The Just Collect Blog

A Star-Studded Collection of Graded Cards Comes to Just Collect

Written by Monte Jennings | Mar 13, 2021 11:27:37 PM

Record sales prices for rookie cards of Tom Brady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and even Hulk Hogan have been the talk of the hobby lately.  We're turning that hobby heat up a notch today with a new collection stuffed with graded gems including those headliners and more!  Take a look at the graded beauties we just purchased from a collector...some will be sold privately, through Vintage Breaks and some Leighton (our owner) will hold for his personal collection.

Sale prices for sports cards are setting new records what seems like every day.  Just this week a Kobe Bryant rookie card sold for 1.8 million dollars and juuuust cracked the top-10 of most valuable cards!  With values where they are, collectors like yourself are eager to cash in and sell your rookies of not only Kobe, but of stars like LeBron, Brady, Jordan, and even wrestling cards like the Hulkster.  When you're ready to sell, we're here to buy!  At  we specialize in buying vintage cards, autographs, and collections. We also offer a In fact, we just purchased a collection with some of the hottest cards on the market.  Check out the incredible cards a collector named Josh from Queens sold us last week and let us walk you through how easy the buying process can be. 

 

THE COLLECTION

Josh got into the market at the perfect time, amassing his cards about five to seven years ago before the current, white hot market we're in.  Not only was the collector savvy enough to pick up the right cards at the right time, he also knew to get each card professionally graded before the grading companies both raises prices and had long turnaround times.  Every card we purchased was graded and inside the slabs are STUDS. 

THE BIG FOUR:

 

2000 Bowman Chrome Tom Brady rookie BGS 9.5

Fresh off his seventh Super Bowl championship, TB12's cards have been on that list of record-breaking sales and we're thrilled to bring this BGS 9.5 into Just Collect. All four subgrades on the card received a 9.5, making this card GEM MINT. 

1996 Topps Finest Kobe Bryant rookie PSA 10

This Kobe rookie isn't the refractor version but even base Finest rookies are very desirable in this PSA 10 grade; fewer than 900 copies (896) received a PSA 10 grade!  The 2020 NBA Hall of Fame enshrinement was delayed to May of this year due to Covid-19, and Kobe was the headliner of the '20 class.  Adding a perfect 10 Finest rookie before the induction of Mamba into the HOF is a deal we couldn't pass up.

2003 Ultra LeBron James rookie PSA 10

 

 

While this card isn't the top product like Topps or Topps Chrome, PSA has only given a grade of 10 to only 26 2003 Ultra LeBron rookie cards!  For comparison, the Topps rookie has 1,876 card graded 10 by PSA!  

1985 Topps WWF Hulk Hogan rookie PSA 9

 

Hulker's rookie card has been as hot, if not HOTTER, than any other card in the industry.  Six months ago we wrote a story that you can read here about the values of vintage wrestling cards, and this card graded PSA 9 was selling for $450.  The cheapest copy on eBay today is $2,950, BROTHER!

 

THE BEST OF THE REST:

It's hard to label the rest of the cards in this collection "second fiddle" as there is nothing but stars and Hall of Famers galore!  Look at what else came along with THE BIG FOUR:

  • 112 total cards
  • 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle MVP PSA 7
  • 1985 Topps Mark McGwire rookie PSA 9
  • 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr rookie BGS 9
  • 1993 Bowman Derek Jeter rookie PSA 9
  • 2014 Bowman Chrome Mookie Betts rookie PSA 10
  • 2018 Topps Heritage Ronald Acuna rookie PSA 10
  • 1984 Topps John Elway rookie BGS 8
  • 1998 Bowman Chrome Peyton Manning rookie BGS 9.5
  • 2001 Topps Finest Drew Brees rookie PSA 9
  • 2005 Topps Aaron Rodgers rookie BGS 9.5
  • 1974 Topps Bill Walton rookie PSA 8
  • 1986 Fleer sticker Michael Jordan rookie BGS 8
  • 1988 Fleer Dennis Rodman rookie PSA 9
  • 1997 Topps Chrome Tim Duncan rookie PSA 9
  • 2007 Upper Deck Kevin Durant rookie BGS 9.5
  • 2009 Upper Deck Steph Curry rookie BGS 9.5
  • 1938 Churchman Joe Louis PSA 7
  • 1956 Adventure Jack Johnson PSA 7
  • + MORE!

 

 

There are even some sweet non-sport cards in the collection.  Look these 1966 Green Hornet cards with Bruce Lee as Kato!

 

VIDEO OF THE FULL COLLECTION

Photos don't do this collection justice so checkout the VIDEO:

 

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

As you can see, this collection contains a great mix! 

  • Sports and non-sports
  • Vintage and Modern
  • PSA, SGC, and BGS grading (click the links and check our their services)

Just Collect doesn't strictly buy vintage or one sport, or even any sport; we're interested in a variety of items!  We'll give you an inside scoop on how we purchased this collection so when it comes time to sell your cards, we'd be glad to speak with you.  Don't worry, we won't speak in the third person when you reach out; Just Collect only does this on blogs.

This collection reminds us a great deal of a collection we purchased in 2019:  about 150 graded cards with a great variety of years and players.  Read the A Little Bit of Everything Collection with graded cards from 1909 to 1973 here.

BUYING THE COLLECTION

1. APRASIAL

Josh found Just Collect on our APPRAISAL page.  We offer FREE appraisals on our site where we receive dozens of inquiries every day.  Some questions come from card owners that may have inherited a collection and know very little about the items - we're glad to help.  However Josh knew EXACTLY what he owned and that made this particular deal easy.  

2. OFFER

We're not afraid to tell you in this blog that we made the customer an offer of 70 to 80 % of the retail value of the collection.  Every collection is different; no offer will be the same.  For this particular collection, the customer was quite happy with our initial offer.  You're saying to yourself "Just sell on eBay or at an auction house; you'll receive 100 % of the value."  This is NOT the case. Josh is very aware of eBay and wisely chose not to sell there based on this collection.  

3. WHY NOT EBAY?

  • Final value fees are 12.35 % of the total sale up to $7,500 and then 2.35% of the portion of the sale over $7,500.
  • Optional promotion fees.  Usually this fee is around 5%.  
  • TIME. A variety-filled collection like this best sells on eBay as single cards; it would take a lot of time and effort to manage and ship all cards.  This collector simply wanted a one-lump sum.
  • Payout; eBay has updated their payout schedule.  Sometimes you just don't want to wait for your money.

Now imagine other possible fees such as PayPal goods and services.  Selling a collection to Just Collect is just easier, cheaper, and faster.

4. MEETING TO COMPLETE THE DEAL

Safety is a MUST for us all. Before the Pandemic, we had no issue of hopping on a plane, train, automobile, or any other way Steve Martin and John Candy could travel to come see your collection.  We're still able to make a make a deal with you possible in two ways:

A. SHIP your collection to us.  If you schedule an appraisal with us and you choose to mail your cards, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards,  we will ship them back shipping fees paid by us!  We recently purchased three 1960 Topps baseball collections where the collector opted to ship their cards in - you can read how and see the cards here.

B. MEET AT OUR OFFICE.  While we can't travel to you yet (we hope to again soon!), we will allow scheduled visits to our office.  If you're comfortable making the trip and wearing a mask when we meet, we'll be ready!  Last week a father and son duo drove eight hours from Virginia to sell us a Michael Jordan rookie card that was stored in Tupperware (yes, Tupperware) and untouched since 1986.  Read about the 1986 Fleer Basketball Tupperware Collection here.

Josh chose to drive right to our Just Collect office in New Jersey with the collection and make the deal.  

5. PAYMENT

How would YOU like to be paid?  If you accept our offer, we'll pay you in:

  • Cash
  • Check
  • PayPal
  • Venmo
  • Credit Card
  • NFT
  • Top Shops 
  • Dunkin Donuts gift cards
  • Race for pink slips

OK, so we can't race for pink slips, but we'll make payments however you're comfortable.  If you want Dunkin gift cards, we'll get coffee together on us when we pick up the gift cards.

Easy as 1, 2, 3 with this collection.  Josh knew his cards, price, place to meet, and payment method.  We made a fair offer and worked out the easiest scenario to complete the sale.  To boot, we were told that there are MORE cards back in California at his mom's house where Josh kept some of his collection and we'd be glad to make a second deal!   

When we asked Josh why he chose to sell rookies of Kobe, Brady, LeBoron, Hogan, and all of the other incredible cards you're reading about, he told us "I realized many of my cards I collected solely for the sake of collecting, not for my love of those particular players. And I decided it was more meaningful to keep the nostalgic cards, the ones from favorite teams, players I grew up watching, and other players whose historical significance I appreciate."

If you have a big collection filled with Kobe cards but you were more of a Shaq collector, we'd love to buy your Kobe cards. You can hold onto the feeling of when you first opened your packs in '96 to see Shaq in that new Lakers uni. 

This purchase is the perfect example our buying philosophy. 

OUR BUYING PHILOSPHY 

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 20 years. Although we are known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage basketball 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, Just Collect understands the feelings that you're going through and we 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.

WON'T THEY BE WORTH MORE IF I GRADE THEM MYSELF

This collection was FULLY GRADED.  However we often buy ungraded cards, too. A misconception is that grading the collection will return more money. When I hear people say, "You're just going to grade them and get ten times the money," I almost cringe. Grading a collection can be a money losing proposition, especially if you don't know what you're doing. And most times, we grade very few, if any cards, from average collections that we buy.

We value a collection based upon the condition and the value. If a card is worth $100 in a PSA 7 NM, we're going to value it at $100 whether it is ungraded or graded. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars grading your cards, but we're still valuing them the same and paying the same regardless of how much you've invested in grading them.

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

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 our buy list blog here

Don't hesitate to check out our Google Reviews left by many of the great people that have considered selling collections to Just Collect.

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