Olympic Memorabilia Auction Opens Thursday

(ATR) A new player enters the Olympic auction arena, hoping to capitalize on interest in rare memorabilia.

RR Auction, based outside Boston, has long been entrenched in the autographs, space and aviation, music and entertainment and science and technology fields, while its "Remarkable Rarities" auctions encompass a variety of areas.

Inspired by the success of a 2014 auction which included several Olympic medals and pins, RR is offering 109 lots in a "Records & Rivals" mail bid sale running Thursday through Jan. 21. The website is www.rrauction.com.

Among the highlights are the gold medal won by Wilbert "Skeeter" McClure for boxing at the 1960 Rome Olympics (estimate of $20,000-$25,000), which comes with a photo showing McClure with Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali. Other high-end items include a 1988 Calgary torch, one of only about 100 examples ($50,000-$60,000), a 1924 Chamonix gold medal ($35,000-$40,000) and the rarest of all participation medals from 1904 St.Louis ($20,000-$25,000).

Bobby Eaton, VP of Auction Operations, tells Around the Rings that RR’s first foray into Olympic memorabilia with the Raleigh DeGeer Amyx collection "smashed the record for prices paid for medals. After that, the Olympic collecting community began contacting RR Auction in hopes that we would hold an exclusive Olympic auction. We were thrilled by the amount of historic Olympic submissions."

RR Auction hopes to join Ingrid O’Neil and Gold Medal in the United States, Ulf Strom in Sweden and Heinrich Winter and Agon in Germany in holding regular dedicated Olympic sales.

Rio Souvenirs Available

Merchandise from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games has begun appearing.

Everything from flip flops to scarves and ties, swimwear, backpacks, jewelry, balls, board games, pins and pens, coins and stamps are being sold to commemorate the Rio Games.

There are 70 licensed companies selling 8,000 products at 40,000 points of sale, with an estimated income of 1 billion reals from the sale of products by 2016, according to the Rio 2016 licensing program.

A limited number of pins are already available on eBay.

Honav is again the official lapel pin manufacturer for the organizing committee after filling the same role in 2008 and 2012. However, according to the official Rio website, about 800 different designs are expected, well below the 2,012 produced for London in 2012.

Of course, NOCs and sponsors will also produce hundreds of designs that will be even more coveted by collectors.

Honav is also the lapel pin licensee for the U.S. Olympic Committee and NBC, and some of their designs have already emerged, with NBC’s flip flop and Carnival pins among the more creative. Sponsor pins from Dow, GE and Ernst & Young are also out.

From Team GB, adidas apparel is available on eBay.

Honav is also producing the plush toys of mascots Vinicius and Tom, with a pair of 35 cm examples selling for $128 on eBay.

Written by Karen Rosen

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