The 1966 Topps Baseball PSA Graded Set Purchase | Just Collect Blog

We love writing about and sharing the details of the collections that we find, the collections that find us and about many of the collections that we buy. The stories behind many of these collections are often even more exciting than the collection. But Just Collect doesn't just buy cards and collections from the public, we also buy at cards trade shows and at major conventions and on the Internet from eBay and national dealers. Many people probably don't even realize that we would consider buying from auction houses since those are "prices that a collector" would pay. Recently, we purchased a complete 1966 Topps Baseball Set from a major auction house with each of the 598 cards being professionally graded by PSA with the cards grading PSA 7, PSA 7.5 and PSA 8.

Some readers may wonder, "How can you spend more than the public to buy a set?" The answer to that is simple and we'll get to that in a bit, but the more important questions are, "How do we value a set to come up with a value that we can pay?" and "Why would anyone NOT contact Just Collect to get Just Collect's purchase offer before selling their collection?"

How Just Collect Values a Graded Collection:
How we value a collection is very simple and it is even a more straight forward task when the collection or set has been graded by PSA or SGC. We utilize a private subscription service that tracks the Internet and auction house sales of graded cards in all grades and we utilize this data like a stock ticker to establish current, real-time values for all of the cards in the collection. And since we don't buy and hold cards, we know that the selling those cards quickly in the current market will result in a definable value. This definable value is the gross retail value that we assign to the collection. We also do this on ungraded cards, but the process is a bit more time consuming.

Since we arrive at a value based upon the current market, we wonder why ANYONE that is considering selling a graded set or graded collection wouldn't contact Just Collect for a quick evaluation and strong, cash offer before heading to an auction house? Our guess is that they don't know that we pay top dollar and can the evaluation can be done without the collection ever leaving the seller's hands.

As a simple example, let's say that a collector has a set that they are planning to consign to an auction house to market and sell. Even if the auction house doesn't charge them a seller's commission (usually 5-15% of the final sales price), the set was still subject to an additional 20% buyer's premium that is paid as part of the final price (we pay this 20% for any items that WE buy from the auction house). What does this mean to the consignor? It means that the person that consigned the set got at least 20% LESS than had they contacted Just Collect directly to sell the set. We understand that most sellers assume that buyers don't offer very much when presented with a collection or a complete set, but Just Collect does! While we can't pay more than the market value, we can certainly pay far more than any of our competitors will and the best thing is that our offer is NOW and it is CASH and it isn't subject to waiting or to commissions. Contact us today for a free appraisal if you have a set or collection that you want top dollar for!

Just Collect Pays More Than the Competition:
Why can we pay more? It is no secret that graded sets often have more value broken up and sold individually, but it isn't that easy for most auction houses or many sellers to do, so they offer them up as complete sets. However, since Just Collect has a model that allows us to consistently break graded sets and sell the cards individually, it also affords us the opportunity to value and offer to pay more than anyone else in the industry. A set that may sell for $10,000 as a complete set (which nets the seller offering it through an auction house $8,000 after the 20% buyer's premium is subtracted), may be worth upwards of $11,000-12,0000 broken up. Just Collect will value the set and pay based upon the break-up value and typically would be able to offer the seller $8800-9600 for the same set. That's an extra 10-20% MORE for the seller than by offering it through an auction house and getting paid on the "market value." Just Collect also pays top prices for ungraded sets and collections, too!

The 1966 Topps Baseball PSA Graded Set:
The 1966 Topps Baseball Set is one of the most popular sets of the 1960's. Featuring most of the stars and Hall of Famers of the decade, it also features the last or penultimate cards of many, including Robin Roberts, Sandy Koufax and Whitey Ford. Rookie cards of eventual Hall of Famers are highlighted by Jim Palmer, Fergie Jenkins and Don Sutton. The set begins with Willie Mays as the very first card. Being the #1 card in the set make it even more difficult to find Mays in top condition as the card was more susceptible to rubber bands and the elements of being the top card. Mickey Mantle is featured and the card is double printed. While making it a more readily available, it doesn't make it cheap. Top grade Mantles still carry a premium.

Let's not forget some of the other incredible Hall of Famers in the set. Roberto Clemente, Carl Yastrzemski, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson Tony Perez, Al Kaline, Bob Gibson, Harmon Killebrew and others. And the set also includes the "should be" Hall of Famer Pete Rose.

The Short Prints and the High Numbers:

The bane of many collectors is the very difficult short printed high number cards (cards #523-598). It is not uncommon to witness star prices being paid for some of the 43 tougher short prints such as Choo-Choo Coleman, Horace Clarke and the Cardinals Rookies (#544). However, due to most examples being scooped up by one collector whenever they were available, the Bart Shirley/Grant Jackson rookie card (#591 in the set) is almost always included on most set builders' want-lists and sells for some strong premiums when available. When you add in some of the stars that are included in the high series, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams and the last card in the set Gaylord Perry, you can see how pricey the set can become.

We have broken up this fantastic set and are offering it on eBay with each card available individually with almost every card grading PSA 7, PSA 7.5 or PSA 8. A few of the eBay listings are linked above and our running auctions can always be viewed by visiting Just Collect's current eBay auctions.

Contact Just Collect If You Have a Collection or Need an Appraisal:

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 and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the value in the current marketplace.