There’s something very unique about the USA-Russia relationship. Depicted in movies, described in history books, illustrated in video games, this is an excellent example of “It’s complicated” status. Probably that’s why a memorabilia sale that revolves around a US sports victory over Russia can result in such a huge success as did the recent Mike Eruzione auction by Heritage Auctions.
The famous captain of the Olympic ice hockey team that won the gold medal in 1980 decided to sell the equipment which helped him attain victory. His jersey, sweat suit, gloves and stick were all sold to dedicated fans in a very successful sale that raised over $1.3 million. The only thing that Eruzione would not give up was his precious gold medal, which he said he intended to keep for as long as he lived. “If something happens to me and my kids/grandkids want to do something with it, hopefully it’s for the right reasons”, he said.
The star of the event was the jersey which the captain wore during the winning game, and for which a very enthusiast bidder splashed an impressive $657,250. The stick that made the winning goal was sold for more than 5 times the presale estimates, totaling $262,900; the gloves took $53,775; the warm-up suit red pants fetched $26,290; and another blue jersey, which the hero wore in the match with Finland, got $286,800.
