5 Notable Sports Card Auctions In August

August is known as the dog days of summer. Most everywhere, it’s sweltering. Baseball’s playoff races are heating up, and fans of football, basketball, and hockey are prepping for the pre-season. Much like the weather, the auction house action in August offers a chance to add some hot items to your collection!

If you missed our article on July’s auctions on Cardlines, you could find it here. If you’re not familiar with the major auction houses, check out our reviews of Goldin, Heritage, and REA.

Today we’ll look at several auctions from the significant houses closing in August.

Fanatics NFL Summer Auction

Fanatics auctions are a little different than your standard auction house offering, with limited items, no consignment, and zero buyers premium. This auction, which ends on August 3rd features all NFL football items. You’ll find cards, autographs, and lots of impressive memorabilia in this auction offering.

Fanatics Auction basics

Fanatics Auction Items of note

The Fanatics Fan Auction trends modern, which is usually a theme from Fanatics. The other trend is graded, with only a handful of raw cards included.

If you’re looking for a graded rookie card, check out the Jalen Hurts Philadelphia Eagles Autographed 2020 Panini Contenders Optic Nebula Prizm RC #122 Card (PSA 9) – #2/2. It promises to be a popular item.

If autographed jerseys are your thing, there are examples from CeeDee Lamb, Joey Bosa, and Keenan Allen. Autographed helmets? How about Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning, or Ja’Marr Chase? There are photos, footballs, gloves, shoes, tickets, and other equipment.

I’m not much of a football fan, honestly, but I think my favorite item is the Joe Montana, Steve Young & Jerry Rice San Francisco 49ers Autographed Riddell Authentic Helmet – Hand-Painted Art by Charlie Turano III – Limited Edition #1/1. Even I’ve heard of those guys.

Golden 2022 July National Elite Auction

While this auction is called the “July National Elite Auction”, it ends in early August, with extended bidding starting on Saturday, August 6th at 10 PM.

Golden Auction basics

Golden 2022 July National Elite Auction items of note

While this auction features items from across the world of sports (and beyond), many of the featured items are basketball themed, with a mix of modern Logoman rarities and vintage coolness.

The 2006-07 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection All NBA Access Triple Logoman #TL-JJB Michael Jordan/LeBron James/Kobe Bryant Game-Used Logoman Patch Card (#1/1) – PSA Authentic already has bids over $1.25 million as of this writing. The 2020-21 Panini Flawless Triple Logoman #3LG-GSW Stephen Curry/Draymond Green/Klay Thompson Patch Card (#1/1) – PSA GEM MT 10 is over a quarter of a million already. Vintage more your thing? The 1980-81 Topps Scoring Leader Larry Bird/Magic Johnson Rookie Card – PSA GEM MT 10 is an amazing example of a legendary vintage rookie card.

Beyond the featured items, this auction holds up to the “elite” label, with the lowest opening bid on any item checking in at $1,000. Graded cards across sports rule here, but there’s also some impressive examples of memorabilia, bats, autographs, and unopened material.

There are even original artworks from Magic: The Gathering cards ,graded Ninentdo cartridges, and vintage Star Wars figurines.

My favorite item? There are so many to choose from, but the 1948 Babe Ruth Original Type I Pulitzer Prize-Winning 8 7/8 x 11 1/4 Photograph – The Babe Bows Out (PSA/DNA Type I, Nat Fein Estate LOP) is a photographer-signed epic photo from the final days of baseball legend Babe Ruth.

Collector’s Connection POST WAR SPORTS CARDS & COLLECTIBLES XVII

This auction, as the title suggests, is heavy on post-war vintage. All sports are represented, but baseball is especially well-represented. This auction includes set breaks of 1949 Bowman and 1952 Topps, two of the most iconic and collected early post-war sets.

Post War Sports Cards Auction basics

Post War Sports Cards items of note

This auction features both graded and raw copies of some great vintage cards, from Hall of Fame icons to lesser-known players. As mentioned above, 1949 Bowman and 1952 Topps feature here, but there’s a mix of impressive vintage cards to be had.

You can get 1949 Bowman and 1952 cards of Duke Snider (1949)(1952), Jackie Robinson (1949)(1952), and Roy Campanella (1949)(1952) for example.

There are also complete sets, such as 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, and 1972 Topps (and more). There are also lots of unopened material, including a lot of junk wax-era sealed boxes.

My favorite item is the three 1983 Pacific Baseball Legends Wax Box lots. I actually opened a couple of these boxes a few years ago, and while these semi-professionally produced cards don’t come out of packs in grading-ready condition, it was a blast to open and view the cards of iconic players of yesteryear.

Clean Sweep Auctions: 2-Day Affordable All Sports Mammoth

Clean Sweep Auctions August Auction has a long name “August 2022 2-Day Affordable All Sports Mammoth Autograph and Memorabilia-Only Auction” and a lot of items (2,297 items total), and closes across two days (August 17th and 18th).

That’s a lot of big. What ISN’T big is the prices. This is specifically designed to be an “affordable” auction, with most items having expected closing prices of $500 or less, and low starting bids. It’s an auction for the every-person and a fun idea for summer.

Clean Sweep Auction basics

Clean Sweep Auction items of note

As the title suggests, this auction is loaded with autographs and memorabilia, and, well, autographed memorabilia. This auction is heavy on baseball, but many sports make an appearance.

What you won’t find is a lot of graded or modern, so if you’re into the shiny, encapsulated ultra-modern, this may not be the auction for you.

The array of autographed cards here is impressive, ranging from 1920’s Exhibits like this 1922 Exhibit Wilbert Hubbell to mid-50s Hall of Famers like this 1957 Topps Yogi Berra to ’60s and 70s legends like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. 90’s stars like Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. and modern Yankee legends like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are also included.

Prefer signed baseballs? This auction includes single-signed, multi-signed, and team-signed examples. There are publications of all kinds, bats, and more.

Baseball is well-represented, but you’ll also find basketball, football, hockey, boxing, and golf items, and more. There’s even a good number of Wheaties items.

There are lots to like here, but I think my favorite might be the 1971 Topps # 64 NL RBI Leaders signed by all three pictured Hall of Famers (Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, and Billy Williams). I’m a big fan of multi-player vintage “leader” cards.

Heritage Auctions: Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction

Heritage Auctions Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction starts on August 5th and ends August 27th and 28th. It features 1,360+ items across all major sports and beyond.

Heritage Auctions basics

Heritage Auctions items of note

This auction, some of the details of which are still being determined at this writing, has some impressive items including cards, memorabilia, and much more.

Into rookie cards? This auction has examples for Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Mahomes, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Satchel Paige, and many more.

There’s the ball Barry Bonds hit for this record-tying 755th career home run, a Christy Mathewson circa 1900 game-worn warmup jacket, and many championship rings.

My favorite item? In my opinion, you can’t beat the Yankee legacy of the 1939 Joe DiMaggio All America Baseball Team Certificate Signed by Babe Ruth, Beckett Auto 10. The connection with two Yankees all-time icons, and the beautiful Ruth auto, make this one a unique collectible.

Additional auction info

Love of the Games’ Summer Auction ends on August 20th. As of this writing, it has not started and no preview info is available on their website.

Lelands is advertising a “pop-up auction” that ends on August 7th on their website, but no details were available as of this writing.

The final word on August auctions

The Auction Houses are offering some exciting auction action for the dog days of summer. With high-priced items showpieces and “affordable” items available across sports and eras, there’s something for every collector on the auction block this month.

Other auctions by month

• November 2022 sports card auctions
• October 2022 sports card auctions
• September 2022 auctions
• July 2022 auctions
• June 2022 auctions
• May 2022 auctions