REA Summer Auction draws major bids for vintage and modern sports cards
The REA Summer Auction, which closed on Aug. 17, resulted in strong sales of vintage and modern sports cards, including record-breaking prices for several Hall of Famers. Collectors placed a total of 91,282 bids during the event.
Top-selling cards at the auction included a 1952 Topps Baseball Mickey Mantle PSA 5 that sold for $162,000, a 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson PSA 8.5 that brought in $156,000, and a 1948-49 Leaf Jackie Robinson Rookie Card (RC) PSA 7 that went for $150,000. The 1952 Mantle is considered among the most recognizable cards in collecting, while the Leaf Robinson rookie is also highly sought after.
In football card sales, a significant result was achieved with the sale of a 1935 Bronko Nagurski Rookie Card from National Chicle (PSA 5), which fetched $105,000. This represents the highest recorded sale for this card in its grade as of now. The Nagurski card is noted as one of the earliest football trading cards and is considered rare in high quality.
Other notable results included a 1954 Topps Ted Williams PSA 9 at $96,000—a record for that grade—and a 1915 E145 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson SGC 3.5 at $84,000. These outcomes suggest continued high demand for vintage sports cards among collectors.
On the modern side of collecting, Ichiro Suzuki’s rookie year card drew attention by reaching six figures at auction. His 2001 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor /99 PSA 10—featuring all Japanese text on the back—sold for $150,000 due to its rarity; only forty-nine such cards were printed with Japanese text and this was the only example graded PSA 10.
The success of these auctions underlines ongoing interest within the sports collectibles hobby sector. REA has announced another auction scheduled to run from Sept. 11 to Sept. 21.
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