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A real treat for Brooks Robinson fans …
I wrote up an auction lot the other day for our upcoming Collect.com Auction, and one of the ways I described it was to call it one of those neat, old-time lots that would have killed at the Saturday night auction at the old Willow Grove show, “especially if a couple of Brooks Robinson fans got into it.”
I consider myself among that group, in part from admiring him at the top of his game in the 1970 World Series against the Reds, but more directly from several interviews I’ve done with him over the years, the earliest as far back as the mid-1980’s. If there’s a better ambassador for the game of baseball, I’ve yet to hear of him.
(Brooks Robinso original artwork by Arthur K. Miller; www.artofthegame.com)
The single lot of more than five dozen Brooks Robinson pieces is spectacular for a number of reasons, perhaps the two most important being the rare stuff offered, and – unlike so many group lots – the condition of virtually each and every card, decal, sticker and even hand-cut Bazooka cards is Near-Mint.
What I noted in the auction description and my reason for blogging about it now is that any serious Brooks Robinson collector probably needs to give us a call and go over this on the phone. It’s that good.
Obviously, we want our consignor to get as much money as possible for his bounty, but I also had a real sense that I would feel bad if any serious Brooksie fans missed out on at least knowing what’s in the lot.
The auction goes live online on July 26. One of the pieces that startled me – by its value, not its intrinsic beauty – is the 1969 Transogram complete box (Ex-Mt) with statue, which I presume may have been the prehistoric inspiration from the Gumby-like Starting Lineup thingys that would come along 30 years later.
Plus, there’s a 1969 Topps Super (21/4-by-31/4 inches) as nice as they come and a 1974 Topps Deckle Edge, with its edges or its deckles completely pristine and unmolested. Honestly, I’ve rarely seen a group lot like this dedicated to a single player where the stuff is in such sparkling condition. You’ve got to imagine that some Brooks fan went directly from the post office and into therapy from the trauma of parting with these treasures.
Got your attention yet? Seven neatly cut Bazookas from 1963-66, a 1967 intact panel and the 1971 Bazooka Numbered and Unnumbered cards, plus the 1968 Playing Tips panel, a 1970 Kellogg’s proof, Salada Coins, decently cut Post Cereal cards, a 1971 Topps Super, 1960 Leaf, 1969 Topps Checklist with Robby, a 1973 Topps Candy Lid, eight different card company-issued autographed cards from Topps, Upper Deck and Donruss and one swatch card, and finally, just for good measure and apparently to see if we were paying attention, Curtis Montague Schilling’s 1989 Pro Cards Rochester Red Wings card.
Don’t ask.
Speaking of Schilling, I know it may seem like shameless shilling for our auction, but it’s really interesting for me to write up some of the vintage card lots particularly, and so I share with the dear readers on that topic from time to time.
And a final wee bit of shilling ...
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