Small Traditions 3rd Annual Holiday Premium Auction Ends Saturday 12/5: Set Registries, Signed HOF Baseballs & High-Grade Singles

Now that Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday, and Cyber-Monday have all passed, Small Traditions LLC invites holiday shoppers to consider nearly 300 high-end lots in its 3rd Annual Holiday Premium Auction. The online event kicked off last weekend and ends this Saturday night 12/5.

Highlights from the auction include the following:

1. Over 120 Signed HOF Baseballs All PSA/DNA Authenticated & Graded, including Ruth, Hartnett, Lyons, Greenberg, Grimes, Ruffing, Waner, Hoyt, Paige, Clemente, Fox & Over 100 Others

The signed HOF baseball collection was meticulously compiled by a local USPS mailman in Denver who assembled and handled the balls using the same care and respect with which he handled his route, whether in rain, snow, heat of day or gloom of night, for nearly 30 years. The consignor handled the balls only when wearing rubber gloves, a practice which Small Traditions continued when processing the collection, and the balls therefore have never been touched with human hands by any others than those who may previously have owned them or those who penned their iconic scripts to them, along with an overwhelming number of inscriptions, which characterize the collection. As any layperson can plainly see, the collection is also characterized by an obsessive attention to condition as well as impeccable provenance. Each and every ball has been authenticated and graded by PSA/DNA

2. Iconic 2001 Bowman Chrome #347 Albert Pujols Autograph RC BGS 10 Pristine Pop 1

The single highest graded specimen from approximately 400 of these iconic cards believed to exist, and widely considered to be the single most significant modern baseball card in existence. The card has been listed with a moderate reserve that is within range of its previous selling price in the Gem Mint 9.5 grade. The offered card is the only BGS 10 Pristine ever graded. 

3. Vintage & Modern Rookie Cards & Rare Singles Graded by PSA, BGS & SGC

1. 1915 Cracker Jack #75 Miller Huggins PSA 8 NM-MT Centered
2. 1909-11 T206 Piedmont Ty Cobb Bat On Shoulder PSA 5 EX Centered    
3. 1911 T3 Turkey Red #78 Home Run Baker SGC 60 EX 5 Highest Graded
4. 1911 T3 Turkey Red #82 Kitty Bransfield PSA 4 VG-EX Toughest T3 In The Set
5. 1948 Swell #3 Jackie Robinson Dramatic Debut RC PSA 7 NM Pop 3 Highest Graded
6. 1951 Berk Ross Panels Granny Hamner & Joe DiMaggio PSA 8 NM-MT Highest Graded
7. 1968 Topps #177 Jerry Koosman & Nolan Ryan RC PSA 8 NM-MT (Plus 5 Other High-Grade Ryan RCs)
8. 1969 New York Boy Scouts Tom Seaver PSA 7 NM Pop 3 Only 5 Known    
9. 1973 Topps #615 Rookie Third Baseman Mike Schmidt RC Blank Back Proof BVG 9.5 Gem Mint
10. 1986 Donruss Highlights Bo Jackson RC White Letter Error PSA 10 Pop 5   
11. 1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan RC BGS 9.5 Gem Mint    
12. 1987 Nike Poster Cards #834 Michael Jordan & Spike Lee PSA 10 Pop 1    
13. 1992 Classic 4-Sport Autograph Derek Jeter RC BGS 9.5 Gem Mint
14. 1992 Score The Franchise Mickey Mantle Artist's Proof/10 Autograph PSA Authentic    
15. 1993 SP Foil #279 Derek Jeter RC BGS 9.5 Gem Mint    
16. 1993 Upper Deck Gold Hologram #449 Derek Jeter RC BGS 9.5 Gem Mint   
17. 1994 Fleer Procards Birmingham Barons #633A Michael Jordan RC Error Proof BGS 9.5 Gem Mint Pop 3    
18. 1996 Bowman's Best Atomic Refractors #R23 Kobe Bryant RC BGS 9.5 Gem Mint    
19. 1996 E-X2000 #30 Kobe Bryant RC BGS 9.5 Gem Mint Pop 21     1996 Flair Showcase Row 0 #23 Michael Jordan BGS 10 Pristine Pop 1
20. 1997 Topps Gallery Peter Max Serigraphs/40 Derek Jeter PSA Authentic
21. 1998 Playoff Prestige Draft Picks Green #1 Peyton Manning RC PSA 10 Pop 1    
22. 1998 Upper Deck Michael Jordan Chevy Blazer Pair Both Graded BGS 9.5 Gem Mint
23. 1999 Skybox Thunder Super Rave/25 Derek Jeter PSA 10 Pop 1      
24. 2001 Fleer E-X #105 Ichiro Suzuki RC BGS 10 Pristine Pop 3    
25. 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Orange Refractors /25 Giancarlo Stanton Auto RC BGS 9 Mint    
26. 2013-14 Panini Immaculate Collection #154 Stephen Curry Acetate Jersey Patch Auto/30 BGS 10/10 Pop 1    
27. 2015 Panini Spectra Marcus Mariota 1/1 Gold Autograph Nike Swoosh GU Patch Auto RC BGS 9 Mint

4. PSA Set Registries Including Dozens of #1 Current & All-Time Finest Sets

1.     1971 Topps Football Master Set w/ Most Stars & RCs Graded PSA 8 NM-MT
2. 1954 Red Man Tobacco American League Set of 25 Mostly PSA 5 to PSA 7
3. 1994 Bumble Bee Seafoods Miami Hurricanes #1 PSA Set Regisgtry
4. 1997-99 Topps Stars RC Reprint Autograph #1 PSA Set Registry
5. 1998 Finest The Man Refractor/75 #1 Current & All-Time Finest PSA Set Registry
6. 1999 Fleer Mystique Established/100 #1 Current & All-Time Finest PSA Set Registry
7. 1999 Topps Chrome Fortune 15 Refractor /100 #1 Current & All-Time Finest PSA Set Registry
8. 2000 Finest Gold Refractors Partial Set Registry w/ 62 Cards Graded PSA 10
9. 2000 Finest For The Record #1 Current & All-Time Finest PSA Set Registry
10. 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game Dodger Blues Game-Used #1 PSA Set Registry
11. 2001 Topps Tribute Game Worn Relics #1 Current & All-Time Finest PSA Set Registry
12. 2001 Topps Trubute Game Bat Relics #1 Current & All-Time Finest PSA Set Registry
13. #1 Finest PSA Set Registries of Every Topps Finest Refractor Reprint Set: Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan

5. A Sampling From the "Tucson Find"

Small Traditions 3rd Annual Premium Holiday Auction also contains a small sampling from the recent Tucson find, a staggering collection of nearly 4,000 different sports card albums, each housing meticulously hand-collated sets dating from the 1940s through the early 2000s. The remarkably well-preserved collection made headlines over the summer when it yielded the second-ever 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle card to grade PSA 10 Gem Mint, and which was reported to have sold for nearly $2 million. Small Traditions LLC has been contracted to help sort and grade the post-1980 portion of the collection, which the company spent much of the month of November organizing and transporting from Arizona to Denver. The Holiday Premium Auction features a minuscule fraction of the Tucson Find. The vast majority of the PSA graded cards that have been culled from the collection, as well as a near countless number of complete sets, will begin to be offered over the holiday season on eBay and in the Small Traditions Store, where collectors can list their items for free while keeping them in their possession, paying just 9.5% on successful sales after confirmed delivery. Selections from the collection will then head to auction in the company's regular Monthly Masterpieces Plus events in January and February.

6. Exceptionally Rare Oddball & Uncatalogued Items

1.     1935 Diamond Stars #32 Sam Rice Original Artwork
2. 1951-55 M114 Baseball Magazine Mickey Mantle RC Premium Wearing #6 Uncatalogued
3. 1957 Topps FB #103 Jim Mutscheller Original Artwork    
4. 1984-85 Star Basketball Chicago Bulls Unopened Team Bag w/ NM-MT to Mint #101 Michael Jordan RC

Grade & Consign For Free With Small Traditions LLC

Small Traditions LLC also invites interested collectors to consider consigning at 0% to its full calendar of monthly auctions for 2016, which will see the Denver-based company's fifth year of auction operations. The company also invites consignors to consider its popular Cost-Free Grading promotion, through which consignors may submit up to 100 raw cards for consultation with Small Traditions and grading with PSA. Small Traditions covers all grading expenses up front and subtracts grading fees for qualified material only after eventual auction sales.

For more information, please write info@smalltraditions.com or call 303.832.1975.

Thanks for reading, and happy bidding,

Dave Thorn & The STs Team