Miller & Miller's Jan. 25 online sports auction featured Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Cobb, Jordan, others

NEW HAMBURG, Ontario - Jan. 30, 2025 - PRLog -- Two 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle baseball cards, rare examples but with condition issues, still combined to bring $88,500 in an online-only Pre-1980 Sports Cards & Memorabilia auction held January 25^th by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. Prices quoted are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 percent buyer's premium.

One of the Mantles had a grade of PSA 1.5 Fair and carried a pre-sale estimate of $30,000-$40,000. It sold for $50,150. The other card had an even lesser grade – PSA 1 Poor – but bidders blasted through the $15,000-$20,000 estimate for a final selling price of $38,350. The high prices underscored the rarity and popularity of that particular card as well as the Topps 1952 set overall.

"The inaugural January 25th Sports auction proved that the market for pre-1980 sports cards is stronger than ever, with many estimates being met and even exceeded for top lots," said Ben Pernfuss, Consignment Director for the sale.

Household names like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig, captured the spotlight and drove impressive bidding on unique signed baseballs, found footage and iconic cards. .

A 1951 Bowman partial set of 155 baseball cards (including the rare #253 Mickey Mantle rookie card, graded PSA 4.5 VG-EX+, a PSA graded 6 EX-MT Ted Williams card and a PSA graded 5 Yogi Berra card, plus other Hall of Famers), sold for $38,350, besting the $25,000 high estimate.

One of the real sleepers of the sale was 3 minutes and 3 seconds of actual 16mm film footage of a 1929 pre-season baseball game played between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, at Cardinal Field in Avon Park, Florida. The film featured at-bats by both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Assigned a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-$3,000, the film gaveled for $15,340.

A 1966 Topps #35 Bobby Orr rookie card, graded PSA 6 EX-MT, sold within estimate for $15,340. Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time, with unmatched speed, skill and offensive ability. The card showed a crisp image of a hockey legend in his first season.

Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. has a full slate of upcoming online-only auctions, to include the following:

• February 8: Select Canadiana Furniture, Folk Art, Textiles & Pottery
• February 9: Post-War Canadian Folk Art
• March 1 & 2: Petroliana & Advertising
• September 27: Sports Cards & Memorabilia

To learn more, visit www.MillerandMillerAuctions.com.