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1976 Topps Reggie Jackson, vintage cards of Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth highlight new REA auction
The 1976 baseball season was a transitional year for Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.
In nine seasons with the Oakland A’s, Jackson belted 254 of his 563 career home runs, including 47 in 1963 and a league-leading 32 in 1973 and 36 in 1975 to lead the A’s to three straight World Series championships. But the 1973 AL MVP engaged in multiple salary disputes with mercurial owner Charlie Finley, leading to his departure from Oakland after the 1975 season.
With free agency looming, Finley traded Jackson and pitcher Ken Holtzman to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell. Despite missing the first month of the season, Jackson hit 27 home runs and drove in 91 runs in his lone season with the Orioles before signing with the Yankees, where he won two more World Series (1977-78). While in New York, Jackson famously slugged three straight home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 Fall Classic to win his second World Series MVP and become known as “Mr. October.”
Jackson’s final season in Oakland is memorialized on his 1976 Topps card, which shows him holding a bat in his bright yellow A’s uniform.
A PSA Gem Mint 10 copy of the card is featured in the March Encore Auction at Robert Edward Auctions. Only 11 PSA 10 examples of the card exist and have sold from $4,067 (2017) to a high of $39,789 (2022) over the past seven years, according to PSA.
REA’s March auction, which opened March 14 and runs through March 24, features nearly 3,400 items, from 1888 N28 Allen & Ginter cards of Hall of Famers John Clarkson and John Montgomery Ward to high-end modern cards.
“This auction is loaded with the hobby’s most iconic names but what’s exciting is there are some very unique items that feature those icons on items collectors typically don’t see up for bid,” REA President Brian Dwyer said. “It’s a great opportunity to add some rare pieces to your collection.”
Two of the top rare vintage cards in the auction feature Hall of Famer and hobby icon Honus Wagner: a 1911 M110 Sporting Life Cabinet Honus Wagner (PSA GOOD 2); and a 1910-1911 M116 Sporting Life Honus Wagner Pastel Background (SGC EX/NM 6).
The auction also features several rare and significant Babe Ruth cards, including: a 1921 Schapira Bros. Candy Babe Ruth Waiting For a High One Partial Box; three rare strip cards of Ruth, including a 1920 W519-1 #5, 1921 W516-2-1 #10, and a 1922 W522 #48; a 1935 R332 Schutter-Johnson Candy #26 Babe Ruth (PSA GOOD 2); and a 1933 V353 World Wide Gum Canadian Goudey #80 Babe Ruth (PSA EX-NM 6).
There are also nearly 700 T206 cards, including seven Carolina Brights; a Ty Cobb Bat Off Shoulder (PSA EX 5) card with a Tolstoi back; and a rare example of the Cy Young Bare Hand Shows version featuring his name on the top and bottom.
Other notable items include:
• 1980-1981 Topps Basketball Larry Bird/Magic Johnson Rookie (PSA MINT 9).
• 1951 Bowman #253 Mickey Mantle Rookie (SGC GOOD+ 2.5).
• 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle (PSA VG 4).
• 1954 Topps #128 Hank Aaron Rookie (SGC EX 5)
• 1961 Nu-Card Scoops #422 Mickey Mantle Hits Longest Homer (PSA GEM MINT 10; 1-of-5). One of only five examples graded PSA 10.
• 1984 Donruss #248 Don Mattingly Rookie (PSA GEM MINT 10).
