Monster season, monster ball.

The baseball that New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso hit for his record-tying 52nd home run this season sold for five figures via MLB Auctions on Sunday.

How much? A cool $27,690 (with $15 more for shipping, of course) after 86 bids in the auction that began on Oct. 2.

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Update (Oct. 20): It sold for $187,500.

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The Chosen One's jersey is on the auction block and it could fetch six-figures when it sells next month.

Seventeen years after LeBron James made his Sports Illustrated debut, the gold St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish jersey he wore for that photo and a game that night is being sold via Runnemede, N.J.-based Goldin Auctions.

"Few players transcend their sport and few collectibles transcend the industry," said Ken Goldin the auction-house founder. "When you combine those two elements into one item records are broken and that is what we fully expect with this historic high school jersey of the world's most recognizable athlete of this generation."

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This hood of NASCAR driver Gray Gaulding's No. 08 Panini America Chevy may not look this clean once it arrives, but it will be headed into a collection out there sometime soon.

Why? How? Well it will be taking the track on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track with action that can the equivalent of a race meeting a demolition derby inside a football stadium -- a literal track where the whole "rubbing is racing" cliche is far more than 100-percent true. After that? Well, there's no waiting for that -- this race-used hood already on the auction block. (Keep reading for the info there.)

The arrival of 2019 Donruss football cards and NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes II are on the hood for the ride under the lights at the Food City 300 -- one of a few races where the card-maker has signed on with the 21-year-old Virginia native.

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You may have seen the headlines, but here's the real scoop.

BlowoutCards.com was the buyer of the $107,010 PSA 10 grade Pokémon 1st Edition set sold via Goldin Auctions this weekend, a sale that generated headlines from around the world -- not just the collecting world -- as the power of Pokémon is well-known. (And it's not just the cherished Charizard card leading the way here, either.)

Among the national news sites writing about this one? Newsweek, CNBC, TMZ Sports, Kotaku, Geek.com and CNET.

BlowoutCards.com is aggressively buying past Pokémon booster boxes and sets -- send an email pokemon@blowoutcards.com if you're selling. Keep reading to see this landmark set in its entirety and for Goldin's take on why the set is (and it is) a key release for a generation of younger collectors.

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What if Mike Trout had been found on a 2011 Bowman Chrome Rookie Card autograph and it had a Superfractor parallel?

That didn't happen, but that dream cardboard scenario could have been close to reality if a new item in an upcoming Goldin Auctions event is any indicator.

It's a PSA/DNA certified Trout autograph -- that part's for sure -- on a card that looks like it could be a genuine Super from that year's release. It's a card that could have been printed by Topps but then never released when a signing couldn't be lined up in time.

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A Chicago Cubs fan you know might need a loan.

That's because the fielding gloves used by Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo when they fielded the final out in the 2016 World Series to end 108 years of heartache are headed to the auction block on Aug. 1 in Chicago via a Goldin Auctions event coinciding with the National Sports Collectors Convention.

The opening bid? A cool $250,000 -- and they are being sold together.

Both gloves are signed and inscribed by the players to note their historic status with documentation from both MLB Authentication and Fanatics, which handled autograph signings with the championship team. The items have been seen on countless pieces of memorabilia given their significance, of course, with the Bryant glove seen on one of his 2017 Topps Heritage cards and both on the cover of Sports Illustrated being just two examples.

"Goldin Auctions is proud to offer at auction two significant pieces of history involving that monumental play," reads the auction listing. "Two truly remarkable pieces of baseball history offered in one lot."

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It's got four rounded corners and plenty of missing original real estate, but it's the highest-selling piece of cardboard this year.

SCP Auctions has brokered a private sale of this 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card for $1.2 million, according to the company.

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Just 10 of the most-notable items in the sports world that were sold in 2018 totaled more than $8.4 million, ranging from a $2.8 million 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card to a baseball signed by the first class for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

And they all had one thing in common -- PSA or PSA/DNA authentication.

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company recently took the time to examine the markets last year and touted its Top 10 for 2018. Keep reading to see everything on the list.

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California's devastating wildfires have changed lives forever this week and the San Francisco 49ers are hoping to help people via an auction of several jerseys worn on the field just last night.

Fanatics Auctions and the 49ers are currently auctioning six game-used jerseys from their 27-23 loss to the Giants on Monday Night Football with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the North Valley Community Foundation based in Chico, Calif.

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The finest set of 1909-11 T206 baseball cards is on the market -- and it's being broken up -- this month via Dallas-based Heritage Auctions where it's expected to be a record-breaker.

"For hundreds of trading card collectors, this is the auction event of a lifetime," said Chris Ivy, director of sports collectibles for Heritage. "This auction is the vault door swinging open to reveal treasures unavailable anywhere else."

It's a lot of 520 cards that includes nine PSA 10s -- only 13 in all exist at that grade -- and nearly all of the cards in this one are the highest-graded specimens of their kind for this landmark set. More than 100 of the cards are PSA 9s and only one is graded below a PSA 7 (it's a PSA 6).

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Quick, can you name the hottest wax box of the 1990s?

It's not anything from Topps, Fleer, Upper Deck, Donruss or any other creator from the sports-card world, it's one of these 1999 Pokemon First Edition (English) boxes and it commanded a solid five-figure sale on Friday via Huggins and Scott Auctions. 

How much?

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Hotlanta doesn't just apply to the city this time of year -- right now it also applies to one if its rookies.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a lead-off home run for the third consecutive game on Tuesday night and that was his fifth consecutive game overall with a homer. (And he hit two.) At just 20 years old, he's the youngest to do that in the last 100-plus years and he's the first player since Brady Anderson back in 1996 to open three straight games with a longball. (Anderson did it four times during his record lead-off streak.)

The MLB record for most consecutive games with a homer? That's eight -- a mark held by Ken Griffey Jr. (1993), Don Mattingly (1987) and Dale Young (1956). For the Braves, a franchise with a rich home run history, he's tied the consecutive games mark held by eight players -- a group that includes Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby, Hank Aaron and Chipper Jones. (How many homers does Acuña have in his last eight games? Eight -- just not in every game in a row.)

For the season, Acuña is hitting .288 with 19 home runs and and 43 RBI -- and since the All-Star break (24 games) he's hitting .358 and 12 of those home runs have come during that time. And for collectors, it's also at a time when his Rookie Cards are beginning to regularly appear in baseball card sets released this season.

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A Babe Ruth game-used New York Yankees cap from the early 1930s is dominating on the auction block via SCP Auctions with its price approaching the quarter-million-dollar mark.

The auction's reserve is not yet met, but there are a couple days remaining before the final gavel. After 10 bids, it stands at $235,795 but is estimated to push as much as $800,000 before the auction is final.

It's not just any cap worn by "The Bambino," either, this is a piece of memorabilia with a little extra Yankees history attached to it.

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Remember yesterday when I mentioned finding a little something something while waiting in the Topps redemption line at the National Sports Collectors Convention?

This is that.

The Steiner Auctions booth near Topps is one that was right alongside the redemption line as it wrapped around the booth on my day of working the lines at the show. Steiner had a simple mystery bag that delivered far more than I had expected it would on Thursday. The signage seems simple enough -- and it is -- a Hall of Famer autograph of some type in an envelope for $15.

But why did I say bag?

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Even before last night's MLB All-Star Home Run Derby was over, the gems were on the block via MLB Auctions. 

This pink and white bonus ball? It was the final one that Bryce Harper smacked out of Nationals Park Monday night in Washington, D.C., to win the whole thing.

After 31 bids, it sits at $1,970 with more than six days remaining in the auction -- and it's not alone on the block as there are more than 100 auctions from this week's events already live and there are probably even more to come.

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A few pieces from one of rock's biggest names is hitting the market via Heritage Auctions and one lot alone -- a guitar and an iconic top hat -- is expected to fetch six figures.

A 1965 Gibson SG Cherry guitar used on stage by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tom Petty and one of his hats from his time with The Traveling Wilburys -- a supergroup that also included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison -- are being sold together.

They're one of eight lots being sold by the Dallas-based auction house this month and the lot carries an opening bid of $150,000.

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There aren't any pinstripes, but it's the first.

It's the New York Yankees jersey that Miguel Andújar wore for his MLB debut and it's on the market via Steiner Auctions for the next four days where it could command some serious cash.

So far?

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The biggest star on the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals has shed his playoff beard -- and you can own the pieces that helped make that happen.

No, seriously.

Alexander Ovechkin's Gilette razors -- two blades with unique images added to their handles -- are up for grabs on the NHL Auctions block as part of one-of-a-kind autographed photo displays.

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Update: It sold for $33,600 back in August 2018.

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Not all ticket stubs are the same -- and this one is far rarer than an iconic card in the hobby.

This Chicago Bulls stub from Oct. 26, 1984, hits the auction block late this month and it's one that could push the $10,000 mark according to Heritage Auctions. 

Why?

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An autographed baseball by one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history will be sold tonight, commanding some serious cash when it's all said and done.

The pitcher? It's Christy Mathewson -- a 373-game winner who died at age 45 back in 1925 after a legendary career with the New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds. He was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in its first class alongside Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.

About nine hours remain in the Mile High Card Company auction ... and the interest is strong.

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The thrill of victory? Nope, the agony of defeat.

That's what's up for grabs right now via NBA Auctions as the Cleveland Cavaliers' jerseys from Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, you know, the game where LeBron James scored 51 points but J.R. Smith's idiotic play cost them the game and ultimately the series. (And probably cost Cleveland LeBron.)

The auctions have a few more days to go and the divide between the two is gargantuan.

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Shohei Ohtani isn't cooling down -- on the mound, in the batter's box or even on cardboard.

The Los Angeles Angels rookie sensation hit his fifth homer of the season on Thursday night and that's just furthering the furor for finding his Holy Grail of baseball cards, his 2018 Bowman Superfractor autograph. It's a one-of-a-kind card that has yet to appear in the marketplace and can command serious cash.

How much? Well, BlowoutCards.com has upped its previous buying offer to $100,000 for this 1/1 card when it's hand-delivered to the Blowout offices and in BGS 9.5 condition. It's an offer that now stands until May 31.

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What's the priciest piece of Los Angeles Dodgers memorabilia ever sold?

Well, according to Goldin Auctions, it's this 1963 road jersey used by Sandy Koufax, which sold for $429,625 on Saturday night in the latest event from the Runnemede, N.J.-based company.

"The rarity of Koufax game-worn memorabilia combined with its impeccable authenticity and the fact that it was from perhaps his greatest season when he captured the Cy Young, NL MVP Award and the World Series MVP makes it truly special," said Ken Goldin, the founder of Goldin Auctions, in a prepared statement. "This event also proved a vibrant market for Michael Jordan, Mike Trout, LeBron James and Tom Brady memorabilia with lots from all of them surpassing expectations."

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An iconic painting used to make a Hall of Famer's only Topps baseball card during his playing career is on the auction block.

It's the 3- by 5-inch painting by Gerry Dvorak used for the 1953 Topps card of Satchel Paige and it was saved by former Topps executive Sy Berger after the set was made. This one was one of a small selection of paintings that previously hit the auction block in 2010 via Robert Edward Auctions. 

That's also the auction company handling this sale, which wraps up in the next couple of days.

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If you can't swing a Shohei Ohtani 2018 Bowman Chrome autograph at their current auction prices, there might be some game-used items of his over on MLB Auctions to add to your collection.

The Los Angeles Angels charity auction running now includes three game-used pieces and a locker-room item from the rookie's first spring training and regular season.

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