About Heritage Auctions - Rare Art Pieces

Chris began working at Heritage Auctions in 2000 after serving as a professional grader with Sportscard Guaranty Corporation (SGC) in New Jersey. He was the driving force behind the inception of the Sports auction division in 2003 and under his management Heritage Sports has grown significantly each year to become the largest sports auction house in the world with over $20,000,000 in annual sales.

Chris has orchestrated the auction of some of the most important athlete collections in the industry including The Lou Gehrig Collection, The Walter Johnson Collection, The Jim Thorpe Collection, The James Naismith Collection, and the Mike Eruzione ‘Miracle on Ice’ Collection.  

In 2012, he supervised the marketing and sale of the most significant baseball card find in the history of sportscard collecting. Known as The Black Swamp Find, it included hundreds of 1910 E98 baseball cards, discovered by a Defiance, Ohio family while cleaning out a relative’s attic. The sale of The Black Swamp Find collection continues today and is on track to bring several million in total sales.

Chris is recognized as a nationally respected expert in the industry with appearances on The Today Show, CNN, ESPN, FOX News, and hundreds of print media outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and The Associated Press.  

Today Chris continues to serve as the Director of Sports Auctions for Heritage. In his position, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations, combining vision and execution with a balance of business and collecting passion. He counsels advanced collectors to help them build some of the most significant private collections in the hobby and he also works with consignors on a daily basis to recommend the disposition of their collections in order to maximize their financial return.

Derek’s professional career in the trading card industry began as an eighteen-year old college freshman with the opening of his first sports card shop in his hometown of Johnstown, PA.  After earning his BA degree from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, he joined Sportscard Guaranty (SGC) in 1998 as a professional grader, later transitioning to lead trading card expert within a major auction house in 2003.  During this time he was instrumental in the assembly of some of the hobby’s foremost trading card collections, and many leading collectors rely on Derek’s expertise and keen eye for quality.  Derek rejoined SGC again as Vice President Director of Grading in 2008, a position he held until accepting his current role as Vice President of Sports Auctions at Heritage.

Lee is a twenty year veteran of the sports card and memorabilia industry.  Lee’s trading card expertise was cultivated through a four year tour as an expert for the Sportscard Guaranty Corporation (SGC), where he served as Senior Grader. Lee joined the Heritage team in June 2007 and now uses his specialized knowledge to maximize financial return for consignors of trading cards to Heritage Auctions.

Rob earned a law degree from Brooklyn Law School before he began his professional career as the Regional Director of Promotion and Marketing for Atlantic Records, working with artists like Hootie and the Blowfish, Matchbox Twenty, Phil Collins and Jewel. He quickly realized, that he enjoyed his hobby in sports collectibles far more than his vocation and retired from the music business to dedicate himself full time to the hobby. Since making this switch, Rob has been involved in some of the most significant transactions in sports collectibles history, buying and selling millions of dollars in value of the hobby’s greatest treasures. He uses his vast hobby knowledge and clientele to further enhance Heritage Sports’ standing as the industry leader.