Never-before-seen figures highlight next ITPC auct

Inside the Park Collectibles will be conducting its latest sports memorabilia phone/internet auction ending Feb. 24 with many never-before-seen items taking center stage. The auction will feature 100 vintage items with a little twist - all the items will be figural-related memorabilia. ITPC has specialized in figural memorabilia since its inception nearly 20 years ago.

Auction items will include a number of lots of Gibbs-Conner mascot banks, original Hartland statues with boxes and tags, Carter-Hoffman figurines, a boxed Jackie Robinson doll, figural ashtrays and decanters, in addition to ITPC's usual array of vintage bobbing head dolls.

The auction is highlighted by a number of incredible porcelain pieces from Gibbs-Conner and Stanford Pottery.

"The Gibbs-Conner items are simply stunning" said co-partner John Trincellito. "We have been working on this collection for more than a year and we feel that any fan of figural sports memorabilia will be thrilled with the selection. These pieces were made in the early 1950s and were never released to the general public for sale. They come from the estate of an ex-employee of Gibbs-Conner and were stored in crates for close to 50 years. It is one of the most important and exciting finds of figural sports memorabilia that we can remember."

The Gibbs-Conner pieces being offered in this auction include a Brooklyn Dodgers mascot bum cookie jar, mascot banks of the Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox. There will also be some unique ashtrays from this collection. Other porcelain pieces include the rare Stanford Pottery Philadelphia Athletics bank and the always popular Massillon Tiger bank.

The auction will also have some of the finest original Hartland statues that ITPC has ever handled. The list includes snow white examples of the Nellie Fox, Warren Spahn and Hank Aaron statues with each coming in their original boxes with tags. There will also be an exceptional Dick Groat statue (the rarest of the original Hartlands).

As with every ITPC auction, vintage bobbing heads will be plentiful. There are 50 quality dolls featured in this auction. Among the highlights are a rare early '60s New York Yankees Black Face, mint dolls from the mini series, a scarce New York Titans doll, several hard-to-find AFL dolls and even some non-sport dolls (including an almost impossible-to-find Bozo the Clown).

There will also be other great items including a rare jumbo-sized Harvard Carter-Hoffman woodcarved mascot figurine, college football mascot decanters, figural banks and Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia. "We think all figural collectors will be pleased with the quality of this auction" Trincellito said. "Figural sports memorabilia is now mainstream and continues to grow in this hobby. This auction should be fun for both advanced and novice collectors."

For more information on ITPC's February auction look for its full-page advertisement picturing all the items in in next week's SCD. You can also view all the items at ITPC's website at: www.insidetheparkcollectibles.com or contact ITPC directly by calling 516-747-7932 or by e-mail at sharlou28@aol.com.