Auctions
Brick of 1952 Topps Baseball wax packs tops $1 million at REA
The sports card hobby is so hot that eight packs of Topps baseball cards once valued at 40 cents has now topped $1 million.
A brick of eight unopened packs of 1952 Topps baseball cards sold for $1,107,000 in REA’s Summer Catalog Auction, which closed Sunday night. The eight packs originally cost a combined 40 cents.
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Only three bricks of 1952 Topps unopened packs are known to still exist from the early days of Topps. The REA brick is now the most expensive of the rare relics, breaking the previous record of $852,000 set in 2023.
REAs Summer Auction generated over $18 million in sales, led by several lots of historic unopened material.
A 1987-1988 Fleer Basketball factory-sealed unopened wax case closed at a record $332,100, while a newly-discovered 1986-1987 Fleer Basketball unopened wax box featuring a Michael Jordan rookie card on top of one of the packs and Jordan rookie stickers showing on the back of five different packs sold for $239,850.
Other big sales of unopened material included rare First and Fourth Series unopened wax boxes of 1971 Topps Baseball, which each sold for $246,000, records for each item; unopened wax boxes of 1961 and 1962 Topps Football sold for $221,400 and $196,800; and a 1998-1999 Skybox Molten Metal Basketball Factory-Sealed Unopened Hobby Case finished at $110,700.
“This was one of the most energetic and exciting auctions we’ve had in a long time,” REA President Brian Dwyer said. “A record number of new bidders were engaged across all areas of the hobby, countless records were set, and the marquee 1952 Topps brick set a new standard for this incredible piece of history as it joined the seven-figure club.”
The auction also set numerous individual sports card records, led by a 1962 Topps #300 Willie Mays PSA MINT 9 that sold for $369,000 and a 1954 Topps #94 Ernie Banks Rookie (PSA 9) that sold for $215,250.
Both were the highest sales of all time for the respective cards in any grade.
Ty Cobb cards also set records, with PSA 7 examples of his 1914 E145 Cracker Jack #30 and 1909-1911 T206 White Border Portrait Green Background selling for $184,500 and $153,750, respectively.
Other notable sales included:
• 1921 E121 American Caramel (Series of 80) “Babe” Ruth (PSA EX-MT 6) for $147,600, a record for the card in this grade.
• 1934 R320 Goudey #61 Lou Gehrig (PSA 8): $147,600.
• 1957-1958 Topps Basketball #77 Bill Russell Rookie (PSA 8): $135,300.
• 1934 R320 Goudey #37 Lou Gehrig (PSA 8): $129,150.
• 1959 Topps #10 Mickey Mantle (SGC 9.5, MBA Gold Diamond): $123,000.
• 1938 R323 Goudey “Heads-Up” #250 Joe DiMaggio (PSA 8): $113,775, record for the card in this grade.
• 1922 Olsen Games Co. Babe Ruth (PSA GOOD+ 2.5): $110,700, a record for the card grade.
• 1952 Topps PSA-Graded Near-Complete Set (406/407): $107,625.
• 1916 Holmes to Homes Bread #86 Joe Jackson (PSA POOR 1, the only PSA-graded example): $101,475, a record for the card grade.
• 1915 E145 Cracker Jack #103 Joe Jackson (SGC VG 3): $98,400, record for the card grade.
