Huggins & Scott : Oct. 22-23, 2008

The current Huggins & Scott auction has just opened for bidding and I wanted to highlight a few lots that I particularly like in this one.

Personally, I like Huggins & Scott auctions because they offer a very nice variety of lots that span several budgets for collectors. They have some extremely nice stuff as well as some lower grade stuff that you just don't find in the major auctions like REA and Mastro.

For example, lot number 704: 1909-1911 T206 White Border Near Set (520/524) - Missing the Big Four. This is a wonderful collection of the monster with all but the four toughest cards present, but they aren't all in high grade. There are a lot of cards in beater shape including a Cobb with holes in it and several other HOFers with paperloss on the fronts. But what a great group of cards! This set has the many other tough cards including the O'Hara and Demmitt St. Louis and Elberfeld Washington examples.

Another extremely nice lot is number 55: 1910-11 T3 Turkey Red Cabinets Addie Joss Proof SGC Authentic. This is one of my favorite images of Joss and the T3's are simply georgous cards.

This example isn't just a T3 though, it's a proof for crying out loud. It's in great condition with unreal colors and clarity displaying the printer's marks at the centers of the edges and a blank name plate at the bottom. What a spectacular looking card.

How many of these proofs could have survived from this set? And of those, how many are Hall of Famers? In my opinion, this is a very important card.

I can't post about highlights from this auction without mentioning the big ticket item affectionatley known as "The Matchless Ball". This is a game-used ball from the 1934 All-Star game that is signed by a myriad of stars. Babe Ruth signed in his usual sweet spot space and other signers include Foxx, Simmons, Walter Johnson, Ben Chapman, Joe Cronin, Gehringer, Gehrig and others for a total of twenty signatures.

This is simply a dream ball for me. The usage that is displayed and the star power that graces the leather make this ball very important in the history of the game. The strenght of the actually signatures does not detract anything as far as importance for me. I can just imagine this ball being passed around after the game and each player happily penning his name on it while smiling and talking about the game. I wish I could afford this ball, but I will be happy to simply have an image of it on my blog.

There are many other great lots in this auction, so please check it out here. I just wanted to mention of couple of pieces that I really liked.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a wonderful one...