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 Friday, July 27, 2007
IT’S NOT EVERY DAY YOU TALK TO A RELATIVE OF BABE RUTH
Posted by Chris
 His great grandson, no less… I mentioned it briefly a couple weeks ago, but I couldn’t spill the beans until I wrote my story and posted it on the AP wire. About a week ago I had the chance to talk with the great grandson of Babe Ruth, Brent Stevens. CLICK HERE FOR STORYTurns out that he and his family are going to part with some items from their family collection. All items will be handled by Authentic Memorabilia.Brent’s grandmother (Babe Ruth’s daughter), Julia, is still alive and well and recently he went to her house to look for some items that would aid in his creation of his website, Baberuthcentral.com. While searching through her house he found some great pieces of memorabilia. “As a result of putting together the website, BabeRuthcentral.com, I went up to visit my grandmother and she’s got a whole bunch of pictures all over the wall,” said Stevens in the exclusive interview. “But I know she’s also got little things hiding here and there. We searched around in cabinets and sure enough we found some stuff hidden away.
 “One of the pieces, which was absolutely amazing, sitting behind the couch, was a picture of Babe on horseback, hunting and it was addressed to my great grandmother and dated back to 1922. Also, in one of those cabinets we found that contract between some folders.”During the interview, Brent told me about his grandmother’s stories about one of her most memorable moments with Babe at the 1934 Tour of Japan. “She actually went on the 1934 Tour of Japan and they actually did a whole cruise of the Pacific, Bali, China, Hong Kong and ultimately ended up in Europe. The stories she has of that trip, I think that’s probably one of the more important experiences she had with the Babe.”
Brent went on to tell me how much his grandma loved her father and how great of a man he was, even though some people may have not thought that was always the way it was. He said he never heard her say a bad word about the Babe.
The first item that will be offered from the collection is a radio contract, signed “George H. Ruth.” More items to be announced later.
7/27/2007 4:18:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Posted by Chris
 Bonds No. 715 homer ball is up for auction again CLICK HERE… This time it’s on eBay. Last year this same ball sold for 220K. What makes these people think that it will sell for more than it did the first time? The hype is there for home runs 755 and 756, and probably not for 715. Also, when you make an investment of this magnitude, you would probably like to make 20, 30, 40k or more on it. I just don’t see it happening. Maybe I am wrong. Here is the press release: July 24, 2007 -- Many may recall how Andrew Morbitzer was in a concession line on May 28, 2007 at San Francisco's Pacbell Park when the famed ball literally dropped into his hands.
Morbitzer ended up selling it to Symbolic Collection, an exotic automotive and collectibles business based in La Jolla, CA. Robert Rios, Vice President of Symbolic believes that with reports and offers that Bonds' Aaron breaking home run ball can be worth into the 7 figures, a lucky bidder is looking at a sweet investment in his #715 baseball.
"With no indictments, no suspensions, and seemingly no movement by Major League Baseball against Barry Bonds, I believe this ball is one of the penultimate sports collectibles available today for market appreciation", commented Rios. "Last year, there was a swirl of allegations that had kept many bidders from jumping into the competition for the ball. I believe when the dust settles, Bonds will rightfully be judged as the greatest home run hitter of all time", Rios added.
The auction launched Saturday night on eBay, in a listing being managed by Gazin Auctions, www.gazinauctions.com, a premiere auction management agency for high profile eBay items.
On eBay at: http://www.ebay.com/barrybonds
For more information:
Eric Gazin
President of Gazin Auctions
(323) 655-0554
www.gazinauctions.com
7/26/2007 5:21:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007
WILL BONDS MEMORABILIA BE SAVED?
Posted by Chris
 I never thought I would say it, but Barry Bonds is three home runs away from breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record and he isn’t the most talked about story in sports this week. Heck, he isn’t even the second most talked about story. Barry can thank the heavens that Mike Vick’s latest dog troubles and former NBA referee Tim Donaghy’s mob ties are both a hotter topic than Bonds’ home run chase and the steroid scandal. Bonds looks like a saint compared to these jokers. I don’t think this means that Bonds memorabilia is going to skyrocket by any means, but I will say that I think his lack of being in the spotlight isn’t a bad thing for Bonds memorabilia sales and future sales.
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There’s still plenty of time to put your guess on the Gavel Chat Mastro Honus Wagner card contest… Remember you will have a chance to win the 2007 factory sealed Topps baseball set if you are the closest to the realized price.
7/24/2007 5:20:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, July 23, 2007
WHAT’S IT WORTH DAY VIDEOS ARE ONLINE
Posted by Chris
 For those of you who didn’t get a chance to go to Sportsfest this year, you can check out clips from “What’s it Worth Day” by CLICKING ON THIS LINK.*******************
By the way, that whole Mike Coolbaugh death is really horrible, but at least this guy decided to jump at the chance to make a quick buck. CLICK HERE.Now, I have said it in the past. I have no problem with people who sell items right after somebody passes, but when they die tragically, it is a different story. And to mention it in his eBay listing is very tacky; especially on an item that isn’t gonna sell for jack anyway. *******************
 I just saw this for the first time today. Did this guy even make an attempt to get out of the way? CLICK HERETwo things that I would like to point out on this video: One, I found it amazing how quickly the cyclist’s front tire folded. Secondly, I found it quite humorous how the dog just walked out on the road slowly and then after he got hit just kept walking like nothing happened. ********************** And lastly, for some reason my friends demanded that we watch David Beckham make his first appearance for Los Angeles on Saturday. This match was more overhyped than a bad Mike Tyson fight. ESPN had a "Beckham Cam" on David when he was tying his shoe, ithching his nose and pretty much any other meaningless action on the sidelines. With about ten minutes to go in the match he got in and did nothing. Anyone else who knows a little about soccer wanna set me straight?
7/23/2007 5:34:27 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, July 20, 2007
MASTRO CATALOG IS FIRST CLASS
Posted by Chris
 Last night I got a knock on my apartment door. It was the Fedex man… He handed me a small package, which I was not expecting. I opened it up, and low and behold, it was probably the nicest looking auction catalog I have ever seen. Talk about first-rate. The catalog is for Mastro’s Live Aug. 3 auction at The House of Blues. This auction contains 80 high-caliber lots and I don’t think they could have done a catalog any better. High-quality paper, great images and delivered with plenty of time for collectors to drool over until the auction date. **********************
Yesterday I announced the Gavel Chat “Guess the Final Price” contest. I got tons of entries, so thanks and keep them coming! **********************
Man, I love pennants. What other pieces in the hobby carry the same excitement and mystery like pennants? Every year tons of new pennants are being discovered and many of them pop up on eBay. There are many that are one-of-a-kind variations and many that are rarely seen. Here is one of them: CLICK HEREI have never seen one of these and the price proves that many others share my feelings that this one is a great treasure.
7/20/2007 4:23:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
FIRST EVER GAVEL CHAT ‘GUESS THE FINAL PRICE’ CONTEST!!
Posted by Chris
 First of all, I would like to thank all you guys for reading Gavel Chat. I have been writing these blogs for about five months now and I have literally had thousands and thousands of hits on this site. The positive responses from everyone have been tremedous. I owe it all to you guys. As a little token of my appreciation, I am going to periodically be giving away some really nice prizes. That said, I am gonna make you work for this. I think the contest should be auction related and more than just a simple raffle where we draw a name out of a hat. This is the first Gavel Chat “Guess the Final Price” contest. All you have to do is guess the final price (before the buyer’s premium) on a designated auction item which will be closing in the near future. I will take bids all the way through the day before the auction. All guesses need to be emailed to me at: chris.nerat@fwpubs.com. The winner of the first contest will get a complete factory sealed 2007 Topps baseball set!!  All you have to do is guess the final realized price of the Honus Wagner T206 card (CLICK HERE TO VIEW AUCTION DESCRIPTION AND PHOTO) that will be auctioned off by Mastro Auctions live sale at the House of Blues on Aug. 3 in Cleveland. The person who guesses the closest to the correct winning bid will win the contest. If more than one entries are the same, I will then do a random drawing to determine the winner. All entries must be received by Aug. 2. Make sure you include your full name and the city/state where you live in the email entry. Please, only one entry per person. Thanks and good luck!
7/19/2007 4:22:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Doesn't this listing look familiar?
Posted by Chris
A couple weeks ago I did a blog on an odd eBay listing with two hot girls selling off their boyfriend's baseball card collection. Seems like this was a good idea because another "cheated on" lady listed some similar auctions. TO VIEW CLICK HEREYou'll have to excuse my wacky sense of humor, but for some reason this kind of thing cracks me up. ******************* I just read a press release from The National and it is advertising its autograph guest headliners as Gaylord Perry and Frank Robinson. Additional signers include: Bob Feller, Tom Seaver, Gordie Howe, Lem Barney, Yale Lary, Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Fred Biletnikoff, Lenny Moore, Eric Dickerson, Dan Fouts, Jan Stenerud, Paul Krause, Chris Paul, Bart Starr, Bo Jackson, Ryne Sandberg, Gary Carter, Graig Nettles and Mel Renfro. I am interested to hear your opinion on this lineup. ******************* So, I ended up ponying up 20 bucks for the final table of the World Series if Poker last night. It was an absolute waste of money. First off, I was dissapointed that it wasn't in HD, but that wasn't the only problem. The participants on the final table showed about as much emotion as an ant. Usually there is some entertaining bickering going on, but not during this final table. The biggest dissapointment in the telecast was the fact that they didn't show the player's hold cards. I guess because it was shown live the network couldn't show the cards. All I know is it made for a very long night.
I didn't even stay awake long enough to see who won. I heard that the tourney didn't finish until 6 a.m. CST...
7/18/2007 5:23:27 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Something smells fishy
Posted by Chris
 Last week a nice old lady called me and said she found a Babe Ruth signed baseball at her home. Her father actually played professional baseball and received the ball from Ruth at one of the Sultan of Swat's many exhibition games that he took part sometime in the 1930s. The ball looked pretty good to me, although I will admit I am not Ruth autograph expert. Anyway, she wanted to know how she could get it authenticated. Supposedly she has a man who promised her more than $30,000 for it if she got him a Certificate of Authenticity. (By the way, the ball I have pictured in this blog is not her ball. Her ball was toned and had a signature on the side panel that would rate about a 6/10.) Using past auction results as a guide, I can’t imagine that a ball in the condition it was in could be worth much more than $10,000, much less than the man promised her. I stressed to her that something sounded very fishy about this and told her to be very, very careful. I really have to wonder how many people get taken by crooks in the hobby. It is very, very scary. I have no idea if she will ever sell the ball for that amount, if she will get ripped off or even ever get it authenticated (she didn’t like the idea of sending it into an authentication company). I probably will never find out, but it makes me wonder… you know?
7/17/2007 5:41:45 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, July 16, 2007
WSOP FINAL TABLE IS TOMORROW
Posted by Chris
 I normally wouldn't write about the World Series of Poker in a blog, but one thing I've realized over the years is that card collectors are gamblers. Plain and simple. I don’t know if the reason for this is because buying a pack of cards is more like buying a lottery ticket, or just because the majority of people in our hobby are sports fans (gambling is often associated with sports). That said, tomorrow is the final table at the WSOP in Las Vegas, and I am actually toying around with the idea of ponying up $19.95 to Direct TV in order to watch the last table, live and unedited. For those of you who don’t know too much about televised poker tournaments, most of them are not live, and almost all of the stations edit out the boring parts. It’s kind of like televised fishing tournaments. During a day of fishing you could have your pole in the water for hours and never get a bite. When ESPN televises a fishing event, it seems like these guys are reeling in fish left and right… Anyway, I have never heard of any participants who have a chance at this year's final table… Scotty Nguyen just got eliminated as I am typing this, but it should be fun to watch nonetheless. *********************
Vintage Authentics and American Memorabilia’s auctions end this week. Vintage is highlighting a Babe Ruth home run bat (already at more than $57,000) and AMI is offering a wide array of high-grade Sandy Koufax cards as some of its headliners. Make sure you check out these two sales, as there are still many deals to be had. *********************
In other auction news, I received this email from the president of Mastro Auctions, Doug Allen, today. I am not going to give my opinion on this, as I would rather see what you guys have to say about it. As always, feel free to post your comments: Dear Customer:
As a firm, we have always preferred to handle disputes with professionalism and discretion, even in the infrequent occasion that it is necessary to resolve them in court. Recently, we had what became a very public dispute with a former customer, autograph dealer Bill Daniels. Due to the public nature of this dispute, a number of you have asked about the legitimacy of his claims. Last week, the Honorable Matthew C. Kincaid from the Boone (Indiana) Superior Court issued a 46-page ruling. We thought it appropriate to communicate his findings, and resolution of this dispute, to our customers. Following is a synopsis of the judgment that the Court issued.
The Court found that Daniels’ statements that Mastro Auctions defrauded him, and conspired with PSA/DNA to do so, were defamatory. The Court also found that Daniels “affirmatively sought republication of defamatory statements in national media outlets such as Barron’s and New York Daily News.” In particular, the Court characterized Daniels’ conduct as “picayune, foolish, errant, resultant from a lack of understanding of his rights to publicly declare his complaints outside of a judicial proceeding and overzealous.” As a result, the court held Daniels liable for damages to Mastro Auctions’ reputation in the amount of $1,000.
The Court found that the proposed experts Daniels produced at trial – Richard Simon and Stephen Koschal (whom Daniels had testify that Mastro Auctions sold him forgeries) – were not qualified to render expert opinions. In particular, the Court found that Simon had undergone a “wholesale demolition in his deposition” and that Koschal was “not qualified to render an opinion on anything having to do with autographs.” Simon and Koschal were offered as witnesses after five other proposed experts “all refused to testify on [Daniels’] behalf.”
The Court sanctioned Daniels for his conduct of the litigation during discovery, specifically citing Daniels’ failure to disclose relevant documents timely and to “represent his claimed harm accurately.” As a result, Daniels was fined $2,000.
The Court found that Daniels presented “no evidence” of fraud and that Daniels’ claims that Mastro Auctions defrauded him—and conspired with PSA/DNA to do so--were “false.” The Court entered judgment against Daniels on those claims and awarded no damages.
Daniels was given $608.85 because a small portion of the 2,012 photos Daniels purchased in December 2004 were not as described in the lot description. Mastro Auctions offered to replace those photos shortly after the auction, but Daniels refused.
The only negative of the judgment was that an additional award to Daniels was made on the basis that our catalog stated “LOA from James Spence Steve Grad / PSA DNA,” but Steve Grad was the only one to physically sign the LOA on behalf of the PSA/DNA team. Our attorneys will ask the judge to reconsider that portion of the ruling.
Overall, Mastro Auctions is very happy with this result. Although it is unfortunate that this dispute had to go all the way to trial, we are pleased that the judge sent what we believe to be a resounding message against Mr. Daniels’ exaggerated claims and conduct of his lawsuit.
Sincerely,
Doug Allen
President
Mastro Auctions
7/16/2007 4:23:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, July 13, 2007
MEMORY LANE GOES HOLLYWOOD
Posted by chris
 In auction news, Memory Lane will be appearing on the July 22 episode of my favorite TV show, Entourage. This is really big news and it's very important whenever the hobby gets covered in the national media for anything. Also, in a hobby that is sometimes surrounded by crooks and controversy, it is cool to see such a positive spin put on the memorabilia industry. Pictured left to right: Kevin Dillon (Johnny Drama), JP Cohen (Memory Lane), Dan Wulkan (Memory Lane), Jerry Ferrara (Turtle), Louis Lombardi (Entourage) I just got off the phone with Memory Lane’s Daniel Wulkan and he shared some of his company’s experiences that took place on the set of the hit HBO series. Wulkan told me that representatives from the show approached the auction house to do a mock auction, and in addition, they were asked to be on the show as featured background actors. “They loved our website, our style and our vision,” said Wulkan. “After the first meeting with them they just fell in love with all of our ideas. We pretty much acted as auction consultants and pretty much oversaw everything in development with that scene. "It's huge for Memory Lane because it puts us on the map for doing any type of a high-end sports memorabilia auction. Being involved with an award-winning show really showcases the whole industry." The episode, directed by Mark Mylod, involved characters Johnny Drama and Turtle attempting to purchase a piece of sports memorabilia in a live Memory Lane auction. Wulkan couldn’t tell me too much about the episode, but said preliminary cuts looked really impressive. To catch this episode's premier tune into HBO July 22, at 10pm EST. ************************
PSA IS HIRING GRADERS
Spending time with Mickey Mantle rookie cards, being able to touch the Holy Grail of baseball cards, the Honus Wagner T206; these dreams and more can come true! Oh. And by the way, you will get paid! CLICK HERE**************************
By the way... That interview that I teased the other day. Well, I guess I jinx it. Hope to have something next week:)
HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!
7/13/2007 4:14:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007
HUNT ALL-STAR AUCTION RESULTS ARE IN
Posted by Chris
 Well, my interview that I said would be posted today will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry about that, but it will be worth the wait if you are a baseball memorabilia auction fanatic.
7/11/2007 5:23:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
SCD and Tuff Stuff announce Prize-a-Day Giveaway!
Posted by Chris
 I am gonna be honest here… this is huge! Starting Thursday, Sportscollectorsdigest.com and Tuffstuff.com will have a raffle giving away one valuable prize each day. I am serious… These prizes are amazing! We have Dan Marino signed photos, Alex Rodriguez signed balls and helmets, Joe Montana signed photos and stacks and stacks of other killer pieces of memorabilia. I don’t think anything like this has ever been done before. Some of these items are worth more than $100. There are no strings attached, and this is absolutely free. A new contest will begin every day at 11 p.m. EST, midnight CST. Winners will be announced daily at 4 p.m. EST, 3 p.m. CST on both Tuffstuff.com and Sportscollectorsdigest.com. Weekend winners will be announced Mondays at 4 p.m.  *************************************************
Also, I am doing a very interesting interview with an auction house owner and relative of one of the biggest names in sports history tomorrow. I would let you all know right now who it is, but I don't wanna jinx it:)
Check out Gavel Chat tomorrow for the big news!
7/10/2007 5:44:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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