Kid Nichols letter, Jim Rice jersey spice up MGA o

The Mike Gutierrez Auction in January was the biggest in terms of volume in company history. It was so large that more than 300 items were unsold ... but they won't be unsold for long. MGA has started a between-auctions auction that ends March 30 at www.mgauction.net, and this supplementary event turned into a monster, with 1,350-plus items.

"Because of the volume of my last auction, we had a lot of items that didn't sell, and now we're re-offering them at 50 percent of the previous minimum bid," Gutierrez said. "Some of it is inexpensive, but some of it is pretty valuable. We're re-running some items that are really quite nice and just got lost in the last auction. In the January auction, people passed on a 1943 team-signed Yankees photo. Why? I don't know. Ernie Bonham died in 1949. So now we're going to minimum bid it at $450, which is what an Ernie Bonham signature is worth.

"The Yankees seat - we started it at $1,000 and it didn't go. Why? Those things sell for $2,500 - we're talking about a seat from 1923, not a seat from the 1970s. So now there will be super-low minimum bids and no way people can pass up on them."

Some highlights of this auction:
• Jim Rice 1985 Boston Red Sox white home autographed jersey (shown far left). Blue Sharpie signature on front. MEARS authentication, PSA/DNA for the autograph.
• Charles "Kid" Nichols signed 1952 typed letter to Warren Giles. Gutierrez called it "the ultimate Kid Nichols letter." PSA/DNA authentication (shown at left).
• "Gone With The Wind" signed display.
• Hank Greenberg and Charles Gehringer scarce duo-signed ball.
• Ray Nitschke 1970 Green Bay Packers signed player's copy contract.
• Theodore Roosevelt 1904 signed photo
• Outstanding Frank Sinatra signed 1940s 8-by-10 sepia photo.

All of the autographed items in this auction feature authentication by PSA/DNA.

How does MGA manage to have 1,200-plus-lot auctions twice in three months? "It shows that stuff is turning, that material is turning in the marketplace," Gutierrez said.

The next MGA auction is scheduled for June.