HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Oct. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — A widow in Huntington Beach, California recently learned that the old football jerseys stored untouched in plastic bins since her husband died 20 years ago now are worth at least a half-million dollars. Sports memorabilia experts at Heritage Auctions (www.HA.com) in Dallas, Texas describe it as one of the most significant collections of college and professional Hall of Fame players' jerseys ever reported.
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"The collection includes collegiate game-worn jerseys from Heisman winners Barry Sanders, Billy Simms, Bo Jackson and Herschel Walker, and NFL game-worn jerseys from Joe Namath, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Walter Payton," said Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Collectibles at Heritage.
The jerseys are being offered in two major sports collectibles auctions conducted by Heritage, and online bidding already is underway for the first auction.
When John Kindler of Huntington Beach began collecting jerseys worn in games by Heisman Trophy winners and professional football players in the 1960s they didn't have much financial value.
After he died in 1994, his widow, Carol, and their son, Ian, who now lives in Dallas, left the jerseys sealed in Tupperware® bins in their Huntington Beach home for 18 years and for the past two years unsuspectingly stored in the garage. They did not know their value had dramatically soared the past two decades.
A recent evaluation by sports collectibles experts at Heritage Auctions estimated that the 250 historic jerseys of collegiate and professional Hall of Fame players are expected to sell for a combined total of $500,000 or more.
Online bidding now is underway for the first group of jerseys being sold and ends with a major sports collectibles auction conducted by Heritage in Dallas and online, November 6 – 8, 2014.
"It's safe to say this is the most significant collection of its kind we've ever seen," said Ivy. "It's been 20 years since John Kindler left his family one of the most significant personal collections of game-worn football jerseys ever assembled, and it took that long for the Kindlers to come to terms with the notion of parting with it."
"John Kindler was a pioneer in collecting game-used sports jerseys. Team equipment managers were often confused at his requests to obtain what they thought were merely dirty, old shirts," explained Ivy.
Kindler's widow, Carol, said: "The collection was John's passion. He never anticipated selling it. He just wanted to collect memorabilia of what he considered the finest athletes in the sports he loved, mainly football and UCLA basketball."
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world's third largest, with annual sales of more than $900 million, and 850,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, visit www.HA.com.
News media contact:
Noah Fleisher, (214) 409-1143