The Post War Cards Newsletter #361

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REA closed another smashing success of a catalog auction on the 16th, led by the $1,107,000 sale of a 1952 Topps Baseball Five-Cent Wax Pack brick of eight that I had highlighted in UMR #79 and that was a star attraction at The National in Chicago.

The catalog included a lot of other scarce unopened material, a niche that continues to gain in popularity and whose items continue to, generally speaking, go exponential in price (but not all, hence why you should upgrade your subscription to get Monday’s Unopened Market Reports). Highlights included a 1986 Fleer Basketball Wax Box that sold for $239,850, a 1987 Fleer Basketball Wax Case (these cards were printed in far lower quantities than the ’86s) that sold for $332,100, a 1962 Topps Football Wax Box that sold for $196,800, a 1961 Topps Football Wax Box that sold for $221,400, a 1971 Topps Baseball First Series Wax Box that sold for $246,000, and a 1971 Topps Baseball Fourth Series Wax Box that sold for $246,000.

There’s so much to cover, but I’ll try to be brief. From a pre-war card perspective, I’ve been starting to chronicle all of the 1916 Zeenut PCL Jimmy Claxton cards (the first American-issued baseball card featuring a Black player), and REA offered a gorgeous PSA 2 example that sold for $41,820. From a Hobby Library perspective, the 1953 Glendal Meats Advertising booklet that sold for $2,829 was certainly a highlight—who knows when we’ll see another? From a memorabilia-adjacent perspective, seeing an original 1969 NBAP Member Basketball Box with the Chamberlain/Russell/West cards was a treat (it sold for $17,220), as were the Converse All Star Basketball Advertising pair that sold for $1,046 and the Feller Dreamcicle/Maris Gold Mine Icicle Advertising pair that sold for $800. I got smashed out on the 1948-52 W468 Bednarik checklist card that sold for $3,936. And from a non-sport perspective (don’t forget to subscribe to The Non-Sport Report!), a few highlights were the 1936 R144 Strange But True Stories complete set that sold for $11,685, a 1977 Topps Star Wars Fourth Series Uncut Sheet with the C-3PO Error that sold for $5,289, and the 1953 Bowman TV & Radio Stars display box that sold for $492.

And like I wasn’t going to share the four 1957 Topps Baseball Salesman Sample sales! The one with Ted Williams in the middle sold for $10,148 while the other three sold for $1,230, $738, and $800.

I’ve been wanting to share a little more memorabilia in the newsletter, though it’s an area of the hobby where I think a healthy dose of caution is warranted. Still, when something sells for seven figures, it’s worth highlighting, especially for those of us who don’t follow the game-used market quite as closely.

Grey Flannel Auctions wrapped up its 2026 Photo-Matched Auction (their 67th offering) on August 16, and the headliner was a 1967-69 Lew Alcindor UCLA game-used jersey that sold for $1,254,918.84.

The jersey was photo-matched to the net-cutting celebration following the 1968 NCAA Championship and to the 1969 Final Four. The lot was accompanied by a Sports Investors Authentication photo-match letter (Cert. #260715M3) and a PSA photo-match letter (Cert. #AT00363), which seems about as good as you can do in this industry 🤷‍♂️.

It’s the only known photo-matched Lew Alcindor UCLA game-used jersey to have surfaced.

A few other auction highlights included a Kobe Bryant game-used jersey that sold for $257,609.10 (with an NBA COA), a Tom Brady game-used jersey that sold for $273,106.76 (with an NFL COA), and a LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers playoff game-used jersey that sold for $212,899.76 (with an NBA COA).