Winning bid for Jack Lambert's false teeth holder reaches nearly $20,000 at auction
The private collector who sold Tom Brady’s rookie card for $2.25 million wasn’t the only winner at an online auction that concluded over the weekend.
Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert had 23 pieces of his memorabilia fetch $193,281 when bidding ended early Saturday at Lelands.com.
Lambert’s items were part of the spring classic 2021 collection that was headlined by the Brady rookie card, which sold for a record amount.
Among the items Lambert put up for auction was the light blue plastic holder that contained his false teeth during practices and games. Interest was high on the final day of bidding as the container sold for $19,914.
The teeth holder had an opening bid of $300, and the total increased to $1,832 entering the final day of bidding. That is when 22 of the 42 bids were made, which sent the price skyrocketing to nearly $20,000.
The most expensive item in the Lambert lot was the game-worn helmet, which the linebacker autographed, from his first Pro Bowl appearance in 1976. What began with a $5,000 opening bid in February escalated to a winning bid of $48,014 when everything was settled in after-hours bidding Saturday morning. Of the 34 bids made on the helmet, 26 came on the final day, sending the price from $9,743 to its final total.
Six of the 23 items auctioned by Lambert fetched at least $10,000. A 1990 Pro Football Hall of Fame signed football topped out at $12,317 after 38 bids. A 1977 Pro Bowl jersey went for $11,297. A game ball from Super Bowl XIV was auctioned for $15,800, and a trophy from Lambert’s inclusion on the Steelers’ 1982 50th anniversary team went for $10,486.
The item that attracted the least interest was a jacket from Lambert’s 1977 USO tour of Asia. It was auctioned for $1,128.
In all, Lambert’s items collected $161,068 in bids. The 20% buyer’s premium that Lelands.com collects for each winning bid increased the total to $193,281. The auction house does not disclose the percentage that sellers receive from items that are placed in auction.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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