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Auction Buzz: Michael Jordan's debut, iconic views, rare Pokemon, Hellyboy's Big Baby & more on block via Heritage
Auction Buzz is a monthly look at some of the variety found out there on the auction block ... check 'em out.
It's going to be a busy end of the year for Dallas-based Heritage Auctions with a number of regularly scheduled events as well as some showcase auctions with high-profile stuff all on the calendar. This time, we look at a few things from a few active sales this month.
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ANOTHER BIG JORDAN
The Item: Michael Jordan Oct. 26, 1984 (NBA Debut) Chicago Bulls season-ticket stub (PSA 4)
The Price: $65,000 after 25 bids (ends Sept. 27)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Last month, a Michael Jordan (and Kobe Bryant) card sale via auction re-wrote some hobby history and, while we're confident this one won't fetch $12.9 million, this one is in some rare air. It has already hit its estimated price from the auction house and while its grade is low there are only three higher. "The most important athletic debut of the post-war era?" asked Heritage in its listing. "A strong argument could be made. Perhaps only Wayne Gretzky could challenge Michael Jordan in balloting seeking to identify the most dominant figure of his respective major sport, but once you step outside the sports arena and into the wider popular culture, M.J. leaves The Great One in his dust. He remains one of the most recognizable humans on the planet two decades after his retirement from the NBA." Jordan scored a modest 16 points in a 109-93 win over the Washington Bullets on this night and only 14 of these have been grade overall.Keep reading for more interesting pieces up for grabs right now.
Making the Grade (Sept.): Rookie Cards, some iconic comics, Prizm pulls, young stars' ink, both Bo's & more in a big edition
Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.
Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ... and it might be the biggest edition ever.
BIG SEASON AHEAD?
The Card: Josh Allen 2018 Donruss Optic #154 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I pulled a pair of these from a number of rips -- probably deep in the archives here if you poke around -- but I never slabbed any of them back then, instead grading guys like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and maybe a Nick Chubb. Meanwhile, it turns out this guy might be The One over the long term from this rookie class. After this past season's successes and close finish at the end, I figured it was time to grade a pair of these and I'm still working through some of my past pulls to see if I need to grade more for this franchise QB.
The Grade: CSG 10Grade 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 P10 Total Population 0 0 0 1 2 1 17 28 3 44 0 95 Reality Check: I was happy with this one (and I'll drop my other one here at some point later this season) as Optic stock can be hit and miss, particularly on the backs. Sometimes it's dents and wrinkles or minor dents but this one was clean. It looks like these do grade pretty well with nearly half of them getting this mark. An interesting comparison to make here? PSA has graded more than 2,500 of these with more than half being 10s, while BGS has graded only 160 and SGC has slabbed 320.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
2 Item(s)