Metz Superlatives merges with Morphy Auctions
Published April 20th, 2006
Press Release
One of the country’s most respected auctioneers of antique advertising, Gary Metz, and Diamond International Galleries Inc., have jointly announced the merger of Metz Superlatives Auction and Diamond’s Pennsylvania-based Morphy Auctions Inc. Metz’s April 22 auction will be the last one produced under the Superlatives banner, and the full effect of the newly unified operation will be seen initially in Morphy’s Aug. 31, Sept. 1-2 Fall auction.
“It is an honor that he would want to join up with us,” said Morphy’s co-founder and chief operating officer, Dan Morphy. “He and his wife, Mary Pat, bring a fantastic reputation to our company. They’re particular about condition and particular about the people they deal with. I have known Gary since my younger years, and nobody in the business is better at grading the condition or accurately describing material, whether it is soda pop items – a specialty for which Superlatives is known – or antique advertising in general. If Gary grades a piece at 9 out of 10, that’s most other people’s idea of mint condition.”
The Metzes will remain in their long-time city of residence, Roanoke, but Gary will be traveling to Morphy’s gallery in Denver (Adamstown) Pa., on a frequent basis. “He’ll be doing the catalog descriptions and condition reports for the majority of our advertising antiques, and he’ll be playing a major role in securing collections – he knows where the great collections are and has many customers who buy only from him … I also look forward to doing shows with Gary and Mary Pat. We conduct many aspects of business the same way and share the same ethics.”
Gary said his reason for approaching Steve Geppi’s Diamond International Galleries and Morphy Auctions’ co-founder Dan Morphy was his desire to “take (his) production to a higher level … I’ve known Dan for 6 or 7 years, personally, and have always respected him and admired how he built his auction business and formed his alliance with Steve Geppi’s company. I thought that, with the rapidly changing technology and parameters governing such things as graphic design, brochure and catalog layout, and Internet bidding, that we needed to join forces with a firm that was already doing a good job of that and was run by someone I knew and trusted. Dan was the first and only person that came to mind.”
Metz Superlatives evolved from Muddy River Trading Co., whose name change took effect in 2001, when Gary and Mary Pat ventured into Internet auctions through their Web site. “After four (Internet auctions), we returned to a live-venue format,” Gary said. “In total, our live auctions have grossed over $15 million, which is a record for an auction company that specializes in, but is not limited to, Coca-Cola and soda-pop advertising.”
Gary believes that joining forces with Morphy’s – a formidable player on the antique toy, Americana and antique advertising scene – will “increase the clout of (our) firm. “Operating under the Diamond/Morphy name will make consignors who were not comfortable with the scale of our two-person operation much more comfortable.”
The merger comes at an opportune time, Morphy said. “We just had our largest sale ever ($2.8 million), and we’ve just broken ground to double the size of our gallery – we’re adding another 9,500 square ft. Also, we’ve hired another graphic designer and another photographer, and will soon be hiring another shipper and a receptionist. The phones never stop ringing.”
Contact: (717) 335-3435, www.morphyauctions.com.
