With the number of sports collectibles auctions that take place each year, it can be a challenge for auction houses to come up with truly unique items to attract bidders.
The upcoming Signature Sale event hosted by Philip Weiss Auctions certainly has no shortage of unique items, particularly for card collectors. It's not often that collectors, especially fans of vintage cards, can find single cards from such issues as Brunners Bread, Weber Bakery, Kotton Cigarettes and Tharps Ice Cream in one sale - let alone a full set of 1951 Connie Mack All-Stars and a 1955 Topps Double Headers set that has 65 of the original 66 cards.
"There's definitely some unusual stuff in this sale," said company president Philip Weiss. "We offer two or three sports auctions per year, and this is one of the better ones in terms of the variety. It's definitely not your run-of-the-mill selection of baseball cards from the 1960s. A lot of these vintage card items came from the collection of a single hobbyist, who had spent years collecting these things. And they were consigned to us in one big purchase."
The unique items in the auction are not limited to trading cards. Collectors of vintage pennants will certainly want to take a look at a rare 1910 Philadelphia Athletics championship felt pennant and there are a number of autographed baseballs for sale, ranging from a single-signed Babe Ruth ball to a ball featuring the signature of former Brooklyn Dodgers president Ed McKeever.
Football collectors have a number of complete sets from the 1950s and '60s to choose from, while Notre Dame fans should take note of a rare 1931 Knute Rockne plaque. Only three copies of the plaque were produced - one is at Notre Dame, one at the College Football Hall of Fame and this is the third. It has a $700 minimum bid, and Weiss has given it a pre-sale estimate of $6,000 - $8,000.
Some of the other items in this sale include salesman samples of various championship rings, a selection of boxing autographs, and a first-issue pair of Air Jordan sneakers.
The sports memorabilia offerings are part of a larger auction that includes thousands of comics and comic book art, such as an original 1950s Batman and Robin painting. Many of the comics come from the estate of popular comic book writer Marvin Channing. There are also movie posters and original Peanuts comic strip drawings.
The sports, comics and movie poster offerings will close Oct. 21. In-person bidding at the company's Oceanside, N.Y., offices begins at 10 a.m. that day. Bids are also accepted over the phone and online at the company's website or eBay Live Auctions.
For information, visit www.philipweissauctions.com, or call (516) 594-0731.
