Three-time Stanley Cup champion, Howie Morenz, tragically died at just age 34 after suffering a broken leg during a hockey game in 1937. A collection of 1933 Goudey Sports Kings cards were brought to the Just Collect booth at the National Sports Collectors Convention and included a Howie Morenz! Just Collect purchased each of the cards right at our booth during the show.
Howie Morenz suffered a terrible injury during a hockey game and sadly succumb to his injuries. On January 28th, 1937, Morenz and his Montreal Canadians played the Chicago Black Hawks. Morenz and Earl Seibert of the Black Hawks were chasing a pick when Morenz fell into the boards where his left skate was stuck. Seibert landed on top of Morenz, breaking his leg in four places. While in the hospital on March 8th, Morenz suffered blood clots from his broken leg and passed away at just the age of 34.
Morenz was a pheromonal hockey player, making the list of NHL's greatest players of all-time. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Morenz won three Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP award) awards (1928, 1931, and 1932) and won the Stanley Cup three times (1924, 1930, and 1931).
One of the few cards you can find Howie Morenz on from his playing days is from the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings set. When a collector visited our booth at the 2024 National Sports Collectors Convention with several cards from the set, we were very interested in purchasing the collection!
You might be familiar with the 1933 Goudey baseball card set. Very similar to the baseball-only release, Goudey also created a multi-sport set called Sport Kings. Officially called the R333 set, the Sport Kings card measured 2-3/8" x 2-7/8" and totals 48 cards to the set. While baseball legends such Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb are in the set, you'll also find the best from bigger sports like football, basketball, hockey, and boxing, but also skiing, speedboating, and swimming, and more! 1933 Goudey Sport Kings is a true multi-sport release and is filled with history.
In the slide show below, you can see graded examples from the collection right on top of our display cases at the booth. The main card is Howie Morenz, graded PSA 4. According to the population report, only 307 of the Morenz cards have been graded by PSA and just 97 of which have a higher grade than this card. Morenz is between other stars of the collection; Joe Lapchick (Basketball Hall of Fame, 1966) and Anton Lekang (Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, 1977)
Photos of the Sport Kings Collection:
As you can see in the second and third photos of our slide show above, our owner, Leighton, had his attention drawn in quickly! Leighton spoke with the collector, and got right to work on the spot. Your local card shop is generally not well equipped to appraise or purchase vintage collections like this. The retail stores are focused on selling modern products and simply don't have the time or the knowledge to carefully evaluate vintage collections. This is where we are happy to help you! Leighton and our Vice President, John, have 50 years of combined experience appraising and purchasing vintage cards, especially Goudey cards.
After reviewing each card and providing the collector with a FREE appraisal, Leighton made the gentleman a fair off that he accepted. We then paid the collector how he wanted to be paid! When you choose to sell your collection to Just Collect, we can pay you in cash, company check, or wire transfer.
Can't visit the Just Collect booth at a convention? No problem! We have an office in Summit, NJ., and would be happy to invite you here. We're also willing to travel to you for large collections. We also work with collectors to ship their collection with our two-day, full insured FedEx account.
Recently, Just Collect has purchased multiple Goudey collections! High-grade Goudey cards including a few graded PSA 7 were purchased in a collection you can read about HERE. Leighton also discovered and purchased a collection of 800 Goudey cards including 22 Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cards you can read about HERE.
Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.
We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:
We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.
If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.
We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.
If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.
If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.
If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.
We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!
Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.
Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!