I would have liked to have seen this one run its course....

[vintagesportscollector]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIGHLY-UNUSU...vip=true&rt=nc

Ended within hours of being listed. Assume seller got a nice offline offer.

[ooo-ribay]

I'm pretty sure your assumption is correct.

[CW]

Is it possible that's from a sport other than baseball? Cricket maybe or lacrosse?

[khkco4bls]

which is BS. plenty of Other people would have liked to have had a shot at it

[GoCubsGo32]

Whoa! What's the value of a mask like that?

[vintagesportscollector]

I believe it’s referred to as an umpire style mask and I have never seen it associated with anything except baseball…but I’ve only seen a couple examples. The ridiculously larger ear guards are an innovation that didn’t catch on, so it’s quite rare. Mark S. has an example. I’ve never seen an example sell (and now won’t once again), so would only venture it would be one of the more valuable masks – especially in that mint condition. Age is c.1920.

Interestingly 15 years ago this wasn’t considered as valuable as some masks, but today, with so few examples, I imagine the price is up there.

[perezfan]

Hunts had one fairly recently, but I think it was in their Internet/Phone Auction. If so, it won't be "searchable". Gotta love that user-friendly Hunts website!

But from memory, I think it went for right around $1K. I do still have mine, and it took a very long time to find. The one posted above is only the 4th example I've seen in many years of collecting this stuff. To say that the giant swiveling ear flaps never caught on is probably an understatement by Joe. Maybe Spalding should've marketed it to the Elephant population instead (like those pictured in Bob's Circus Poster).

Regardless, it went the way of the Banana Bat and the Ambidextrous Glove (though not quite as coveted as either). It is definitely baseball, and is actually quite impressive in person.

[perezfan]

I actually found the Hunts example. It had some condition isues and restoration, but still sold for $850 + 15% = $977.50. So right around $1K with shipping...

http://huntauctions.com/live/imagevi...=104&lot_qual=

[murphusa]

I asked Jon and he respectively declined saying he took the offer due to poor sales he had had on eBay recently.