Mel Ott Signed 1937 World Series Program - what to do?

daveverdo

Hi All,

I have a small collection of recent stuff. Not much just some autographed balls and some rookie cards. So I am not an avid collector. My uncle passed away a few years ago and my mother gave me some of his old stuff. I'll start with one (or a pair) of items.

1937 World Series Game 2 Program (poor condition) but it is signed inside on the third page.
The primary is Mel Ott. Others are Wally Berger, Cliff melton, and Harry danning.
I also have the ticket stub.

Question: What can be done with this? Is the Mel Ott worth more as a cut than in the combo? Does having the stub increase the value of the program even thought the program is not is good condition? If I wanted to sell this, what would be the next step?

Thanks in advance for your help,
David

Ironmanfan

if your intent is to sell it, I'd consider consigning it with an sports auction house that will have it professionally authenticated as part of their consignment fee.....

Mel Ott's signature is highly desired and I don't think you are going to get maximum value selling it yourself (eBay, etc.)...I wouldn't cut it up either (let the eventual buyer make that choice).

Good Luck!

IMF

Stone193

Hi David

Welcome!

Not sure about the program with the auto - would only be guessing.

I've seen the progam go for less than 200$ - but yours has the Ott sig.

It sure looks good to me also. Programs is not one of my areas of study - so I know very little - tho I do have some old WS programs.

I would hate to see his sig cut from the program - that's just me tho.

To maximize the value - I would consider having PSA authenticate his sig - then sell it with the PSA COA.

You can consider consigning it to an auction house or someone on ebay if you don't sell yourself. It should get a Mel Ott or Giants fan excited IMO!

We have a board member "Probstein" who's reputable and can be trusted to sell it for you. He attracts a lot of buyers. My intuition is that it may sell for more via an auction house vs ebay?

Can you scan the program itself? And if ya can - I would keep your cropped scans to around 600 so ya don't eat the screen with your pics.

I wish you all the best.

Brick

Hi, hello, how are ya?

You came to the right place, although I am not one of them there are several autograph experts here to assist you with good advice.

cpamike

Welcome to the boards David.

I agree with Ironmanfan. Auction house is probably the way to go as eBay is hit or miss on items like that sometimes plus you need a selling history for buyers to be comfortable bidding on it.

Stone as usually makes a good point to get it certified by PSA as that would help put buyers minds more at ease to bid on it.

Take care and good luck!!!

daveverdo

So who are the reputable consignment aution houses? Any recommendations?

Dave

Ironmanfan

I personally would contact either Hunt Auctions (Exton, PA) or Memory Lane Auctions (Calif.).

Good Luck!

IMF

MooseDog

Don't bother going through the authentication process yourself, unless you intend to sell it. PSA/DNA charges $100 for a Mel Ott authentication. An Ott cut signature can be had for about $400-500 for a nice one. Because the signatures are on the inside that takes a lot of the display-ability away from the item, and because the program is in poor condition that doesn't add much to the value of the whole piece.

The signatures are all good, and the Ott signature would be hard to separate for someone who wanted to cut it up. The other signatures are fairly common, Melton died in 1986 and could bring $20 on a good day.

The stub, assuming it's in decent condition (no creases or writing and a clean tear-edge would bring about $50-75 in average condition.

I think after all fees are taken into consideration you might be best off selling yourself on eBay, with the expected returns somewhere in the range of what I mentioned above. It can't do any harm to at least contact an auction house and see what they think. For something like this I'd probably try Heritage Auctions first (www.ha.com) as they run a sports auction about every month and seem to get decent prices for autographed stuff. I dealt with Mark Jordan, one of the principals, many many years ago and can say he's one of the most straight shooting, honest guys in the business...one of the few.

Ironmanfan

Moose, I don't think the OP's item is "big" enough for Heritage.........

IMF

smtjoy

I think Hunts or Clean Sweep Auctions would be a good fit for your item