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Massive collection of autographed copies of Sports Illustrated sells for six figures
A quick perusal of eBay shows that the art of collecting old sports magazines is alive and well, with more than 130,000 currently available on the online marketplace.
But there has likely never been a collection of sports magazines like the one that just sold at Heritage Auctions.
A collection of 4,039 individual issues of Sports Illustrated just sold for $204,000 in Heritage’s Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction. The winning bid was $4,000 more than the pre-auction estimate.
Of the more than 4,000 original copies of the popular magazine, 651 are special/regional issues that were available in only parts of the country. A staggering 1,751 issues were signed by the cover subject, with multi-signed issues pushing the total to 2,154 autographed copies.
Of those, an impressive 829 issues were signed by Hall of Famers.
The collection, which was amassed by one collector with almost all the autographs obtained in person, dates back to the debut issue on Aug. 14, 1954, which is autographed by cover subjects Eddie Mathews, Wes Westrum and Augie Donatelli. The second 1954 issues is signed by 1954 USGA Amateur champion Arnold Palmer. Other issues from the 1950s include Roger Bannister, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and Johnny Unitas.
The signed covers featuring legendary athletes include: Mantle (4), Ted Williams (6), Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali (21), Michael Jordan (9) and Wayne Gretzky (8).
Other issues were signed by such sports legends as Mays, Hank Aaron, Arthur Ashe, Pete Maravich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, Joe Namath and Tiger Woods.
There are 65 issues encapsulated by Beckett, including 15 with full Beckett LOAs. Other issues were also authenticated.
