The 1,000-plus-lot Spring Premium Auction also features dozens of Hall of Fame rookie cards in various grades; highly graded Mickey Mantle cards; and a strong selection of Derek Jeter cards.
DENVER, Colo. – Small Traditions’ internet-only Spring Premium Auction, online now and ending on Saturday, May 5th, is highlighted by the Cardbull Hank Aaron collection and the K-15 Koufax! Collection. Together they showcase dozens of some of the highest-graded and most coveted baseball cards in existence. The auction is open for bidding at www.smalltraditions.com.
The Cardbull Collection features PSA 9 graded copies of every one of Hank Aaron’s standard Topps issues (except his 1954 rookie card, 1958 Yellow Letter variation and 1960 issue, which are all in PSA 8 condition). Several Pop 1 highest graded Hank Aaron oddball issues are also in the sale. Hank Aaron is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and is second all-time on the home run list.
The Cardbull Collection is a complete run of the 23 basic Topps cards printed during Aaron’s stellar career, which ran from 1954-1976. The cards have earned a sparkling 8.87 GPA, ranking this PSA-graded collection among the finest in the hobby. The work of Mr. Cardbull, a single, dedicated private collector, many of these cards have not been on the market for nearly 20 years.
The K-15 Koufax! Collection includes many of the hobby’s rarest regional and oddball issues featuring the legendary Dodger southpaw. The “K-15 Koufax!” moniker is a reference to Sandy’s record-setting 15-K performance in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series. Afterward, newspaper headlines around the country simply read, “K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-oufax!”
The K-15 Koufax! Collection is a Southern California trove that was only recently discovered. Upon sorting the collection, Small Traditions experts counted at least 15 items – over 10 percent of the 146-card Koufax Master Set Registry – that they were able to promise the consignor would grade as the single highest copies on record. Half of those were offered in a prior auction.
The auction also features dozens of Hall of Fame rookie cards in various grades; highly graded Mickey Mantle cards; a strong selection of Derek Jeter cards; a 1963 Kahn’s Jim Brown graded PSA 9 Pop 2; the first-ever 1986 Memphis Chicks Bo Jackson Gold rookie card graded PSA 1; and Japanese Calbee cards featuring Ichiro Suzuki from his playing days in Japan (1994-2001). Every one of the 54 cards, many of which are rare in any condition, is graded PSA 10 Gem Mint.
These highlights barely cover the auction’s first 100 lots, but the full catalog contains 1,000 lots, plus there are significant cardboard treasures scattered throughout. The auction went live on April 23rd and heated up quickly, setting several Small Traditions auction records within 24 hours. The 15-minute rule will be observed on May 5th. Phone and absentee bids will be taken.
According to Small Traditions owner Dave Thorn, “The hobby continues to show surprising levels of activity on all fronts, from vintage to modern cards, sports and non-sport, high-grade to low-grade, you name it. There are waves of eager new bidders, and they range from young girls and boys bidding with their parents and grandparents to professional athletes and Hollywood movie producers diversifying their long-term investment portfolios. Cards are hot commodities.”
Small Traditions LLC has been an eBay Powerseller since the late 1990s and is embarking on its seventh year of running independent auctions at its own website (www.smalltraditions.com) with the powerful SimpleAuctionSite/Barnebys platform. The company focuses mainly on regional and oddball issues. It specializes in helping collectors to maximize the value of their collections by identifying such issues, which often go unnoticed in bulk collection sales, and then grading any card (standard or regional/oddball) determined to have at least a $50 to $100 market value.
Small Traditions charges a zero percent sellers’ rate for this work, and there is no cost to its consignors for grading up to 500 cards at one time. The company pays for all grading fees up front, which are subtracted later from eventual sales at discounted rates. For larger collections, the company negotiates a reasonable collection management fee of 10 percent to 20 percent.
Small Traditions’ seasonal Premium Auctions are typically their strongest online auctions of the year. The Spring sale is traditionally very strong. Interested bidders should know the majority of cards auctioned by Small Traditions come to the company in raw ungraded form, from collectors or inheritors who turn to Small Traditions for help with grading and collection management.
Visit the auction today at http://smalltraditions.com/catalog.aspx. Small Traditions is always seeking quality cards for future auctions. To inquire about consigning a single card or an entire collection, call 303-832-1975; or, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Learn how you can grade and auction your cards without any cost or obligation. To learn more about Small Traditions and the auction ending Saturday, May 5th, please visit www.smalltraditions.com
