DENVER, Colo. – Over 1,200 rare and highly collectible sports cards are up for bid in Small Traditions’ 6th annual Winter Premium Auction that went online Sunday, February 18th and ends Saturday, March 3rd. The auction is open for bidding now, at www.smalltraditions.com. The 15-minute rule will be observed on March 3rd. Telephone and absentee bids will be taken. Small Traditions’ seasonal Premium Auctions are typically their strongest online auctions of the year.

Featured will be cards from a collection centered around the Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, dating mostly to his glory days with the Los Angeles Dodgers but also to include cards from his earlier time in Brooklyn. Other star lots include a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie card, graded PSA 7 NM (est. $25,000); and a 1986 Interlake Bulls Michael Jordan rookie card, graded PSA 10 Gem Mint, one of only eight examples of the card ever graded PSA 10 (est. $15,000).

The Koufax cards will include a 1961 Morrell Meats card (Mint 9, Pop 5); a 1963 hand-cut Post Cereal card #121 (Mint 9, Pop 7); a 1963 Topps peel-off with instructions on back (Gem Mint 10, Pop 1); a 1967 Dodgers team postcard (Gem Mint 10, Pop 1); a 1967 Topps “Who Am I?” novelty card #41, so rare that it could end up selling for many thousands of dollars (Mint 9, Pop 1); a 1959 postcard (Mint 9, Pop 2); and a Dodger Stadium postcard with player insets (Pop 1).

Additional highlights include a group of T206 cards and other pre-war rarities, like the hobby's highest graded 1914 Cracker Jack George Stovall and one of the finest 1909 E92 Dockman & Sons Cy Youngs in existence. There's a gorgeous T206 George Browne Washington variation with a Sovereign ad back, also one of the hobby's finest, and a host of high-grade Exhibits, including a PSA 9 Bob Feller from the 1939-46 edition and a PSA 8 Zach Wheat from 1927.

There are attractive options for all levels of collectors. If the above cards are a little too pricey, consider then a PSA 7 of the same Feller and a PSA 4 "Big Train" Walter Johnson from 1927,

or the dozens of important vintage Topps and Bowman cards graded PSA 8 NM-MT to PSA 10 Gem Mint, like the first-ever PSA 10 of Yankee hurler Ralph Terry from the classic '61 Topps set and a perfectly centered 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card that’s graded PSA 8 NM-MT.

For those with a taste for lower grades, there are hundreds of vintage Hall of Famers from all sports in presentable collector grades, from PSA 5 to PSA 7. There are many desirable treasures buried all throughout the catalog, so bidders are encouraged to set aside extra time to thoroughly browse the auction and make their own discoveries. The biggest discovery of all promises to be selections from the auction’s headliner: the Southern California-based Sandy Koufax collection.

The Koufax collection is loaded with regional and oddball issues that appear to have never been touched by human hands. The collection has so far yielded 15 items from the 145-card Sandy Koufax Master Set Registry checklist that are ranked as Pop 1 highest graded copies, the single finest copies in existence. Because of these 15 grading successes, the consignor cleverly decided to nickname his fine horde the Sandy K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Koufax! Collection.

The string of K’s is a reference to Sandy's record-setting 15-K (strikeout) performance in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series against the New York Yankees. Importantly, half of those items are being offered in the current auction; the second installment will be offered in Small Traditions' Spring Premium Auction, another internet-only auction event that’s planned for April. People holding rare cards are invited to have their cards graded at no cost, and consign today for 0%.

Included in the same collection are team sets from the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and others, which likewise yielded Pop 1 highest graded team issue photos and other oddballs featuring Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski and others. If bidding for many of the PSA 10 and PSA 9 highest graded items gets out of reach for some collectors, many of the same cards can be found later throughout the auction but in lower, affordable grades.

If, for example, someone can't or doesn’t want to afford the hobby's highest graded 1967 Topps Pin-Ups Mickey Mantle, they can click the auction's Mickey Mantle link to find a lower-graded copy among the nearly 80 other unique Mantle listings. And if they don't want to mess with the Pop 1 PSA 10 Sandy Koufax 1963 Topps Peel-Offs insert, they can click the auction's Sandy Koufax link to search among nearly 70 other unique Koufax listings for a nice-looking PSA 5.

There really is something for just about every level of collector in Small Traditions’ 6th annual Winter Premium Auction now online. Interested bidders should understand that the majority of cards auctioned by Small Traditions come to the company in raw ungraded form, from collectors or inheritors who turn to the company for assistance with grading and collection management.

Visit the auction today at http://smalltraditions.com/catalog.aspx. Small Traditions is always seeking quality cards for future auctions. To inquire about consigning a single card or an entire collection, call 303-832-1975; or, send an e-mail to info@smalltraditions.com. Learn how you can grade and auction your cards without any cost or obligation. To learn more about Small Traditions and the auction ending Saturday, March 3rd, please visit www.smalltraditions.com.

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