Is it worth buying the 3 book Sotheby's catalogue for the Barry Halper collection.

Absolutely. You wont regret buying it.

What version should i buy, the one by Sotheby's or the other by Peter Golenbock and Yogit Becca.

I have the Sotheby's edition. Never looked at the other you mentioneded.

The Sotheby's 3-books catalog is definitely a good purchase. Just consider that the auction included everything from the T206 Honus Wagner proof strip to Jim Thorpe & Buck Ewing game used jerseys to Ty Cobb's false teeth.

Sotheby's ranked Halper's collection as one of the finest and most extensive personal collections in American history, and they weren't comparing it to just sports collections but also collections of art, jewelry, historical artifacts, etc.

People may forget that there were another 5000 lots offered over the internet- it was in fact Sotheby's very first internet auction- but all those lots, and the information they held, are long gone into cyberspace.

Brock, Sure they're definitely a must have for your library...actually a cornerstone reference I suppose...of course it depends on what you have to pay...I can't recall what I gave for my set it's been so long. I got mine from an art catalog dealer at the Long Beach CA flea maybe 10 years ago...I seem to recall it was about $80.00, and I was surprised I had to pay that much....it was one of those days I couldn't find anything to buy and had the money.

Please elaborate on this set by "Peter Golenbock and Yogit Becca"...I've never heard of them...I just know of the original Sotheby's set. -Carlton

Yogit Becca sounds an awful lot like Yogi Berra.

The Halper catalogue was published in huge numbers, and was available in bookstores for $19 for quite a while.

It is available on-line at Amazon still, starting at $15.

http://www.amazon.com/Barry-Halper-Collection-Baseball-Memorabilia/dp/0810967049/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240685213&sr=8-3

Max

I don't believe that any of the sources that sell the catalog today include the prices realized. That's a pretty important part of the package.

I decided to pick one up(Sotheby version). Thanks for all the help

I think the prices realised are on line on the Sotheby's wbsite....I think you have to register or jump thru some hoop or something...and then I seem to recall it took some digging to get to them...if I'm not mistaken on all this...and yes the prices realized are definetly all important
-Carlton

I have read through the Halper auction catalog's a million times and one question keeps coming to my mind. How did Barry Halper display and keep all of these items? His collection is absolutely incredible and very extensive. But, I have to wonder how somebody could have all of these items. There are thousands and thousands of incredible rarities in his collection. I have a hard enough time trying to display the few pieces I have!

Jeff

I believe his collection was kept in his house.

I know i read this somewhere, but how did he get all the pre-war jerseys like Mathewson,Anson,Kelly,Tinker,Evers,Chance, Gehrig and Joe Jackson. Man only if i was super rich.

Also i was just reading a article about the sale and it says Dave Bushing when he worked for Upper Deck bought the Ty cobb and Lou Gehrig game worn jersey for a upcoming promotion by Upper Deck. Please tell me they did not cut these jersey's into little pieces.

The UD jerseys weren't cut up but give away whole as prizes.

Halper was an avid collector before a lot of the stuff was worth much. He purchased a lot of the jerseys long before game used collecting was a big thing-- so he was a man ahead of his time. As a minority Yankees owner he know many players, like Mantle, DiMaggio, Brett and Rose. Many of the jerseys and bats were given as gifts to him by the players as they knew Barry and knew he was an avid collector.

I would die if i recieved one of those jersey's as a prize.

Barry Halper got closer to Joe DiMaggio than almost anyone ever had. He basically ran Joe's life for a long time...where Joe went, Barry went.

Until Morris Engleberg put a stop to it.

So Jodi whats the story behind that person?

Jeff

Engelberg was DiMaggio's lawyer, handled his finances, estate and ran Yankee Clipper Enterprises.

Prices realized list:
http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotResultsDetailList.jsp?event_id=20823&sale_number=NY7354

It's a shame that Engleberg got in the way. Above all, Halper was a true fan of the game, and especially the Yankees. He was obviously independently wealthy and had no interest in abusing the relationship as Engleberg alluded to in his DiMag memoir. Joe was not the sharpest tool in the shed, and the uber-private demeanor that he was so famous for was, in reality, just a way for him to make it through life without being taken too much advantage of. Unfortunately, his facade was not enough to get him through to the end. By the 1980's, Joe's fortune had dwindled down to a paltry $300,000 or thereabouts. To Engleberg's defense, he certainly played a part in getting Joe back on solid financial ground. How much of the new earnings he took for himself, however, nobody knows. After reading Engleberg's book, in which he feebly attempted to whitewash his relationship with DiMaggio, I was left utterly disgusted. You would figure that somebody who was educated in making others believe your statements would be a lot more convincing. Instead, the opposite shone through.

As far as Halper is concerned, I can say that the few letters we exchanged were very positive. Twenty years ago, I wrote him requesting opinions on certain pieces of Yankee memorabilia I then owned. With zero condescension, he kindly replied each time in short order and was very encouraging. It seems to me that Halper really did look upon every collector equally, no matter what their collection consisted of. He never lost the passion that first inspired him as a youngster, and was the first in line to share experiences and encourage younger collectors.

For Jeff W and anyone else interested, there was a fairly lengthy, fairly competent article about Halper and his collection in the April 1987 issue of Smithsonian, which should be accessible through most of your better libraries. The piece features several photos of the museum-quality display areas in, as David stated, Halper's home. Also, again as David pointed out and as described in the Smithsonian article, Halper began collecting memorabilia as a kid in the early '50s, so he did have a good head start on most of us.

Baseball Games
http://baseballgames.dreamhosters.com/

There is also this 49 minute video tour hosted by Billy Martin through the collection. It, along with the Smithsonian article, do a nice job of showing how he displayed. It's amazing. I found it in a junk shop for $1.00.
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I wrote a story for our paper leading up to Sotheby's auction and interviewed Barry over the phone. I remember contacting Sotheby's in hopes of talking to him, and the woman I spoke to didn't sound very optimistic. But the next day he called at about 6 p.m. and said he had only about 10 minutes to talk. After I crammed as many questions as I could into that amount of time, he mentioned again that he had an appointment and we'd have to wrap it up. I thanked him and mentioned that as a collector, I was looking forward to the upcoming auction.

"Oh, what do you collect?" he asked.

I told him (quite hesitantly, I might add, because this was, after all, Barry Halper), and he proceeded to ask a number of questions -- what was my favorite item, how did I acquire certain pieces, how long had I been collecting, etc. We ended up talking for 20 more minutes, before he said, "Oh, now I'm really going to be late. Thanks for telling me about your collection."

That was my only contact with Barry Halper, but in that half-hour, I became quite a fan.

Do you think Sothebys still have the digital images of all lots in that auction? If so, I would gladly pay $50 for a DVD as long as it included all the lots not in the catalog.

Mike,
Thanks for showing that video. They make it for DVD now. So i think i'll pick it up.

Halper more than anyone made Joe realize that he was marketable in the baseball collecting world...he got him hooked up with Score and then Pinnacle got involved...I don't recall the specifics or how Engelberg was involved, but it ended ugly.

Barry had a large house for displaying the items. I thought the best idea he had was to install the rotating hangars that housed his uniforms. Just think of going into a cleaners and the owner pushing a button until your cleaned suit arrived.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

The online auction was held through sothebys.amazon.com
I won about $20,000 worth of stuff in that auction.

Going through Sotheby's online i can't believe how many total jersey's he owned. Back in 1999 were these considered high prices for some of the stuff. I think with alot of the items i seen would sell for alot more in todays market. Like i noticed Bob Muesel's 1927 yankee home jersey only sold for $12,000.

Prices were considered very high at the time.

It was such a major event at the time. Not only was the internet auction the first ever for Sotheby's, but in the years preceding the sale there were major renovations done to their building on York Avenue, including the addition of several new floors. The Halper Sale was the first in these new digs.

The Copeland and Halper sales will be difficult to match.

There was a sale a few years back and I can't recall the fella's name, but I think Mastro dubbed the auction "A Southern Gentleman's Collection"...that was an outstanding offering. I also recall when Don Steinbach's collection was auctioned off...that one had some unbelievable lots in it. Near set or whole set (?) of T208's!!!!

Thanks for posting the Auction results for the Barry Halper Collection. Did anyone save any of the pictures from the auctions ? I'd love to see some of the game used jerseys, caps, gloves, balls etc from the 1880's to the early 1900's !!

Dan- that was Jim Montgomery. He was very active for a few years and then quickly lost interest.

Thanks Barry. That's still one of my favorite old auction catalogs to peruse.

There was some really nice material in that collection. While I generally don't keep all my old auction catalogs, I did save that one.

I ended up with the Montgomery Peck and Snyder. It's still in my top tier of favorite cards. And is probably the highest graded one in existence though I am sure there are probably a few that are ungraded that are better conditioned....

the sotheby's catalogs are simply amazing, i look thru them often...

i also have that old VHS video, it's great! tons of awesome stories of how he acquired many pieces...as someone mentioned above, he was collecting back when not too many people were, and didn't pay much (if at all for things)...he did a lot of trades, and got many pieces as gifts from players.

Anyone got a link to the DVD, no VCR here anymore.

James G

Looking for 1915 Cracker Jacks and 1909-11 American Caramel E90-1.

Barry told a story that when he was a kid he was waiting outside a ballpark (likely Yankee Stadium) and an old ballplayer got out of a cab. Barry recognized him and asked for his autograph.

It was Cy Young.

Barry- didn't he go on to say that Cy dropped his pipe and it broke?...Barry asked him to sign the pipe for him! and he did...

Cy was NOT happy with Barry asking him to sign the pipe! Young also told him that he should get the autograph of the guy standing beside him. It turned out to be early pinch hitting specialist Moose McCormick. Barry then went on to acquire everybody with the nickname "Moose" on the same ball, making for one of the earliest theme balls I have ever heard of.

Michael- never heard the story about the pipe.

Don't forget that Moose McCormick took from his pocket an ink stamp pad and a moose head rubber stamp,
and stamped the ball after he signed it!

I always did like that ball, probably because of the fact that, outside of HOF balls, it is really one of the first theme-type items.

McCormick sometimes used that stamp on 3X5s as well. I find it odd that he actually carried it with him on this occasion.