Heritage Auction Catalog

[36GoudeyMan]

It always puzzles me how much incredible stuff has been kept in such pristine condition (cards, memorabilia, garments) and yet it winds up in an auction house for sale? Who owned all this insanely collectible stuff? Why are they selling it now? Who owned Jimmie Foxx's warmup jacket from 1938 and how on Earth is it in such amazing condition 80+ years later? The sheer volume of spectacular stuff in so many top tier AHs boggles the mind and provokes a ton of questions...

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by 36GoudeyMan

It always puzzles me how much incredible stuff has been kept in such pristine condition (cards, memorabilia, garments) and yet it winds up in an auction house for sale? Who owned all this insanely collectible stuff? Why are they selling it now? Who owned Jimmie Foxx's warmup jacket from 1938 and how on Earth is it in such amazing condition 80+ years later? The sheer volume of spectacular stuff in so many top tier AHs boggles the mind and provokes a ton of questions...

It does seem crazy, month after month, year after year, auction after auction, page after page, so much fabulous stuff, no end to the supply it seems. What I would love to know is how much of contents of this Heritage auction, or any big auction these days, is new to the hobby, and how much has been sold or auctioned before, or coming out of an assembled collection? My guess would be something on the order of 25% new, 75% "recycled." Anybody else want to venture an estimate of the percentage?

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

It does seem crazy, month after month, year after year, auction after auction, page after page, so much fabulous stuff, no end to the supply it seems. What I would love to know is how much of contents of this Heritage auction, or any big auction these days, is new to the hobby, and how much has been sold or auctioned before, or coming out of an assembled collection? My guess would be something on the order of 25% new, 75% "recycled." Anybody else want to venture an estimate of the percentage?

I would be very surprised to find any auction at 25% fresh to the hobby material. How much could really be left out there in general? 5% would sound way too high to me. I'd put the over/under at 1 to 1.5%

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

I would be very surprised to find any auction at 25% fresh to the hobby material. How much could really be left out there in general? 5% would sound way too high to me. I'd put the over/under at 1 to 1.5%

I always feel a little let down after receiving one of these mega catalogs. It seems like there is just an endless parade of super high end stuff. (And some of that is no doubt fresh from the rehab center high end.) Feels like a bit of a shell game sometimes. You own some cool stuff and it feels cool and then you turn around and there is torrent of more and more and more and more very month.

I know the answer is buy what you enjoy and enjoy what you buy. But it does feels sometimes like one long never ending parade. And what's so special about a parade if you have one every two weeks.

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I always feel a little let down after receiving one of these mega catalogs. It seems like there is just an endless parade of super high end stuff. (And some of that is no doubt fresh from the rehab center high end.) Feels like a bit of a shell game sometimes. You own some cool stuff and it feels cool and then you turn around and there is torrent of more and more and more and more very month.

I know the answer is buy what you enjoy and enjoy what you buy. But it does feels sometimes long one long never ending parade. And what's so special about a parade if you have one every two weeks.

Go for actual rarity over condition rarity. For some issues you're lucky to find one or two copies of a card in a calendar year.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by yanksfan09

Go for actual rarity over condition rarity. For some issues you're lucky to find one or two copies of a card in a calendar year.

Very true. I have a player contract 1 of 1 and it's the coolest thing I have. Ditto for a few cards.

[conor912]

What, exactly, is the definition of “new to the hobby”? I see that thrown around a lot, but it seems completely subjective.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

I would be very surprised to find any auction at 25% fresh to the hobby material. How much could really be left out there in general? 5% would sound way too high to me. I'd put the over/under at 1 to 1.5%

25% could well be high, but I think you're way low. Just 20 new items in an auction of 2,000? I don't think so. Now, we might be on different pages on the definition of "new to the hobby," since I'm including collections that have been built up over the years going way back now coming out. Most of a collection like that I would include in my definition of "new." And I think it will be some time before the hobby consists almost exclusively of more or less real-time churn and flipping, there's too much stuff out there that's been sitting in collections for years, not to mention players' estates and other things truly new to the hobby marketplace. I'd be interested to hear from any auction guys on this, they would know.

[pokerplyr80]

Fresh to the hobby for me means sitting around basically undiscovered. Perhaps inherited and sitting in a shoe box or albums. Definitely not graded. I think 25% of listings advertised as fresh to the hobby actually being fresh to the hobby would be a good estimate. If there was a way to prove it I would take any bets at under 5% in just about any major auction.

[epike3]

... just wondering ...