[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=”‘Forbidden’ fruits”][vc_column_text]Another red-hot market consignors and collectors should be aware of is movie memorabilia. Last week, Robby the Robot – the seven-foot tall robot from the 1956 MGM Sci-Fi classic “Forbidden Planet” – sold at Bonhams New York for a world record price of $5,375,000. This makes it the most valuable movie prop ever sold at auction, according to Bonhams press release.
This out-of-this-world result is just part of a trend of ever more successful auction sales in the category of movie memorabilia, including the titular statuette from “The Maltese Falcon,” which sold for $4 million; Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from “The Seven-Year Itch,” sold for $4.6 million; and the original 1966 Batmobile, which sold for $4.6 million.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text]
Robby the Robot from “Forbidden Planet.” Sold at auction by Bonhams for a record $5.375 million.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”RR success stories in movie memorabilia”][vc_column_text]RR Auction has a love for movie memorabilia as well. We were proud to curate the Tom Gregory Hollywood Collection for him in 2016:[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVbRKFnmRWs”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Fully one-third of the nearly half-million items we’ve sold at auction are from the category of entertainment. Some of our stand-out items include:
Original “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” final working draft manuscript, sold for $313,056
Screen-used 2003 Escalade from “The Sopranos”, sold for $119,776
Jack Nicholson’s suit from “Chinatown”: $45,987
Screen-worn sash worn by Charlton Heston in “The Ten Commandments”: $33,784
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ra_carousel style=”s2″ columns=”col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12 no-padding no-margin” contain=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”8730″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”8731″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”8732″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”8733″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/ra_carousel][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With Robby the Robot garnering such a huge payoff for his consignor, perhaps it’s time to sell your own Sci-Fi memorabilia at auction?Learn more here![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Kath at RR here. We have exciting news! RR Auction is harkening back to its roots, by introducing a new dedicated Sports Department in 2018. Our CEO Bob Eaton began the company in 1976, as a teenaged collector of baseball cards himself. Now, we’re taking our decades of auction successes and applying them to curating the category that started it all: Sports collectibles, and especially, trading cards.
Louis Bollman is a well-known Sports collectibles expert, with more than 20 years of industry experience and a pedigree including several of the world’s finest auctions. He’s definitely our go-to person on trading cards knowledge! We’re happy to have his expertise on our team here at RR Auction.
Here’s what Louis had to tell me about our foray into the past, present and future of Sports collectibles: Louis Bollman, sports expert at RR Auction.
Let’s talk Sports collectibles!
Kath Palmer: How did you get started in the world of Sports collectibles, Louis?
Louis Bollman: When I was 12, I heard about a Napoleon Lajoie baseball trading card, and I needed to know the mystique – why it sold for so much money. It started my quest. As it turns out, it was made by a Boston company. New England has a rich tradition of producing baseball cards: Goudeys, DeLong, regional issues… Collectors should “bring ‘em home” to Boston via RR Auction [laughs].
KP: We New Englanders are certainly passionate about sports. I’m sure there are lots of Sports collectibles in the hands of local fans and families.
LB: I know hidden among the attics and safe deposit boxes, there are hidden Babe Ruth items. I’d really like to get at those. At one Sports collectibles expo, a person came up to my table with a 1915 Red Sox team-signed baseball with Babe Ruth on it. I would have paid 100 grand for it. It was a historic museum piece. It was heartbreaking to watch it walk away.
KP: For those folks who have a collection of trading cards or other sports memorabilia and who might be new to the process, what should they keep in mind when considering putting items up for auction?
LB: The first thing would be, leave it alone; don’t try and evaluate the worth of the items yourself. I personally have 20 years of evaluation experience and have curated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of materials at auction. The vast experience our whole team of experts has is ready to do that work for you. We’re your advocate in the market. We’re on your side.
Autographed baseball, Babe Ruth. Sold by RR Auction for $24,147.
What’s hot in Sports collectibles
KP: Louis, tell us what items are the most sought-after currently in Sports collectibles.
LB: The best situation is fresh collections – meaning, the same card or item hasn’t been around the auction block before. It’s the very first time it’s being offered for purchase. Estate collections are great for that.As to sports figures, Mickey Mantle is extremely hot right now, as is Babe Ruth. Baseball cards with extreme interest currently are pre-1976. Also in demand are deceased Hall of Famers, autographs, awards, pennants, rings, game-used equipment, etc. Rookie cards in high grade are also extremely hot right now.
KP: Speaking of grading, how does that work?
LB: The grade is determined by the physical properties of the item – its condition – and whether it matters or not is what and who it is. We’re willing to evaluate all collections at RR Auction, all potential consignments, with our free appraisal service.
KP: What are some of the more unique items you’ve evaluated?
LB: One thing that’s highly sought is displays. For example, around 1961, Post Cereal put trading cards on their boxes to cut out. What’s really rare are those advertising pieces from in-store displays. The players also embarked on these ‘barnstormer tours,’ like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig touring the country. Advertisements, posters, programs for that are also highly desired.
Why sell with RR Auction?
KP: Whether they’re new to selling Sports collectibles at auction or are seasoned consignors and collectors, what would you say is the best reason to sell with RR Auction?
LB: For the ‘been-around’ people: It’s time you got another perspective. There’s a reason for the way we handle things here – it’s the reason I chose to be part of the RR Auction team. Accountability to our clients and personalized customer service. Let us be your advocate. We’re all collectors ourselves.
KP: We also offer generous cash advances. Should consignors worry about the robustness of the market for Sports collectibles?
LB: Not at all. There are buyers for everything. In fact, there’s often more money in a down-market.
Kath at RR here. Last night (Nov. 17), RR Auction achieved a new world record for a publicly sold, flown U.S. flag. Our Space auction sold an Apollo 11 crew-signed flown flag presentation for $120,693 – more than double the previous sales record… which we had also set!
What made this flag especially desirable to collectors was that in addition to being signed by the entire Apollo 11 crew on the presentation, Buzz Aldrin signed again in the flag itself. We had a photo of Buzz holding the presentation as part of the lot (our main photo, above).
Many items relating to the Apollo 11 mission were highly successful. The beautiful solid gold Lunar Module replica created for Buzz Aldrin by Cartier sold for an incredible $149,862:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ra_box_rounded image=”8593″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
And Aldrin’s flown page of “Go to Descent” instructions – uniquely featuring notations by Neil Armstrong – realized a price of $78,346.
More out of this world results
Other noteworthy sales included:
Apollo 17 flown Robbins Medal, which sold for $37,481;
Dave Scott’s Apollo 15 lunar orbit-flown CSM Systems Data Book that achieved a sales price of a whopping $60,995. (A video of the book contents is here).
This auction featuredThe Bill Lende Collectionof rare and remarkable correspondences. Several personally written letters by the eventual history-making astronauts were highly sought after by bidders. Written before their legendary missions, these correspondences offer insight into the U.S. space race as well as a glimpse into the thoughts and hopes of these men – often via seemingly prescient observations.
To wit: Neil Armstrong, writing in 1963, in a correspondence that sold at the auction for $11,837, stated:
“Exploration in space, as in any other area, provides answers to old questions, but, perhaps more importantly, provides new questions.”
Michael Collins’ letter, which sold for $18,616, noted:
“The ultimate value of our lunar landing program cannot be outlined in detail at this time, just as it was impossible to foresee all the uses to which the Wright brothers’ invention.”
We also offered several meteorites from Aerolite Meteorites, including this lunar one retrieved from northwest Africa that sold for $2,749:[/vc_column_text][ra_box_rounded image=”8594″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
See the full list of auction results here. For more information on how to consign your own Space collectibles with us, go to https://rrauctionsellconsignments.com/sell-space-exploration/.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
As our CMO, I was proud to represent RR Auction at Space Rendezvous in sponsorship of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation the weekend of November 4, 2017 (that’s me at our booth, above). Having the privilege to meet dozens of our clients face to face over the course of the Saturday show at the Kennedy Space Center was such a treat! It’s always nice to put a face to the name and hear firsthand why RR is leading the Space market.
Getting settled in Florida early before the Rendezvous events gave us the opportunity to visit two Space clients, including our longtime partner Ken Havekotte of Space Coast Cover Service. Having worked on several auctions with Ken over the past 5 years, it was wonderful to finally meet him and his wife Theresa in person and spend some time connecting and viewing Ken’s amazing collection!
The gala held at the Hilton Cocoa Beach on Saturday evening was especially engaging, with a speaker panel including Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart (two photos, below). He is sharp as a tack and had some of the most insightful views on the history “NASA: Past, Present, and Future” (the weekend’s tag line). Also included on the panel was Apollo-Soyuz member Vance Brand, and the moderator, five-time Shuttle veteran “Hoot” Gibson – who was certainly a “hoot!” The nickname is well-founded.
At the show we promoted our wonderful new partnership with Geoff Notkin of Aerolite Meteorites and noted “Meteorite Man” fame (see photo of our booth with meteorites front and center). After having great success with Geoff’s meteorites in our October Space sale, we are offering more in our November auction, including this amazingly rare Northwest Africa Lunar Meteorite. At the RR table, we also sold copies of our November Exploration Auction catalog to benefit the ASF, and we ended up having quite a few generous patrons.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8546″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Also making an appearance at the Rendezvous Space Autograph and Memorabilia Show was Apollo 15 CMP Al Worden (pictured here at his table with an authentic spacesuit). As it happens, RR is actually auctioning a fishing trip with Al Worden – all proceeds will benefit the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
Our November Space Exploration Auction, featuring The Bill Lende Collection, also has a fantastic set of offerings from the ASF, including books straight from Apollo 17 CDR Gene Cernan’s personal library, to benefit charity. Go to astronautscholarship.org to discover more about the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and their contributions to ensuring America’s world leadership in technology and innovation, whilst honoring the legacies of our pioneering astronauts.
Though the ASF is currently undecided on where next year’s Space Rendezvous will be, I can tell you one thing: RR Auction will be there with our continued support![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
– Tricia Eaton is the Chief Marketing Officer at RR Auction.
Wise collectors will take notice of recent record-breaking auction sales in the form of timepieces. At RR Auction, we are recognizing that watch sales at auction are trending as one of the highest-grossing growth items in the collectibles world.
On Oct. 26, Paul Newman’s wristwatch garnered $17.8 million at auction, the highest price ever achieved. The actor’s iconic Rolex Cosmograph Daytona set a world record via the sale at auction house Phillips. The price is more than $6 million more than the previous record-holder – a rare, stainless steel Patek Philippe watch – and is a stunning increase of more than $12 million over the prior record-holding Rolex sold just a few months earlier that belonged to Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam.
But Newman’s wristwatch price is eclipsed by a 1933 pocket watch by Patek Philippe, which sold at a 2015 auction at Sotheby’s for $24.4 million.
Time to sell?
It’s not just collectors of watches and fine jewelry that are fascinated by these high ticket item offerings. RR Auction has seen firsthand how watch sales at auction cross categories. We’ve had remarkable success selling watches owned by astronauts to our Space collectors. Moonwalker Dave Scott’s flight-worn Bulova wristwatch(shown above – complete with scratched face and dirt/debris from its time on the lunar surface!) sold at auction for $1.625 million – at the time, it was the most expensive American Space artifact ever sold at auction. Alan Shepard’s Apollo 14 Vacheron Constantin watch achieved a price of more than $81,000. We also sold cosmonaut Gennady Padalka’s flown Omega Speedmaster Pro for nearly $40,000.
If you’d like to talk to one of our specialists
about watch sales at auction, contact us.
Kath at RR here. The Space auction results for Oct. 19 were out of this world! (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) Last night, our consignors watched live with us as our bidders upped the ante over and over, into the night. It was certainly exciting for our consignor Dan Schaiewitz. An engineer at Cape Kennedy in the late 1960s, Dan’s experiences in the training and prepping for the Apollo moon missions were presented in his truly unique collection of items, and there was high interest in all of them.
It’s rare that buyers can obtain this level of firsthand space exploration memorabilia, and RR Auction was happy to share Dan’s items with diehard fans and our elite collectors.
We met Dan through his affiliation with the website collectSPACE, a group that loves the topic as much as we do. His accounts of working with the first men to orbit and walk on the moon, along with training and candid photos, were fun and fascinating.
Personally, I loved Dan’s photos of the parties at “the Astronaut Beach House.” Doesn’t that sound like a swingin’ 60s movie that should have happened?
Consignor success stories
We reached out to Dan and put together his selection of really cool stuff – including a tie tack flown for him in thanks from Neil Armstrong. It sold last night for an incredible $18,616. Dan was so happy, he kept sending us emails during the bidding: “wow!”, then “WOW!”, then “WOW!!!” His excitement was so fun to share.
Subj: What a Ride!
What a wonderful dream! Please don’t wake me! I would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen it!
I can’t thank you and everyone else at RR for the work that you did toward making the results of my collection an incredible success! — Dan
We also enjoyed working with Geoff Notkin and Aerolite, to present our first selection of meteorites. You might know Geoff from his “Meteorite Men” show on the Science Channel. His offered meteorites did very well: the top two went for $9,499 and $7,851. I learned a lot talking with Geoff on our Rare and Remarkable Podcast before the auction. He has some neat stories about traveling the globe obtaining these rare treasures from space. Each was unique and beautiful in its own way. One of my favorites was the lunar meteorite (with signed certificate from moonwalker Charlie Duke!), that looks like a mini galaxy itself.
Geoff also had a great experience as a consignor:
“Thank you for working with us in such a rewarding and professional manner. We’ve worked with every major auction house that holds natural history auctions and consigning with RR Auction has been the best possible experience. Their personnel, their attention to detail, and their communication with clients are all exemplary.” — Geoff
This space auction was a blast
The thing about space auctions is, some of that stuff is huge! It’ll be nice to no longer have to squeeze past the giant rocket engines, turbo pumps, a mission-control stop light and models on my way to the staff kitchen. But it sure was neat getting to see those rare historical pieces in person.
Kath at RR here. As a lifelong Prince fan, I will attest to my obsession with him. From his scandalous early raunch, to his mercurial rise surrounding “Purple Rain,” through his bouts fighting the corporate music machine, to his “Emancipation” and continual rebirth – Prince had me “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic” with him for almost four decades.
His was my first concert, during the “Purple Rain” tour. The ticket said “wear something purple” – like I needed to be told. My friend Sue and I had to take turns sleeping in her van, so one of us could stay in line overnight to be among the first to buy tickets the morning they went on sale. Ah, the good old, pre-internet days…
We were astounded (but not surprised) that sales were triple what we predicted. His yellow boots went for $75k (six times the estimate); his all-access pass from when he toured with Rick James in 1980 sold for $60k; a rare “Camille” album was bought for $59k; and Prince’s “Purple Rain” handwritten music enhancements notes achieved a price of $51k.
Prince’s inner circle
Our consignors were part of Prince’s carefully guarded inner circle, and RR was honored to curate their memories of their time with him. From one-time girlfriend Jackie Swanson, to costume designer Helen Hiatt, to Prince’s album designer Michael Van Huffel, we had collaborators, personal assistants and others lucky enough to bask in his Purple Majesty. We were pleased to receive their post-auction positive reviews of their experience.
One of our consignors was Prince’s former fiancee, Susannah Melvoin. Her intimate collection of items from her life with Prince featured their home decor — a Prince personally owned lamp and shade sold for $5,300 — as well as Prince’s “Under the Cherry Moon” personal notebook with extensive handwritten comments, which sold for nearly $45k.
I’m excited we’re planning our next Prince auction for Feb. 2018. Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to remember his boundless talent and “Lovesexy” appeal. My heart will always be purple for him.
“The Prince Estate is not affiliated, associated, or connected with RR Auction or this auction, nor has it endorsed, authenticated or sponsored the items available for auction. Further, The Prince Estate has not licensed any of its intellectual property to RR Auction.”
Kath at RR here. I was recently thinking about planning estate sales, and was reading about Döstädning, or the Swedish phenomenon known as “death cleaning.” It’s not as morbid as the translation makes it. The term simply refers to the process of older adults getting their personal belongings in order, to alleviate the often overwhelming task survivors are sometimes faced with upon their loved one’s demise. You can read about it via author and artist Margareta Magnusson. It’s akin to the Japanese version of cleaning up touted by author Marie Kondo.
The purging may include differentiating family heirlooms from junk, downsizing to a smaller home, or basic organizational streamlining of daily life. Decluttering and taking stock of what’s important can guarantee your grieving family won’t be left with an onerous, and possibly confusing, responsibility of making those decisions on your behalf.
Whether or not you or your loved one did their due diligence of Döstädning, trying to decide what to keep and what to let go – and how, and where, and when – can be fraught with concerns both emotional and financial when planning estate sales.
An estate sale, or selling a private collection or special rare item a loved one cherished, can be made easier by planning ahead.
Honoring the collection
Here at RR Auction, we’ve helped many families share their loved one’s cherished items. We appreciate the opportunity to curate collections lovingly built over the course of a lifetime. We honor the collector’s passion by getting these items into the hands of others who consider them just as significant.
We’ve compiled our Top 5 tips for planning estate sales and selling estate/private collections, and how to make it easier on you:
Do the Döstädning. Separate the wheat from the chaff while you’re still here, so your family won’t have to figure it all out later. If you’re the family, encourage this to happen ahead of time.
Organize, label and provide provenance for your valuables and collectibles. Again, filing and protecting important receipts and documents that prove an item’s worth can make the difference between selling a collection or rare item, and not. Learn more about provenance here.
Take good photos. We take excellent in-house photos when we curate collections, but you’ll need them first to show us what you’ve got. Pay attention to lighting, clarity, and showing scale.
Research. It’s important to know what your loved one’s collection is worth. Does it have historical significance? Are the items rare or unique? What is the market for the items? Have items like this sold in the past? RR Auction can help you with a free online appraisal.
In addition to planning estate sales ahead of time, we also recognize there is sometimes an immediate need to sell a large collection, a loved one’s estate, or a single high-ticket item. That’s why RR Auction offers the option of private outright sales for qualifying items/collections. You don’t need to wait for your items to be sold at auction; we can offer immediate, substantive cash payouts.
But first: the life-changing magic of cleaning up. Time to visit my parents…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Kath at RR here. My dad likes to pull my leg – a lot. Since I was a kid, he’s tried to convince me of his tall tales. He told me Elvis Presley wrote “I Will Take You Home Again, Kathleen” for me. He told me they really did drive that car off that cliff on the television show – “That was their last episode.” He told me the shiny black rock with the holes like Swiss cheese was an actual moon rock, and that other weird rock was a fossil.
That’s the thing about family stories. Sometimes they get repeated so much, they start to become “fact.” But what about the stories of where that “rare artifact” or “original painting” came from? How do you know the real value of an antique or family heirloom? How do you show provenance?[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]
What is provenance?
Provenance (noun): 1. the place of origin or earliest known history of something; 2. the beginning of something’s existence; something’s origin; 3. a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality.
“Provenance (from the French provenir, ‘to come from/forth’), is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including manuscripts, printed books, science and more.
“The primary purpose of tracing the provenance of an object or entity is normally to provide contextual and circumstantial evidence for its original production or discovery, by establishing, as far as practicable, its later history, especially the sequences of its formal ownership, custody, and places of storage.” — Wikipedia [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]
Why is provenance important?
The provenance of works of fine art, antiques and antiquities is of great importance, especially to their owner. A good provenance:
Increases the value of an item;
Confirms the date, artist and, especially for portraits, the subject of a painting. It may confirm whether a painting is genuinely of the period it seems to date from.
Proves an item has not been altered and is not a forgery, a reproduction, or stolen/looted art.
Handwritten notes or inscriptions (plaques, sewn-in tags, notes on backs of paintings)
Photographs, often showing item with original owner or with a well-known person (politicians, musicians, artists, actors, etc.). We use this a lot.
Gift documentation (especially a note from a famous person giving the gift)
Certificates of Authenticity
A complete list of owners
Auction records
Recorded in a home inventory: Mentioned in a will or a diary or a visitor’s written account; some kind a bill of sale or sales receipt
The quality of provenance of can make a considerable impact on its selling price. An expert certification can mean the difference between an object having no value and being worth a fortune.
That’s why you need professionals. RR Auction has established our reputation as trusted specialists who work with top experts in provenance. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
