Legendary Auctions

[Phil316]

Re: Legendary Auctions

If I am looking to sell a legit item like a Gretzky first year in the NHL, 2nd with the Edmonton Oilers why would you not go big and get Classic Auctions or Goldin Auctions. I know both Classic and Goldin do a great job advertising and I know legendary does not. Seems weird.

Also in the past few years I have seen 3 or 4 reproductions come up for auction with the correct tagging, numbers, fight strap everything.

[BVC]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Not if they truly believe it's photo-matched. Obviously something is amiss regarding the jersey.

That's a special one-of-a-kind museum piece, if it's authentic. The auction house's reputation won't make a bit of difference to anyone wanting the piece. Add to that it's probably never been a safer time to bid in their auction as all FED eyes are on them.

Agreed - people have to have their stuff. But there might also be a fear that they would pay for it and not actually get it, due to Legendary's current problems. I don't know what the jersey is worth, but maybe the $500,000 was too optimistic?

[Roady]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Not if they truly believe it's photo-matched. Obviously something is amiss regarding the jersey.

That's a special one-of-a-kind museum piece, if it's authentic. The auction house's reputation won't make a bit of difference to anyone wanting the piece. Add to that it's probably never been a safer time to bid in their auction as all FED eyes are on them.

I wouldn't let them make a dime off of me even if it is photo matched.

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Bingo.
And I would imagine that some bidders are not bidding on it because of their reputation.

Not if they truly believe it's photo-matched. Obviously something is amiss regarding the jersey.

That's a special one-of-a-kind museum piece, if it's authentic. The auction house's reputation won't make a bit of difference to anyone wanting the piece. Add to that it's probably never been a safer time to bid in their auction as all FED eyes are on them.

[Roady]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Struggling to stay afloat after the recent imprisonments, I don't think Legendary can afford for a high-profile item to sell for that much below their estimate (high bid of $175,000 vs estimate of $500,000).

So they made up some baloney and extended the auction.

Bingo.
And I would imagine that some bidders are not bidding on it because of their reputation.

[BVC]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Struggling to stay afloat after the recent imprisonments, I don't think Legendary can afford for a high-profile item to sell for that much below their estimate (high bid of $175,000 vs estimate of $500,000).

So they made up some baloney and extended the auction.

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Here is Legendary's release on why they extended the jersey auction:


Legendary Auctions has made an unprecedented decision to extend the bidding on the 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky Rookie Jersey in our current auction to allow our staff and the MeiGray Authentication team to do additional research.
A Wayne Gretzky Rookie jersey is a historic item. The authentication of this jersey started in September and culminated on October 27th at which time Letter of Authenticity and Certificate of Registration was issued. Since this time both MeiGray and our staff have received additional information regarding the history and provenance of the jersey, and fielded inquiries regarding the availability of photo matches of the back of the jersey. Due to the fact that clear full back shots from this season are nearly impossible to find, the authentication process fell short of offering this match.
Our authentication partner MeiGray has gained access to two historic photo archives, which we hope will offer us the ability to produce a conclusive photo match and afford us the time to nail down the history and provenance of the jersey. These are the final pieces of the authentication puzzle. To that end the auction of this item has been extended to Thursday, December 18th.
Please watch the website as we will offer new information as it becomes available.

It appears the high-end collectors in the hobby demand solid proof of both sides of the jersey before they commit the dough.

Imagine that, collectors with brains demanding proper authentication of the items they (are about to) buy?

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

The Gretzky jersey extension is ridiculous. They photo-matched it in the original description so there was no need for this, other than to get more bids. It's not the way an auction should be run, and if it's any indication of their non-Doug Allen future, they are in big trouble.

It IS the way an auction house runs when they don't SHILL BID. And this result shows exactly why they used to use that illegal practice.

You've got to hand it to them, they are creative in their ways to "maximize" hammer prices.

When I first saw the closing (or what should have been the closing price) of the jersey, it immediately hit me that top hockey bidders aren't "sold" on the photo-matches. Maybe there was something identified that questions whether it could be the same jersey or not, and the matches they did find are considered to be marks and repairs that would be easy to duplicate, hence questionable? I don't know, and I haven't spent a second of my own time researching this jersey or it's photo-matches. But $175K is around the continent and across a few oceans from $3 mil, so something is obviously amiss. Maybe it was just their judgement as to what collectors of top hockey jerseys would pay?

Something tells me that's not it. Let's see what Meigray can come up with.

[BVC]

Re: Legendary Auctions

The Gretzky jersey extension is ridiculous. They photo-matched it in the original description so there was no need for this, other than to get more bids. It's not the way an auction should be run, and if it's any indication of their non-Doug Allen future, they are in big trouble.

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

And what's this all about?

They guesstimated this jersey could reach $3,000,000.

$175,000 doesn't cut it, so just extend the auction until the 18th of December?

I guess when your doors are closing so you can go sit in the pokie, you might as well do whatever you want.

Shameful while in business, pitifully shameful closing the doors.

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

So it starts.

Like rats running from the burning warehouse.

[BVC]

Re: Legendary Auctions

In my experience I have found that auction houses displaying a "photo-matched" item typically were hand fed that visual provenance. I am not speaking for Goldin Auctions because I don't have knowledge as to the depth of authentication they participate in themselves. If they do participate in searches for better provenance, then kudos to them.

Most auction house employees that participate in the "write-ups" of the individual items may do a quick bit of research, but all-in-all it's minimal as there just isn't time to research every item. And in my honest opinion, that's shameful. There's time enough to rake in the big bucks selling the stuff, but no time to properly authenticate the items they're getting rich off of? That is one of my biggest problems with the hobby. And the main reason why collectors need to live by the old adage "Do your own homework".

But in regards to almost all of the items you see in general listed in auctions, usually the consignor is the one who hands over the photo-match provenance on an item-to-item basis. The auction houses then posts it as it helps the cause for both.

I agree completely, but I know that Ken understands the importance of photo-matching to the hobby better than most;i.e-keeping the hobby reputable in spite of things like the Eli Manning fiasco, and so goes to extra lengths to provide photo-matches for his items. Many AH's still don't get it, and just accept stuff with faulty provenance, or, as you say, take the photo-matches that are given to them.

For modern game-used there is no excuse for the NFL not providing photo matches for EVERYTHING they sell. There are ways to do this that will certainly involve more overhead, but the payoff would make up for it. We just have to demand it. I would love to see ONE team take the lead on this, providing a model for the rest. If successful, all others would be forced to do the same.

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Dave, I did not read your post until after I had posted mine. I can't imagine anyone saying that about H&S after the recent debacle with the 'Fleetwood Walker', 'Amos Rusie' and 'Joe Jackson' multi-player photos. That stuff was unforgivable and needs to stop. The misleading descriptions and titles that I was referring to are much less dangerous to the hobby, although still a bad thing (in my opinion).

As an addendum, if Chris ever reads other boards, I'm sure he has seen my plugs for Ken's photo-matching game-used stuff. That's a huge step forward for auction houses and hopefully others will follow his lead.

In my experience I have found that auction houses displaying a "photo-matched" item typically were hand fed that visual provenance. I am not speaking for Goldin Auctions because I don't have knowledge as to the depth of authentication they participate in themselves. If they do participate in searches for better provenance, then kudos to them.

Most auction house employees that participate in the "write-ups" of the individual items may do a quick bit of research, but all-in-all it's minimal as there just isn't time to research every item. And in my honest opinion, that's shameful. There's time enough to rake in the big bucks selling the stuff, but no time to properly authenticate the items they're getting rich off of? That is one of my biggest problems with the hobby. And the main reason why collectors need to live by the old adage "Do your own homework".

But in regards to almost all of the items you see in general listed in auctions, usually the consignor is the one who hands over the photo-match provenance on an item-to-item basis. The auction houses then posts it as it helps the cause for both.

[ShaimOnYou]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Chris:

I fully agree with you. I would say the same for Huggins & Scott, as well.

Dave Miedema

I understand you authenticate many of their items, Mr. Miedema, but you need to be careful who you get into the sack with. Blanket statements of support are troublesome. You'll always get let down.

http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=33375#more-33375

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Legendary Auctions

Dave, I did not read your post until after I had posted mine. I can't imagine anyone saying that about H&S after the recent debacle with the 'Fleetwood Walker', 'Amos Rusie' and 'Joe Jackson' multi-player photos. That stuff was unforgivable and needs to stop. The misleading descriptions and titles that I was referring to are much less dangerous to the hobby, although still a bad thing (in my opinion).

As an addendum, if Chris ever reads other boards, I'm sure he has seen my plugs for Ken's photo-matching game-used stuff. That's a huge step forward for auction houses and hopefully others will follow his lead.

I never heard about that issue. Pleaase email me privately with details.

Dave Miedema
sox83cubs84@hotmail.com