Sports Collectors Digest –
Memory Lane Inc. had two big auctions in early 2024, with rare vintage cards and historic memorabilia totaling more than $11.7 million in sales.
When it comes to memorabilia of such baseball legends as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and other early 20th century stars, it’s not just trading cards that command big dollars.
Postcards, posters, schedules and even hand-written checks of such baseball immortals are also big sellers.
Memory Lane Inc. provided a host of examples in its last two auctions, which featured total sales of more than $11.7 million during a three-week span.
Memory Lane’s $6.8 million Winter Rarities Auction was highlighted by such rare gems as a rookie-era Babe Ruth postcard featuring an image of the young Bambino at the Red Sox Spring Training camp in Hot Springs, Ark. One of only two known examples of the photo postcard produced from the original glass negative opened at $50,000 and sold for $160,736.
Memory Lane’s Premier Winter Auction, which consisted of only classic vintage sports cards, totaled nearly $5 million in sales. The top seller was a 1909 T204 Ramly Walter Johnson card, which sold for $376,736, shattering the old record of $252,000 for the same card in August 2021. The card is one of only two copies graded PSA 8.
