Extremely rare lures, many of them boxed, included one of eight legendary frogs hand-carved in 1898 by James Heddon and displayed at Heddon factory, plus many other seldom-seen examples
DENVER, Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The water was fine and the bidders were biting at Morphy’s December 9 auction of the Wayne Edens collection of antique and vintage fishing lures, Part I, which tallied more than $900,000. The 622-lot sale was singularly focused on treasures from the Edens collection, the largest, most comprehensive and historically-important collection of its type ever to come to the public marketplace.
As predicted, the top lot of the day was an all-original Heddon frog lure (or “bait”) personally crafted by James Heddon, founder of the Heddon Company. One of eight created and subsequently exhibited on a display board at the Heddon plant in Dowagiac, Michigan, the frog was formerly the property of Dudley Murphy (1940-2022), co-founder of the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club. Murphy had obtained the lure directly from the Heddon factory. In addition to its unbroken line of provenance, Edens’ frog lure was definitively photo-matched to one of the original eight “board” examples. It made its first-ever auction appearance on December 9 at Morphy’s and sold within estimate for $30,750.
An extremely rare Heddon special order 1309 Black Sucker in a five-hook configuration dazzled with its spectacular white saltwater color, glitter finish and solid amber-glass eyes. Graded Excellent Minus to Excellent, it reeled in a winning bid of $22,200.
A Heddon 707 Dowagiac Musky Minnow bait with a sienna crackleback finish was of a type first marketed in 1909. Sturdy and sizable at 5-3/8 inches long, it was one of the finest of those few known to have survived. Accompanied by its oversize introductory box, it reached $20,910.
Among other exotic Heddon lures that met with success on auction day was an 8-inch 7602 Musky Vamp produced around 1925. With red eyes and tail, a shiny finish and perfect glass eyes, it was graded Excellent and came with its Excellent original box. It sold for $9,840 against an estimate of $4,500–$6,500. An Introductory 3-bellyweight 150 Dowagiac Minnow in early olive-green Fancy Back crackle-paint finish, with egg-yolk glass eyes, represented the earliest of all Heddon Underwater Minnows from the 1904 season. It correctly matched its thicker Type II intro wood box with a slider top, and glided to $7,680 against an estimate of $2,000–$4,000. Also, a Heddon 309V Dowagiac Surface Minnow in the desirable special-order motif of glossy orange paint with black spots, L-rigged on its belly with marked pointed props and perfect glass eyes, surpassed its high estimate to realize $5,280.
Beautiful and sought after, an oversize Shakespeare No. 64 five-hook Red Musky (Muscallonge) Trolling Minnow bait with a high forehead design that definitively dated it to circa 1906-7 came with an elusive circa-1908 pictorial box. It landed at $27,600.
Another fabulous lure was a Shakespeare No. 1611 Wooden Minnow with five hooks, a red back and white belly; thin, hand-painted gills, and perfect glass eyes. Dating to circa 1907-09, it retained its correct and equally-rare white-label pictorial box and scored a winning bid of $19,680.
Made by A.F. Bingenheimer, Milwaukee (established 1904-05), a gold-painted Bing’s Nemahbin Minnow was complete with its incredibly rare pictorial box. Cataloged with a $5,000–$15,000 estimate, it swam to even friendlier waters, settling at $18,000.
A Jan Cummings Fairform Bait Works set consisting of four diminutive handmade Savage Shrimp, each displaying a different, exceptionally beautiful color, was a popular entry. Each bait was new in its individual paper-labeled box, along with a larger dealer case to accommodate the quartet. Against a $3,000–$6,000 estimate, the appealing little fly rod baits achieved $14,145.
Parts II and III of the Wayne & Lori Edens fishing lure collection will be auctioned at Morphy’s later this year. To discuss consigning antique or vintage fishing or sports-related antiques of any type to a future Morphy’s auction, call Dan Morphy at 877-968-8880; email [email protected]. All enquiries are kept strictly confidential and there is never an obligation to consign. Online: https://www.morphyauctions.com.
Media Contact:
Dan Morphy
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SOURCE Morphy Auctions
