Rare Ruth and Orr Rookie Cards and Set Building Lead Way in REA Spring Auction
PJ Kinsella — April 28 2025
Chester, NJ - April 28, 2025 - REA’s Spring Catalog Auction closed Sunday night and there were several vintage rookie cards, along with several complete and near-complete sets, that headlined the event’s top sales. The auction was led by a newly discovered 1916 M101-4/5 Morehouse Baking #151 Babe Ruth Rookie PSA POOR 1 that sold for $336,000 and a 1960 Topps complete set ranked fourth on the PSA Set Registry that sold for $300,000. Rounding out the top five items was a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle SGC NM+ 7.5 that sold for $264,000, a 1966-1967 Topps Test USA Hockey #35 Bobby Orr Rookie PSA MINT 9 that finished at $240,00 and a T206 SGC- and PSA-graded near complete set that includes 516 of the 524 total cards that sold for $186,000.
Additionally, a 1935 R331 National Chicle Football #34 Bronko Nagurski Rookie SGC NM/MT 8 - the only example of this iconic football card graded at this level by SGC - sold for $111,000, a record for the card in this grade. Another high-grade classic rookie card - a stunning 1961-1962 Fleer Basketball #8 Wilt Chamberlain Rookie SGC MINT 9 - sold for $93,000.
There were a number of other impressive complete and near-complete sets that had very strong results, including an extremely rare partial set of 1888 N338-2 S. F. Hess cards that sold for $99,000 and a 1955 Bowman complete master set ranked second on the PSA Set Registry that recorded a final sale of $90,000. A beautiful 1959 Topps complete master set ranked tenth on the PSA Set Registry sold for $75,000.
Some of the other notable sales from REA’s Spring Catalog Auction included:
1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy #147 Babe Ruth Blank Back PSA GOOD+ 2.5 - $174,000
1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson Rookie PSA GEM MINT 10 - $126,000
1909-1911 T206 White Border Eddie Plank SGC FAIR 1.5 - $126,000 (record for the grade)
1910 E90-2 American Caramel Honus Wagner PSA VG-EX 4 - $111,000 (record for the grade)
1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle SGC VG/EX 4 - $108,000
1915 E145 Cracker Jack #103 Joe Jackson PSA EX 5 - $99,000 (record for the grade)
1933 R338 Sport Kings #2 Babe Ruth SGC NM/MT+ 8.5 - $84,000
1956 Melbourne Olympics Gold Medal Presented to K.C. Jones - From the K. C. Jones Estate! - $60,000
1965 Topps Football #122 Joe Namath Rookie PSA NM-MT 8 - $49,200
The event also included a fantastic collection of nearly a dozen presidential single-signed baseballs that sold for more than $327,000. Some of the notable signatures in the collection included Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Herbert Hoover and Calvin Coolidge.
“We were very excited about the overall selection and vast diversity that this event offered and the results certainly didn’t disappoint,” said REA President Brian Dwyer. “While we’re very excited about the strong results of the rare and high-grade cards in the event, there were many strong results in burgeoning areas of the hobby like game-used memorabilia and unopened material, which is a great sign that the industry is doing very well right now.”
REA’s next event will be its May Monthly Auction that runs May 8-18.
About REA
REA is one of the leading auction houses in the US specializing in sports and non-sports cards and memorabilia. Through its signature approach to collectibles, REA has established a reputation as the industry benchmark through its unparalleled and unwavering commitment to integrity, knowledge and trust. For more than 30 years, REA has brokered some of the most lucrative sales and handled some of the most coveted pieces of sports memorabilia in the hobby’s history, including the historic sales of the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card for $7.2 million in December 2023 and the T206 Honus Wagner card for $6.6 million in August 2021, a record-setting price at the time. In July 2023, the Company acquired Huggins & Scott Auctions. The company recently launched its Fixed Price Marketplace that currently features 750+ items available in a “buy now” model. For more information, visit https://collectrea.com/ and follow REA on Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook and YouTube. You can also contact us and request our auction catalog by emailing [email protected].
Media Contact:
P.J. Kinsella
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