About Heritage Auctions - Sports Collectibles

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 $50 million 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, The Mike Eruzione Collection, The Sam Snead Collection, The Stan Musial Collection, and The Brooks Robinson 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 to date has brought over two and a half million in total sales.

Chris is recognized as a nationally respected expert in the industry with appearances on NBC's 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.

A serious collector since the age of 9, Derek turned his passion for sports collectibles into a prominent career. Derek started his trading card profession as an eighteen-year old college freshman with the opening of his first sports card shop in his hometown of Johnstown, PA.  In 1998, he joined Sportscard Guaranty (SGC) as a professional grader, soon becoming their Director of Grading. For over two decades, Derek has been the #1 choice for most of our hobby’s foremost trading card connoisseurs and he continues to advise the nation’s leading buyers.  As Heritage Sport’s Vice-President and our Director of Grading, Derek has been instrumental in bringing numerous important collections to auction - including the Walter Johnson Collection, the Brooks Robinson Collection, the Gary Carter Collection, the Mike Eruzione Collection, the Dave and William Christian Collection, the Herb Brooks Collection and the Sam Snead Collection.

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.

A lifelong collector, Nick grew up in Miami, FL and graduated from Emory University in Atlanta,GA where he double majored in History and Political Science. Fresh upon graduation in May of 2015, Nick joined the Heritage team to fulfill his passion of working in the sports collectibles industry. A vintage card collector by trade, Nick has been heavily involved in both sides of the hobby whether it be memorabilia or cards.

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.