In building our first auction, one of the things that I’m discovering is how quickly the auction is defining itself, in terms of what kind of items we’ll have to offer.
The tagline “A curated selection of sophisticated sports artifacts” couldn’t be more true. One of the places you’ll see it right off the bat is in the assortment of tough and interesting card types we’ll be featuring in the inaugural auction this October.
Example: 1888 Scrapps Tobacco. A beautiful representation of 19th Century artwork, carefully and artfully presented in its SGC holder (in our opinion, the way SGC handles Scrapps cards is one of the coolest things they do).
Another interesting thing that we’ve got is this 1909 Colgan’s Chips square proof card. While these aren’t actually “proofs,” (nobody really knows what they are, actually), because they feature the same images as the E254 Colgan’s Chips cards, collectors at some point began calling them “proofs.” In reality, they’re probably just another card type that features similar artwork (many of the candy and caramel issues of that era utilized the same player art). While we may never know how or where these cards were issued, it’s still a pretty cool card type that you don’t see every day.
We’re also happy to offer this 1932 Zeenut card of Henry Oana. While Zeenuts are highly collectible to begin with, Oana, as a Hawaiian-born player, is somewhat of a celebrity among Zeenuts collectors. “The Hawaiian Prince,” an outstanding hitter and sometime pitcher, played pro ball for 23 years, mostly in the Pacific Coast League, winning fans in the early 30s as a member of the Portland Beavers and San Francisco Seals. Yet another highly collectible card from a unique and beautiful card type.
It’s not just tough prewar card types we’re featuring, though. One of the most difficult and desirable postwar issues is the 1968 Topps 3D set. A limited-edition “test” issue that was distributed to some Brooklyn stores in the summer of ’68, the 3D cards have found favor among collectors of tough card types over the years. We’ve got this one:
Another difficult Topps card type were the Venezuelan issues of the 60s. Hardly ever found in pristine condition, the Venezuelans are often faded, chipped, creased and well-handled, in addition to being extremely scarce. We’re fortunate to be able to offer a key Hall of Famer from the 1966 Venezuelan Topps set, center fielder Willie Mays.
The unique card types we’re offering don’t even end in the 1960s. Another test issue from the 1970s was the 1973 Topps Pin Ups set. Featuring the same checklist as the 1973 Topps Comics, we’re happy to offer you the pin up of Billy Williams – a scarce and desirable Hall of Famer from a tough, tough set.
This is just a small selection of the unique kinds of sports cards we’ll be offering in our October auction. It’s a type collector’s paradise, with a wide range of special cards spanning more than a century. As a longtime card guy, curating this auction has been a pretty special experience.