of the 1958 jersey. Both jerseys were used by Mantle during great years in his career.

We collectors are a strange lot.

Rick

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by packs

Do you guys think the jersey would have done better with no restoration? I'm interested in what the better decision is. With game used it seems like eye appeal can get in the way of what's preferred.

Not sure if this answers your question but I can offer this example:

A few weeks ago, Heritage had a bunch of vintage Twins flannels. One was a 1968 Jerry Zimmerman road. Jerry wore #22, but this shirt had a vintage number change to 21, for use in the minors or subsequent spring training. The previous owner had the "1" removed and replaced with a modern "2" so the jersey now looks as it did in '68, with #22. The fading left by the removed "1" is easily visible.

I would have MUCH preferred the jersey still had the #21 on it, because that was what the team did to it, probably in 1969. So, it wouldn't be in original condition (as issued in 1968,) but it would be original to '69 or 1970.

As it currently is, it's a mostly 20th century GU shirt, with a modern, non-original "2" cluttering up the back.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

I definitely get the preference, but I don't think I agree with the comparison. If a collector has the budget, they can find 50+ 1952 Mantle's to choose from at any moment without much work. Finding another Mantle jersey is a much harder task.

Haha… was not meant to be taken literally. Of course there are 5,000 ‘52 Mantles for each G/U Jersey of his. Just illustrating that the replacement “NY” would significantly drag down the price realized.