tylermckinzie
05-09-2016, 03:35 PM
First of all, apologies for the long read. This was an incredible story and I thought many of you would appreciate it, the background, and it's rarity.
Close to a month and a half ago, my buddy received a message from an employee in his school that he was looking to sell some sports stuff, and knew my friend collected. He asked if he'd be interested in coming over and taking a peek at what he had. My friend, always on the lookout for stuff, obliged.
Some sports stuff was an understatement. Turns out he had an entire room of stuff he was looking to sell. Unopened boxes, cases, sets in binders…. stuff dating back to the 60's. But then my friend spies some stuff that really gets his attention- multiple items signed by Pistol Pete Maravich. Turns out, this guy had a relation that had worked on a book (and movie) on the life of Pistol Pete. He knew he was going to get the opportunity to meet Maravich, and went out to collect the nicest copy of each Topps card he could find to have Pistol Pete sign. This guy got the opportunity to meet Maravich a few days before his death in 1987 (I believe). Maravich signed, in total, 12 cards for him, including two rookies. He also signed a program from the tournament they were meeting at, a book cover that had just been published, and a few other items.
My friend was quite stunned by what he was seeing. After agreeing on a price, he came back to load up an entire truck full of cards, memorabilia, and other things. As a new member to PSA, he submitted all of the autographs for authentication. Many of the cards had never been certified by PSA/DNA before. Here is the breakdown of what he received:
1970 Topps Rookie (received 2): 1 graded PSA 5, one not able to authenticate (will explain later). Only 4 have been certified by PSA.
1971 Topps PSA 6 (8 graded, this is the highest grade)
1972 Topps THIS WAS THE ONLY ONE MISSING :( 2 out there!
1973 Topps PSA 5 (only one graded by PSA)
1974 Topps PSA 5 (only one graded by PSA)
1975 Topps PSA 6 (only 4 graded, this is the highest grade)
1976 Topps #60 PSA 7 (only 3 graded)
1976 Topps #130 PSA 7 (only one graded by PSA)
1977 Topps PSA 8 (only 4 graded, this is the highest grade)
1978 Topps PSA 6 (only 6 graded, this is the highest grade)
1979 Topps PSA 5 (only one graded by PSA)-- THIS one was actually signed both front and back!
1980 Topps PSA 8 (only 2 graded, this is the highest grade)
The two rookies were actually signed a few weeks apart. One was signed for his brother and sent to him through the mail- he mailed him the card a few weeks before they were to meet just to tell him they would get a chance to meet Pete later on. The second was signed with everything else. PSA would not authenticate the stand alone autograph. They didn't say it wasn't real- just that they couldn't authenticate it with 100% certainty. No big deal for my friend- he's going to keep it anyway, and he knows it's real.
As of now, all items my friend is selling have been sold. I actually sold the rookie through my ebay name (What a time for ebay to give me a $10 max final value fee promotion! Saved $700+ on that one!). He found someone who purchased all of the rest of the available cards. That guy had one of the two copies of the 1972 card my friend didn't get. Now he has an entire run of Maravich Topps autos, including 4 that had never been certified by PSA before. The rookie was purchased by a collector who is completing the entire set of 1970 Topps autographs (and boy, with only 10 left, was he incredibly happy he found this one that only has 4 copies and isn't likely to find many more any time soon).
My friend was able to sell most of it rather quickly, keeps a signed rookie and a program signed by Maravich only 5 days before he passed away. He also got a signed book cover, and multiple movie posters, as well as a true reel-to-reel of the original movie premiere.
All of the cards are pictured below. The autographs on them were incredible. Pete literally sat on the back of a car and signed all of these for the guy at one time. He had pictures with Maravich that they took when they met. Truly a once in a lifetime find- the one my friend always seems to stumble across!
Close to a month and a half ago, my buddy received a message from an employee in his school that he was looking to sell some sports stuff, and knew my friend collected. He asked if he'd be interested in coming over and taking a peek at what he had. My friend, always on the lookout for stuff, obliged.
Some sports stuff was an understatement. Turns out he had an entire room of stuff he was looking to sell. Unopened boxes, cases, sets in binders…. stuff dating back to the 60's. But then my friend spies some stuff that really gets his attention- multiple items signed by Pistol Pete Maravich. Turns out, this guy had a relation that had worked on a book (and movie) on the life of Pistol Pete. He knew he was going to get the opportunity to meet Maravich, and went out to collect the nicest copy of each Topps card he could find to have Pistol Pete sign. This guy got the opportunity to meet Maravich a few days before his death in 1987 (I believe). Maravich signed, in total, 12 cards for him, including two rookies. He also signed a program from the tournament they were meeting at, a book cover that had just been published, and a few other items.
My friend was quite stunned by what he was seeing. After agreeing on a price, he came back to load up an entire truck full of cards, memorabilia, and other things. As a new member to PSA, he submitted all of the autographs for authentication. Many of the cards had never been certified by PSA/DNA before. Here is the breakdown of what he received:
1970 Topps Rookie (received 2): 1 graded PSA 5, one not able to authenticate (will explain later). Only 4 have been certified by PSA.
1971 Topps PSA 6 (8 graded, this is the highest grade)
1972 Topps THIS WAS THE ONLY ONE MISSING :( 2 out there!
1973 Topps PSA 5 (only one graded by PSA)
1974 Topps PSA 5 (only one graded by PSA)
1975 Topps PSA 6 (only 4 graded, this is the highest grade)
1976 Topps #60 PSA 7 (only 3 graded)
1976 Topps #130 PSA 7 (only one graded by PSA)
1977 Topps PSA 8 (only 4 graded, this is the highest grade)
1978 Topps PSA 6 (only 6 graded, this is the highest grade)
1979 Topps PSA 5 (only one graded by PSA)-- THIS one was actually signed both front and back!
1980 Topps PSA 8 (only 2 graded, this is the highest grade)
The two rookies were actually signed a few weeks apart. One was signed for his brother and sent to him through the mail- he mailed him the card a few weeks before they were to meet just to tell him they would get a chance to meet Pete later on. The second was signed with everything else. PSA would not authenticate the stand alone autograph. They didn't say it wasn't real- just that they couldn't authenticate it with 100% certainty. No big deal for my friend- he's going to keep it anyway, and he knows it's real.
As of now, all items my friend is selling have been sold. I actually sold the rookie through my ebay name (What a time for ebay to give me a $10 max final value fee promotion! Saved $700+ on that one!). He found someone who purchased all of the rest of the available cards. That guy had one of the two copies of the 1972 card my friend didn't get. Now he has an entire run of Maravich Topps autos, including 4 that had never been certified by PSA before. The rookie was purchased by a collector who is completing the entire set of 1970 Topps autographs (and boy, with only 10 left, was he incredibly happy he found this one that only has 4 copies and isn't likely to find many more any time soon).
My friend was able to sell most of it rather quickly, keeps a signed rookie and a program signed by Maravich only 5 days before he passed away. He also got a signed book cover, and multiple movie posters, as well as a true reel-to-reel of the original movie premiere.
All of the cards are pictured below. The autographs on them were incredible. Pete literally sat on the back of a car and signed all of these for the guy at one time. He had pictures with Maravich that they took when they met. Truly a once in a lifetime find- the one my friend always seems to stumble across!