High-grade Cabinets Among Highlights of January/February Sale
GREAT MEADOWS, NJ, Jan. 9, 2013 – Love of the Game Auctions, an internet-based sports auction house catering to the passionate collector of memorabilia and cards, announced today that it has received a consignment consisting of more than 100 Turkey Red cabinet cards from the T3 and T9 boxing sets of 1910-11.
The cards, many of which are among the highest-graded copies available, will be spread across Love of the Game Auctions’ Winter and Spring sales. Relatively fresh to the hobby, the majority of these extraordinary cabinet cards have been part of a large prewar baseball collection for more than 30 years.
“These cabinets are the nicest I’ve seen in 30 years in the hobby,” said Auction Director Al Crisafulli. “Even the lower-grade cards are clean, with color and gloss that’s almost impossible to believe. They look like brand-new cards, and really capture what T3s must have looked like at their time of issue.”
The Turkey Red tobacco set was issued by the American Tobacco Company in 1910 and 1911, as premiums that were redeemable in exchange for coupons. The set consists of 100 baseball players (with a number of variations) as well as 26 boxers, including the most popular athletes of the time in both sports. The cards are widely considered among the most beautiful and artistic ever produced.
Each card, regardless of grade, will be offered as an individual lot. “Offering them individually was an easy decision. This is not a set that was assembled by a registry collector, looking to obtain the highest-grade copy. It was a set assembled by a collector who was searching for the greatest possible eye appeal. New-looking cards. The entire hobby should have a shot at owning one of these, and selling them as a single set or in groups will make them unaffordable.”
Crisafulli added that the most difficult thing about preparing LOTG’s next auction has been writing the descriptions of these cards. “Cards that grade technically lower – 3s and 4s – often look like 7s, but have a small flaw that reduces the technical grade,” he said. “The original gloss and color on these cards is amazing. Our challenge is to properly describe just how special they are.”
The company will feature 25 of the Turkey Red cabinet cards in its winter auction, slated to open the week of January 14. The remainder will be featured in the company’s spring sale, with many displayed in Love of the Game’s booth at the Philly Show in Valley Forge in early March.
Bidding for Love of the Game’s January/February 2013 auction will remain open until February 2. For more information on Love of the Game and how to become a bidder or consignor, visit the company’s website at loveofthegameauctions.com.
