Two c1930 Baseball Statues Disappeared from eBay

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Did anyone see these two statues below on eBay which were offered by the same seller? They were on for two days. I had the 9" one in my watch list and probably would have bid. No doubt somebody made an offer and the seller closed the auction. There is a larger version of the 9" that I'd rather have anyway. The seller claimed they were bronze, but I'm pretty certain they were both Galvano casts. It's not unusual for people to mistake the two mediums.

STARTED Nov-12-07 ENDED Nov-13-07 16:07:03 PST US $59.99 1930s VINTAGE 9" BRONZE BASEBALL TROPHY CATCHER EX COND
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=553&item=250187028173

STARTED Nov-12-07 ENDED Nov-13-07 16:11:45 PST US $39.99 1930s VINTAGE 6" BRONZE BASEBALL TROPHY PITCHER EX COND
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=553&item=250187019873

I have the 6" one and it's Galvano.

Jack Lincoln Lambert was the sculptor of the 9" one. I'm almost positive Lambert did the 6" as well based on the style, but have no documentation. The 9" one doesn't have a base; with the base it would have been 10 1/4" as seen in the J803 listing below

John Kanuit had a reproduction of the larger version at the 2006 National in Anaheim, seen in the bottom Left of the photo below; I recall I didn't include it in the story since it was a repro. Out of the zillions of antique things he had for sale, it was the only a reproduction as I recall, and he disclosed it up front. The black football statue of the lineman in stance wasn't a repro, but it wasn't old.

You can read more about antique sports sculpture on my site http://www.sportsantiques.com/

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Posted By: Mike H

I missed them Carlton. What do you believe the retail value of them to be?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Carlton I used to own a "Slugger" ashtray that had the name Jack Lambert on it...could it be the same guy that made those statues?

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Hey Mike, Retail value? Good question....Prices seems like they can vary a lot, especially since the internet. Well by retail, I guess that would mean priced sitting in a booth at a show....of course that could depend on who's booth....Kanuit's booth or some yahoo's selling new cards..might be a big difference in price.

I got the 6" one on eBay this last summer for $134.00. Considering how rare it is that was defintetly a steal. That was the first one I'd seen for sale (or at least noticed) I'll just take a stab at say $200-$250 for the 6" and say $400-$500 for the 9"

Dan, Yes your ashtray was by the same Lambert. Jack Lincoln Lambert appears to have been multi talented. He was a cartoonist and illustrator for the Chicago Sun TImes and the Baltimore Sun back in the 30's. It's been twenty years since I researched him but I recall he did a heroric sized statue in front of some stadium in I think Baltimore, though I've never seen it or a photo. I've seen other similiar caricature type plaster pieces like yours. Someone told me there is a following for his work, which I found interesting, since 20 years ago I don't think anyone knew who he was. I have Amos Alonzo Stagg's personal bookends he did, seen below:

YOu can read a little more I've written on Lambert on my site, below is the page link to where he is discussed in the Basketball Page:
http://www.sportsantiques.com/basketball.htm

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Thanks Carlton...you can understand my difficulty in trying to learn more about Jack Lambert the artist when he has the same name as a famous football player. Google searches were almost useless.

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Posted By: Mark

Carlton: You pretty much "stole" the Pitcher statue at that price!

The 9" Batter statue went off in a recent Lelands auction for $1,516 ($1,782 with Buyers Premium). I believe it was the Galvano Bronze, and this one did NOT include the base. If you search Lelands' completed auctions, you'll see it.

The only one I've ever seen WITH a base was in an REA auction, and was offered "trophy style" with a thick base, and a Spalding circular logo on one end, and a circular imprint of a now-missing Spalding logo on the other end.

Hope this is helpful... "Top-dollar" was probably realized on the Lelands example, as I am guessing it would have gone for about 60 - 70% of that on Ebay...

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?auctionid=611&lot=162
Mark you were right, I looked it up and darn if it did sell for $1,516.33, and yes it was the smaller 9" version. I guess prices are going up on this stuff. Now that is a good example of why I try to stay away from giving my opinion on value. I was trying my best to give a realistic value, and not let my passion take over. Oh I can believe it went for that much. The larger version is the one that gets my full attention though. I appriciate you weighing in to correct me, and your insight into the one in REA's auction. Man that is a great statue!

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Posted By: Mark

Thanks for posting the picture, Carlton! I would have attempted it if I wasn't so technically challenged... probably would have corrupted the thread.

Here is my take on the prices of these figurals (just a humble opinion...) There is still a pretty limited number of collectors for these premium figurals. But those who are interested are now willing to fork over more money.

I bet the Lelands piece came down to just two guys who really wanted it. I was watching it closely, and it stayed stagnant (around $600) until about 1:00 AM on the closing night. I went to bed, and was very surprised to see the final price the next morning.

It will be interesting to see how the Spalding Catcher Trophy does in Lelands' current auction. This very one has surfaced at least twice before, and has a pretty severe gouge on the Ball portion.