Heritage’s $25.6M fall sale sets records for Mantle cards and a wrestling belt

Heritage Auctions’ Fall Sports Catalog Auction brought in $25.6 million. A restored T206 Honus Wagner sold for $1,982,500, several high-grade Mickey Mantle cards set price records, and a WWE title belt sold for a record $716,750.

The three-part sale wrapped up last weekend. Sports Collectors Daily and Sports Collectors Digest published results through Oct. 28. Several of the records came from mid-grade vintage, not the hobby’s usual trophy cards: PSA 9 Mantles from 1960 and 1963 sold for several times their previous highs.

The Wagner

The Wagner is a Sweet Caporal 150/25 back, graded PSA Authentic with a restoration designation for added color and trimmed borders. It has now sold three times since September 2023, Sports Collectors Daily reported: $1,968,000 that month, $1.98 million in April of last year, and $1,982,500 this time. Sports Collectors Digest called it a record for a restored Wagner.

The Mantle and Mays records

• 1960 Topps #350 Mantle, PSA 9 MBA Gold: $329,400. That is more than five times the previous record of $64,102.80 from 2022, per Sports Collectors Daily.
• 1963 Topps #200 Mantle, PSA 9: $317,200, more than triple the prior high of $90,000 from 2022.
• 1958 Topps Mantle, PSA 9: $189,100, more than double the previous record.
• 1952 Topps #261 Willie Mays, PSA 8 MBA Gold: $292,800, topping the $258,000 mark from 2021.

The Jordan run

Michael Jordan cards made up a big share of the top lots. A 1997 SP Authentic “Sign of the Times” autograph graded PSA 7 brought $414,800. Five 1998 Upper Deck Jordan game jersey autograph cards totaled $854,000. The top one was a PSA 9 numbered 13/23 at $189,100. A 2003 SP Game Used Jordan/Kobe Bryant dual autograph patch, numbered 4/5, sold for $213,500. A 1980 Topps Bird/Erving/Johnson in SGC 10 MBA Gold went for $329,400.

An Angels batting helmet that Shohei Ohtani wore for 37 homers in his 2021 MVP season, photo-matched, sold for $244,000.

Macho Man’s belt sets a wrestling record

Outside cards, the 1985–88 WWE Intercontinental Championship “Red Letter” belt sold for $716,750, Sports Collectors Digest reported. Tito Santana, Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat and The Honky Tonk Man all wore it. The price is a record for a championship wrestling belt. It beat the $414,800 that Hulk Hogan’s WrestleMania II belt brought at Heritage earlier this year. The buyer was wrestling podcaster and memorabilia collector Conrad Thompson, according to SCD.

A Stone Cold Steve Austin match-worn, signed knee brace from around 1999 also sold for $225,700.

Why it matters

When PSA 9 Mantles from the 1960s triple or quintuple their old records, high-grade vintage is still pulling in serious money, even with modern 1-of-1s getting most of the headlines. The wrestling results also back up a 2026 trend. Heritage has now set three big wrestling marks this year, including $1,037,000 for Hogan’s WrestleMania I boots in February. Pro wrestling memorabilia looks like a growing category at major auction houses.

That’s our read of one auction’s results, not a market index. Records set by a single sale can be one-off bidding wars.

By the numbers

• $25.6 million: total Fall Sports Catalog Auction sales
• $1,982,500: restored T206 Wagner
• $716,750: Intercontinental title belt, a wrestling-belt record
• 5x+: the 1960 Topps Mantle PSA 9 price compared with its old record
• $854,000: combined total for five 1998 UD Jordan jersey autos

Sources: Sports Collectors Daily (Oct. 25, updated Oct. 28, 2026); Sports Collectors Digest (Oct. 28, 2026)

Featured image: Photo: Heritage Auctions.jpg by Deidre, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons