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BigAppleJak
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- Aug 8, 2008
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Well, sort of the news, its the New York Post!
http://nypost.com/2016/02/18/prized-roberto-clemente-baseball-cards-center-of-legal-battle/
A half-million-dollar Roberto Clemente baseball-card collection is at the center of a legal slugfest between two local auction houses.
Leland’s Collectibles of Long Island lost the first inning Thursday, when a Manhattan judge sided with rival Heritage Auctions of Manhattan and refused to stop a Feb. 20 sale of six out of 14 cards in the trove, including a mint-condition 1955 Topps rookie card.
“The collection is unbelievable,” boasted Heritage lawyer Thomas Battistoni in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“There are very heavy hitters that are going to be betting on this card,” he said.
Justice Saliann Scarpulla agreed.
“These items are unique. This is a huge auction, and these pieces are part of the centerpiece of it,” she said.
Modal Trigger
Roberto Clemente in March 1968Photo: APLeland says the collection’s owner, Ohio hobbyist Brian Slusser, signed an agreement with the company to let it peddle the memorabilia, thus landing a hefty commission.
Then it learned that Heritage was advertising the auction of the collection’s Topps cards as part of a larger haul up for grabs Saturday.
The “Platinum Night Sports Auction” also includes former Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer’s championship ring from Super Bowl I.
“I am not stopping the auction for these six cards,” Scarpulla ruled, joking that her father was “the most rabid Mets fan in the history of the world.”
But she did call a time-out on an upcoming spring sale of the remainder of Slusser’s collection.
She ordered Slusser to appear at an April 1 hearing to testify about the dispute.
The lawsuit hinges on a handwritten, 2008 agreement where Slusser promised to sell his world-renowned Clemente card collection through Leland’s after Leland’s purchased his Clemente game bat, game glove and signed baseball for $200,000. Leland’s says it paid Slusser an additional $25,000 for the cards.
Then the Bohemia, NY, collectible company learned last month of Heritage’s upcoming auction. The Clemente 1955 rookie card alone is expected to fetch a $300,000 bid from the sale that wraps Sunday.
Leland’s says the auction violates the 2008 contract.
“I have not heard anyone deny that Mr. Slusser signed this. What they’re really saying is that, you know, Judge, he got an extra $25,000 out of Leland’s, and then he hoodwinked them. He realized years later that Heritage is the bigger guy and admittedly we’re the little guy,” said William Fried, Leland’s lawyer.
Leland is suing over lost commissions plus damage to its reputation.
Clemente, a Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, died in a plane crash while delivering goods to earthquake victims in 1972. He won the MVP award after hitting .414 in the 1971 World Series, took home 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush.
Slusser’s collection includes at least 20, top-graded cards from 1963, 1969, 1971 and 1973.
http://nypost.com/2016/02/18/prized-roberto-clemente-baseball-cards-center-of-legal-battle/
A half-million-dollar Roberto Clemente baseball-card collection is at the center of a legal slugfest between two local auction houses.
Leland’s Collectibles of Long Island lost the first inning Thursday, when a Manhattan judge sided with rival Heritage Auctions of Manhattan and refused to stop a Feb. 20 sale of six out of 14 cards in the trove, including a mint-condition 1955 Topps rookie card.
“The collection is unbelievable,” boasted Heritage lawyer Thomas Battistoni in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“There are very heavy hitters that are going to be betting on this card,” he said.
Justice Saliann Scarpulla agreed.
“These items are unique. This is a huge auction, and these pieces are part of the centerpiece of it,” she said.
Modal Trigger
Then it learned that Heritage was advertising the auction of the collection’s Topps cards as part of a larger haul up for grabs Saturday.
The “Platinum Night Sports Auction” also includes former Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer’s championship ring from Super Bowl I.
“I am not stopping the auction for these six cards,” Scarpulla ruled, joking that her father was “the most rabid Mets fan in the history of the world.”
But she did call a time-out on an upcoming spring sale of the remainder of Slusser’s collection.
She ordered Slusser to appear at an April 1 hearing to testify about the dispute.
The lawsuit hinges on a handwritten, 2008 agreement where Slusser promised to sell his world-renowned Clemente card collection through Leland’s after Leland’s purchased his Clemente game bat, game glove and signed baseball for $200,000. Leland’s says it paid Slusser an additional $25,000 for the cards.
Then the Bohemia, NY, collectible company learned last month of Heritage’s upcoming auction. The Clemente 1955 rookie card alone is expected to fetch a $300,000 bid from the sale that wraps Sunday.
Leland’s says the auction violates the 2008 contract.
“I have not heard anyone deny that Mr. Slusser signed this. What they’re really saying is that, you know, Judge, he got an extra $25,000 out of Leland’s, and then he hoodwinked them. He realized years later that Heritage is the bigger guy and admittedly we’re the little guy,” said William Fried, Leland’s lawyer.
Leland is suing over lost commissions plus damage to its reputation.
Clemente, a Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, died in a plane crash while delivering goods to earthquake victims in 1972. He won the MVP award after hitting .414 in the 1971 World Series, took home 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush.
Slusser’s collection includes at least 20, top-graded cards from 1963, 1969, 1971 and 1973.
