DALLAS — Two rare baseball cards topped the $500,000 plateau to lead Heritage Auctions’ Winter Sports Card Catalog Auction January 27-28. A 1914 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb #30 graded NM-MT8 by PSA prompted 36 bids before finishing at $516,000, and a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Rookie #253 with the same PSA grade sparked 39 bids before ending at $504,000. The Cobb card is from a set produced in 1914 by Cracker Jack, a set acknowledged to be among the most beautiful and identifiable baseball cards ever made, and more than a century after their debut, among the rarest. No less an authority than the Society for American Baseball Research once noted that they are “the most impressive baseball cards issued during the Deadball Era,” even when considering the 1909-11 tobacco cards that continue to make a household name of a long-gone legend such as Honus Wagner. Though Cobb’s staggering career hits tally of 4,191 was eventually eclipsed, his ultimate batting record remains his .366 career batting average.

The 1951 Mantle rookie card — there are but ten finer examples — celebrates the first season of the legendary Yankee outfielder. His 1952 Topps card often is celebrated as his rookie card, underscoring a something of a friendly rivalry between Bowman and Topps. This Bowman format sets the emerging legend against an idyllic, cloud-dappled background, evoking memories of the T3 Turkey Red issue that likewise holds favor as one of the hobby’s true masterpieces of the prewar era.

For additional information, www.ha.com.