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

[Topnotchsy]

I was hoping to get some advice from people here.

I am considering sending two items to auction houses:

• 1938 Pasadena Junior High Yearbook signed by Jackie Robinson 4x
• 1945 Owners contract with Commissioner Happy Chandler signed by a representative of each team (Yankees copy)

I had 2 questions:

• The binding on the Jackie Yearbook is a little bit damaged which hurts the aesthetics (the binding is still tight). I was wondering if it made sense to have it professionally restored before sending to an auction house (or if there are any auction houses that handle this kind of thing for items that are sent in)
• Which auction house would your recommend for these? Goldin seems to be the 'hottest' auction house these days, but it is mostly focused on modern cards. Thinking of possibly going Heritage or REA, or a smaller house like Love of the Game and would love thoughts.

[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.