Book Prices in Mastro Auction

[Hot Springs Bathers]

I wound up sitting on my hands watching the prices. I am not a seasoned auction veteran but I realized very quickly that things were getting out of hand, especially on the two big lots.

I received a phone call from a friend in Ft. Worth that was selling many of his baseball titles. We met in Mt. Pleasent yesterday and I brought home 162 books much to the joy of my saintly wife.

Not any great titles but great reading! This kind of ties in with the "bird in the hand" thread htat had been running.

Barry my Harris book without jacket looks better all the time.

[baseballart]

(Mike: Tom bigtrain I'm sure will pipe in, as Barry realizes there are actually five people here interested in books.)

I've looked over the prices again. While the Harris price is high, the 1951 History of the National League in dj at $330 is a shocker to me at least.

The book is ubiquituous without dust jacket, and there are many copies of it in dust jacket. I know I have passed on it in stores at $30 with dj; I still probably would.

Lot 335 puzzles me again. I know if I listed all of those books on ebay (and I would willingly do this if I got the Legendary price), I'd probably get $300, and have the buyer force me to include shipping. If The Natural had been a first edition, there would of course be considerable value, but I'm at a loss to explain it otherwise.


Max

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

I wound up sitting on my hands watching the prices. I am not a seasoned auction veteran but I realized very quickly that things were getting out of hand, especially on the two big lots.

I received a phone call from a friend in Ft. Worth that was selling many of his baseball titles. We met in Mt. Pleasent yesterday and I brought home 162 books much to the joy of my saintly wife.

Not any great titles but great reading! This kind of ties in with the "bird in the hand" thread htat had been running.

Barry my Harris book without jacket looks better all the time.

I travel through Mt.Pleasant fairly often. My wife and her whole brood of relatives is from Naples TX, home of the world famous Watermelon Festival and about 18 miles from Mt.Pleasant, on HWY 67. I can't believe I see "Mt.Pleasant" mentioned on the board. That hits quite close to home. regards

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Fellows the Segar National League book is just one of the great surprises in the auction. I think we need to compliment the auction house for their presentation of the books.

I actually say this with a strong twinge of regret. I have really enjoyed collecting baseball books for years and what great fun it is to find an older title with jacket under $20 and usually under $10. I am afraid this may signal a trend upward in prices. Great for the booksellers out there but no fun for us buyers.

Saying this, I have never had any qualms about paying $$$ for the tougher titles pre-50 or a nice Putnam Orioles etc... But I will hesitate to pay $$$ for many of the 50s & 60s titles such as in the two bigger lots.

I may have to turn to my other area of interest, baseball films. I picked up 9 new DVDs in our deal this week. I am now at just over 700 films. I am working on a project to issue a guide with a photo of the vhs/DVD and a synopsis. I hope to have it ready by Summer. During a SABR event Rich K. saw a smalll portion of my books but did see much of my film library. You will probably understand, during most days much of both are in stacks on the floor but if my wife knows guests will be around I have to hide much of it in closets and the storage room!

Leon, my friend Jay and I chose Mt. Pleasent as a nice halfway point between Ft. Worth and Hot Springs. Another friend joined us there for a wonderful 4 hours. We should have gone the 16 miles up the road to Mt. Vernon to pay our respects to the memory of Dandy Don Meredith. The third member of our party used to live in the same Dallas apartment complex as Dandy Don so he had some wonderful stories to tell. The Mt. Pleasent/Mt. Vernon area is really nice and has turned out some great athletes over the years.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

With what amounted to a whine above let me add that if any of you want to really swim with the sharks start collecting older golf books! Whoa, it makes moves into the Wagner, Plank area in a hurry!

[baseballart]

Mike

I have lots of duplicate books. Some are listed here Duplicate Book list on flickr

I have dozens and dozens more of 1950/60s/70s books which will be available cheaply. If there are any particular titles you're looking for, let me know

Max

[scgaynor]

I don't think that you can really apply the prices in this auction to future sales. There was a premium on alot of lots based on the collection and the fact that there was alot of great material in this auction to generate interest.

On the first night of the Halper sale, a Joe Dimaggio baseball signed with his full name sold for over $10,000. In any other auction, at that time, the ball was worth $500 (at best).

Scott

[baseballart]

An ad for Busting Em from the publisher