Collectible Classics sale loaded with vintage card

Collectible Classics has announced an ambitious schedule of fall auctions, including its first live auction Oct. 8 which begins at 12:30 p.m.

Specializing in collector-friendly auctions, the company will offer 350 lots in a live auction at the Hempfield Hunt Club in New Stanton, a suburb outside Pittsburgh. The facility is one mile from Exit 75 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and just off Exit 57 of Interstate 70.

Next on the schedule is a 300-lot phone and online auction of "premium" items on Oct. 25. Catalogs for this auction will be mailed in early October. Another online auction is planned for Nov. 29-30, and a second live auction for Dec. 10.

"The vast majority of the lots we sell are consignments, and many of these consignments lend themselves to a live auction format," said Judy Burk, who operates the auction business with her husband, John. "For example, one of the lots for the first live auction consists of 40,000 cards from the 1980s and 1990s."

Highlights of the upcoming auction include autographed photos of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Muhammad Ali. There is also a signature of Jim Crowley, one of Notre Dame's "Four Horseman," and a page signed by several Pittsburgh Steelers, including Johnny "Blood" McNally and Jim Finks with the autographs authenticated by Kevin Keating.

"This will be a fun-time local auction with thousands of cards, including many vintage cards, graded cards, autographs, programs, photos and other memorabilia. A wide range of sports will be represented, including more obscure sports such as bowling. There will also be a wide variety of non-sport cards and memorabilia as well.

 "The auction will have a definite Pittsburgh flavor, with 30 lots of Pirates or Steelers memorabilia," Burk said.

Arrangements can be made to bid in the live auction by phone.
Collectible Classics recently became a licensed Pennsylvania auction company. Veteran auctioneer Larry Thomas will call the live auction.
For a list of auction lots available by call 724-446-3079 or e-mail jburkj@comcast.net. The list is also online at www.auctionscc.com.