Featured Five: Spring Catalog Auction
Featured Five: Spring Catalog Auction
While REA holds auctions monthly, their three seasonal catalog auctions typically pack the heaviest hitters. The 2025 Spring Catalog Auction, live through April 27th, is no exception. So much so that we had to cheat a little with our featured five because some of these amazing lots just couldn’t be excluded. Let’s take a look…
1) Babe Ruth Lots
Here’s a Bambino Trifecta:
1933 R338 Sport Kings #2 Babe Ruth
Here we have a spectacular ultra-high-grade example of one of the 1930s’ most classic cards, Hall of Famer Babe Ruth from the R338 Sport Kings set. The Sport Kings card is one of Ruth’s most popular and desirable cards and one of the most famous and majestic cards in the collecting world. The 1933 Sport Kings Ruth is also far rarer than Ruth’s 1933 Goudey counterparts, especially in high grade. Being the No. 2 card in the set, the Sport Kings Ruth tended to gravitate to the top of the stack, exposing it to much more wear than other cards, and thus making high-grade examples far more difficult to find than most Sport Kings and most other 1930s Ruth cards. The offered example is outstanding in every way, with bold colors, strong corners, flawless registration, and excellent centering. The green text on the reverse is crisp, bold, and perfectly clean. It is very rare to find such a striking example of this classic! This is an exceptional and extremely high-grade example of this legendary Babe Ruth card that would be at home in even the most advanced world-class collection.
1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy #147 Babe Ruth Blank Back
A superb E135 Collins-McCarthy card of Babe Ruth, one of his most significant, rarest, and most overlooked cards. It doesn’t get the attention it deserves is likely because it is so rare. This is one of the premier early Ruth cards and one of the very few dating from the beginning of his legendary career picturing him as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Examples of Ruth, the key card to the set, are seen very infrequently. This outstanding example was recently discovered in 2021, selling at public auction for a record-setting $235,000. This card was found literally tucked within the pages of a woman’s scrapbook book from the 1917 era, preserving the card’s condition for decades.
1916 M101-4/5 Morehouse Baking Babe Ruth
Offered here is the second of two newly discovered examples of Babe Ruth’s rookie card featuring the exceedingly rare Morehouse Baking advertising back. This exciting find, which REA shared in its Fall 2024 auction, represented the first time that an example of Ruth had been documented with this advertisement and presented for sale. The two Ruth cards, plus more than 100 other cards, had been saved for decades in a family from near to the Morehouse Baking factory. The 1916 D352 Morehouse Baking card is identical to M101-4/5 Sporting News except for the different advertisement on the reverse. Morehouse Baking reverses are seen much less frequently than Sporting News reverses. The reverse has the “Morehouse Baking” advertisement boldly printed in black, along with a purple factory-stamp (“Cancelled”) relating to the card’s redemption as part of the promotion advertised on the reverse. This is a superb, newly-discovered example of an extreme rarity that would be a significant addition to any world-class Babe Ruth or rare vintage baseball-card collection.
2) 1909-1911 T206 White Border Graded Near-Complete Set (516/524)
There is little need for a formal introduction to the T206 White Border set, the single most important and highly collected issue among all tobacco and all vintage cards. This is an extremely attractive and clean near-complete set of 516 cards. missing only the “Big 4”, Bender/portrait, Tinker/bat on shoulder, and the St. Louis variations of Demmitt and O’Hara for completion. The cards span all grades and include many significant condition highlights; the entire set has tremendous eye-appeal across the board and even the lesser-graded cards are very pleasing and exhibit bright colors. This T206 near-complete set is highlighted by seventy-two Hall of Famers, including four Ty Cobb, three Christy Mathewson, two Walter Johnson, three Cy Young, as well as several rarities, including Elberfeld/port. (Wash.), and, of course, the forty-eight scarce Southern League series cards. The backs include one Factory 42, two American Beauty, three El Principe De Gales, twenty-six Old Mill (including sixteen Southern Leaguers), fifteen Polar Bear, twenty Sovereign, and thirteen Tolstoi. All 516 cards have been graded and encapsulated by SGC (501) or PSA (15).
3) 1935 R331 National Chicle Football #34 Bronko Nagurski Rookie
This pristine example of a most famous and highly prized key football-card rarity: Bronko Nagurski in the 1935 National Chicle Football Stars set. The offered example displays vibrant colors, a crisp image, strong corners, and excellent centering. The reverse is clean with bold blue print. This card has always been highly sought after, on many short lists of the hobby’s most classic football cards, and, of course, very rare to find in any grade. This is a beautiful example that would be a worthy addition to any high-grade R331 National Chicle set or world-class classic Hall of Fame football-card collection.
4) 1915 E145 Cracker Jack #103 Joe Jackson
This stunning example is understandably one of Jackson’s most striking and popular cards. “Shoeless Joe” is one of the big three key cards in the set, along with Cobb and Wagner. This card’s condition reveal it’s obviously from a factory set obtained directly from the company by mail, and was never packaged in a box of Cracker Jacks. This is an extraordinary example of one of card collecting’s most classic and popular cards in an extremely desirable grade. Awarded an MBA Gold Diamond by Mike Baker Authenticated for high-end eye appeal. A corresponding MBA sticker is affixed to the front of the holder.
1903 E107 Breisch-Williams Honus Wagner, Cy Young, & Christy Mathewson
Few prewar card sets compare in rarity or significance to E107 Breisch-Williams. Issued in 1903, these distinctive cards represent one of the few sets of baseball cards to be issued during the years between the popular photographic cards of the 1880s (such as Old Judge) and the many tobacco- and caramel-card issues of the 1910 era, for which E107s can also be credited with establishing the general design.
Wagner: The E107 is the first traditional trading card to feature Wagner’s likeness as only the M101-1 Sporting News Supplements and the W600 Sporting Life Cabinets predate this issue. This is only the third E107 Honus Wagner that we have handled in the past 21 years, and it is one of only eight examples ever to be graded and encapsulated by SGC (none by PSA). As such, it is approximately ten times rarer than the famous T206 Wagner card.
Young: As pitcher of the 1903 Red Sox, and having just led them to victory in the first World Series, Young is one of the most significant players in the entire E107 set, and, of course, one of the greatest pitching legends of his era. 1903 marked Cy Young’s fourteenth season in the Major Leagues. Despite his advancing age, he proved he was still one of the top hurlers in the game, finishing the year with a 28-9 record and 2.08 ERA. This brilliant example is only the third handled by REA in the last 21 years.
Mathewson: Preceded only by the 1901 Police Gazette Supplement and the W600 Sporting Life Cabinet, this is only the second E107 Christy Mathewson ever handled by REA, and is one of only eight examples ever to be graded and encapsulated by SGC (none by PSA). Graded POOR 1 by SGC. Despite condition flaws, this remains a very desirable example of one of Christy Mathewson’s rarest and most noteworthy cards, and would be a significant addition to any world-class E107, Hall of Fame, or prewar card collection.
These Featured Five (or Nine) are truly just the tip of the iceberg. We highly recommend browsing through the incredible lots available for bid from now through March 27th. Happy browsing (and bidding?)!
Interested in learning how much your cards are worth in the current market? Email pictures to REA for a no-obligation review!