The Atlanta Vintage Set Collection | Just Collect Blog

In July, we went on a buying trip down to Atlanta, Georgia. It's the first time we've been there all year, so we were real excited. The trip was originally planned around only seeing one collection, from a long time collector that we've bought from before, but as soon as word spread that we were coming to the area, our calendar filled up with appointments, and we traveled up and down the coast. We stopped in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Maryland. The collections we saw in those other cities were great, but the Atlanta one was best, and that's why we're highlighting this one. And if you love baseball cards, then this story is for you.

So we met this collector at the National last year (in 2015), and we bought a bunch of cards from him. However, he only had brought a small portion of his collection with him to the National because of limited space. He mentioned to us that he has an extensive collection back home in Atlanta, and that he'd love for us to come down and see it.

So that was August of 2015. For 11 months, we were going back and forth trying to coordinate dates that would work for both of us. After many discussions, we finally planned the trip, and we went down there the first week of July this year. And let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. Turns out this guy was a long-time dealer (and collector), and was ready to unload a big portion of his collection. He had lots of vintage cards, consisting of dozens of Topps sets from the '50s-'60s, and graded stars and rookie cards from the same era.

A collection of this magnitude is not easy to go through and evaluate. It takes time. Nine hours to be exact (and we didn't go through everything!). That's right, we spent 9 hours with him evaluating the collection and then negotiating a deal. However, it was not a chore at all, as he welcomed us into his home with open arms, fed us plenty, and entertained us with sports and music banter. It was quite a good time!

After all was said and done, one thing really stuck out in my mind. It was when he mentioned that we paid close enough to retail so he was comfortable selling to us. Now coming from a dealer, that speaks volumes, because that demonstrates how strong we pay. I'd like to think that we do a thorough job with our appraisals and that we offer fair prices for collections, and that point from him solidified it.

Ok, let's dive into the collection. This deal consisted of a dozen vintage sets, and about 60-70 vintage PSA graded singles. Here's the breakdown of the sets and their average condition:

The 1959 Topps & 1962 Topps baseball sets were the best two of the group in terms of value and condition. The '59 set was only missing one card, the #387 Don Drysdale, and was highlighted by the #10 Mickey Mantle, which was in EX condition, and the Bob Gibson rookie, which was EX/MT. The '62 Set was only missing three cards, all of little significance. This set is highlight by the #1 card, Roger Maris, which only graded out at VG. However, the Brock rookie was EX+, the Mays was also EX+, and the Mantle was VG/EX. The 1956 Topps set, one of the hobby's favorites, was a complete set, with the Mantle coming in at VG/EX(ish).

Here a few example of some of the graded PSA singles that were in this collection:

So, overall, everyone was happy! Even though the condition of the collection wasn't mint, it still had tons of value, and we were super excited to buy it!

Do you have a collection you're looking to sell? Let us know! We're interested in entire collections, sets, rookies, star cards, and high-grade commons from 1879-1975. In case you're not sure what it's worth, we offer free appraisals on all vintage collections. Fill out this appraisal form, and you'll hear from one of our vintage card experts right away.