A Preview Of December Sports Card Auctions

December brings cold weather, the winter solstice, and the holidays. It also brings one more round of auction action before 2022 draws to a close.

The cold, dark days of December are a great time to huddle around your warm laptop (or tablet, or phone) and explore the many options available for your bidding pleasure.

Sirius Sportscards Sports Card Auction #327

The Sirius Sportscards Sport Card Auction #327 ends on December 1^st, so it makes it into our monthly roundup. While a bit heavy on baseball, this one does have a nice mix of sports, era, cards, and memorabilia.

Sirius Auction Basics

Sirius Items of Note

Typically, Sirius auctions don’t have as many high-dollar museum pieces as some of the other auctions in our rundown. That being said, there’s a cool mix of lower-grade, lower-cost cards that are far more affordable to the average collector. Many of the auctions have opening bids of $1, which is nice.

There’s a 1959 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 6.5, a 1956 Topps Koufax in PSA 7, 1956 Topps Willie Mays PSA 7. These will go for thousands, but there are lots of other cards that should go far less, in various grades across a mix of sets, sports, and players.

Unlike many auction houses, Sirius even has collecting supplies.

My favorite lot? I’ll go with the 1962 Topps AL HR Leaders PSA 8. We love vintage league leader cards, and so should you. This one memorializes a rather famous home run race.

Memory Lane Fall Rarities Premium Auction

Memory Lane has a smaller auction (177 lots) ending on December 3^rd. What the auction lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. There’s a reason the words “rarities” and “premium” are in the auction name. This auction is all baseball and all pre-War.

Memory Lane Inc. Auction basics

Memory Lane Inc. items of note

Premium Rarities? Let’s look at just the Mickey Mantle items in the auction.  There are PSA 9 examples of the 1951 Bowman, 1952 Bowman, 1953 Bowman, 1954 Bowman, and 1956 Topps, plus many more.  The 1951 Bowman has an opening bid of $500,000.

Check out The Top 10 Baseball Cards Of Hall Of Famer Mickey Mantle.

There are a bunch of high-grade 1933 Goudey cards available. These include PSA 8 examples of the Babe Ruth cards #53, #144, #149, and #181.

Some really nice 1933 DeLong Gum and 1934 Goudey offerings round out the auction.

My favorite? You can’t go wrong with the Ruths, for sure. This Rhode Islander is going to go with the Ocean State’s very own Hall of Famer, Nap Lajoie. The PSA 9 1933 Goudey Lajoie is sure to sell for a handsome sum.

Robert Edwards Auctions Fall 2022 Auction

With over 3,400 items the December Robert Edwards Auction is downright huge. There’s something for everyone, especially if you’re a fan of high-grade copies of iconic sports cards.

REA Auction basics

REA items of note

As mentioned above, there are some great high-grade examples of some iconic cards in this auction. How iconic? How about a PSA 7 ’52 Topps Mantle? Or a 1948-49 Leaf Jackie Robinson in the same grade? An SGC 7.5 Ty Cobb T206. A PSA 9 1954 Topps Willie Mays. The list goes on and on.

There’s Ted Williams rookie contract from 1939. There are lots of amazing items from the 1880s. Pre-War. Post-War. Modern. Unopened. There’s something for every taste in this one, and lots of premium items.

Fanatics December 7^th Auction

Fanatics offers a different approach to auctions, with no buyer’s premium. This auction is heavy on modern cards and memorabilia.

Fanatics Auction Basics

Fanatics Items of Note

Despite only 258 items, there’s a lot of variety here. There are jerseys from Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, DJ LeMahieu, Jamin Davis, and more. There’s a 2016 Topps Triple Threads Relic featuring New York Mets, including Nolan Ryan, Rickey Henderson, and Mike Piazza.

There is a Mookie Betts Glove, Tiger Woods cleats, Tom Brady Signed Super Bowl tickets, and so much more. My favorite? I’ll go with 2007 Topps Triple Threads Triple Relic with autographs of Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, Robin Yount & Johnny Bench. That’s some major baseball firepower right there.

Lelands Fall Classic 2022

The Lelands Fall Classic 2022 has a great mix of sports, eras, and item types. This one is a lot of fun to go through, and I highly recommend you give it a scroll.

Lelands Auction basics

Lelands Items of Note

There’s a bit more modern in this auction than some of the other offerings this month, although there are still plenty of vintage and even 19th-century items.

Modern gems include a 2018 Panini National Treasures Football #163 Josh Allen PSA 9 patch card. There’s a 2003-2004 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Basketball LeBron James Autograph in BGS 9. Lots of Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and of course Michael Jordan are to be found here.

In addition to cards, there’s a lot to like here, from jerseys to animation cells, to trophies, to autographs galore. There are even a couple of Super Bowl rings.

Picking a favorite is tough. I’ll go with the complete 9-card set of 1882 H804-11 Circled Position Series Trade Cards. These would be the oldest cards in my collection for sure. How about yours?

Classic Auctions Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction December 2022

As the title suggests, Classic Auctions December 2022 auction has a lot of old-school hockey in it. That may not be for everyone, but if you’re a serious puck head, this is the auction for you.

Classic Auctions Auction basics

Classic Auctions items of note

This auction packs some serious hardware. Stanley Cup Trays, Trophies, and Super Bowl and NBA Championship rings abound. There’s even a Stanley Cup.

There are autographs, equipment both modern and vintage, and goalie stuff.  The cards offered range from the early 1900’s, pre-War, post-War, and modern.

Favorites? I can’t decide between the watch the Boston Red Sox presented to Paul Waner upon his election to the Hall of Fame, or the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee Hockey wax box. That one is loaded with rookie cards, and has one of my favorite hockey card designs.

Heritage Auctions 2022 December 17 Sports Showcase

The Heritage Auctions 2022 December 17 Sports Showcase has a variety of high-end sports items available, across sports and eras. The auction is heavy on baseball, but there are a lot of options across all the major sports.

Heritage Auction Basics

Heritage Items of Note

This auction leads off with a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth that is graded 6 by SGC and could fetch upwards of $50,000. There’s not one, but two Tom Nalen Game Used and Autographed helmets. Another unique football item is the 1994 Jerry Rice NFC Offensive Player of the Week Award – From Game He Became NFL’s All-Time Touchdown Leader.

There’s a lot of good stuff in this auction, from old cards to new from graded to raw. There’s some really nice unopened material, as well. The Unopened case of 1989 Bowman Tiffany sets contain Ken Griffey Jr.’s most valuable rookie card.

There’s a wax case of 1985 Topps baseball, a hobby box of 2011 Topps Update with the iconic Trout rookie card. There’s also a 1976 Topps Basketball wax box. My favorite? There’s a lot to like here, but I’ll go with the 163-card 1947 Tip Top Bread Complete Set. A complete set that age is something to see, for sure.

Goldin Auctions December Goldin Elite Sports

As of this writing, the lot details of the Golden Auctions December Elite Sports auction aren’t available, but the one item we do know about is a big one!

Goldin 2022 Auction basics

Goldin Auctions items of note

While the lot details of the Goldin auction aren’t available at the time of this writing, what is known is the featured item.

That would be Aaron Judge’s 62^nd Home Run ball. Hit on October 4^th, 2022, the home run set the American League and New York Yankees team record. For some fans who like to ignore 25-year periods of history, the ball has even more significance.

The bidding for the item will open at a cool million bucks. It will be fascinating to see where the final price lands when the hammer falls.

Other auctions of note

The Collector Connection has its Post War Sports Cards & Memorabilia auction opening on November 30^th and closing on December 11^th. As of this writing, no details are available.

Sirius Sportscards auction #327 ends on December 1^st. They also have auctions that will end on December 12 and 27. Check their website for more details when they become available.

Heritage Auctions, in addition to their 2022 December 17 Sports Showcase auction, are running weekly Sunday auctions.

These auctions include:

Ends Dec 4^th

Ends Dec 11^th

Ends Dec 18^th 

The final word on December auctions

The December auctions have a lot to offer. Whether you’re shopping for that special collector on your list, or rewarding yourself for avoiding the “naughty list” all year, there’s a lot to chase this month.

Other sports card auctions by month

• February 2023 auctions
• November 2022 auctions
• October 2022 auctions
• September 2022 auctions
• August 2022 auctions
• July 2022 auctions
• June 2022 auctions
• May 2022 auctions