Inside the Park Collectibles' Spring Auction concluded June 9 and was deemed a rousing success by co-owner Lou Criscione. The auction featured 125 lots of vintage sports memorabilia with its typical heavy emphasis on figural items.

"Things ran very smoothly. It seems that more and more of our customers are using our new online bidding feature," Criscione said. "We answered much fewer calls, so our workload decreased but the bidding remained just as strong or stronger."

The auction's opening lots included a number of pieces from ITPC's Gibbs-Conner estate find and the items were well received by those who took part in the bidding. The opening lot was a magnificent Gibbs-Conner Boston Braves cookie jar that sold for $976. Two Gibbs-Conner NFL mascot banks of the Eagles and Colts sold for $976 and $733, respectively.

The auction also included several rare decanters featuring the likenesses of Johnny Unitas and Brooks Robinson, with both fetching $835 final bids. An Ezra Brooks USC Trojans decanter was hammered down at $191.

As with every ITPC auction, vintage bobbing heads stole the show. A rare Salt Lake City doll sold for $1,947 while a Roberto Clemente bobber garnered the highest bid, selling for $2,784. Other highlights included a hard-to-find variation of the Packers Kissing Pair that brought in $1,429, while an equally rare Washington Realistic Face doll sold for $1,700.

Other auction highlights included a pristine Eddie Mathews Hartland statue with box and tag and a '60s Mantle/Maris radio that each sold for $1,074. A mid-'60s Challenge the Yankees board game brought in $584 and a 1959 Baltimore Colts World Champion cup and saucer sold for almost $399.

In all, 10 of the 125 lots eclipsed the four-figure mark, something that caught Criscione a little by surprise.

"As with every auction, there were surprises both ways. Some of the items went for way more than we anticipated while others seem to 'slip through the cracks.' The bobbing head action was as strong as we have ever seen. We had a number of dolls selling for a $1,000 or better and there were some rare dolls that got very few bids. It's what makes auctions so exciting - you just can never predict the outcome."

ITPC's Summer Auction is tentatively scheduled for mid-to-late August.
Look for the full-page ad in an upcoming issue of SCD or at go to www.insidetheparkcollectibles.com for details.