How do you know that you're doing right with those that you purchase collections from? The simple measuring stick is when they contact you to sell you more of their collection. Just Collect has had the pleasure of making multiple purchases over the years from several of our previous sellers. We're pretty certain that sellers wouldn't call us back if they were not completely satisfied with the service and purchase prices that they received from us. We take great pride in these repeat transactions and cannot thank our customers enough for the trust that they put in us.
A Repeat Customer
Last summer, we had the pleasure of reviewing and purchasing a really nice collection of late 1940's and early 1950's Bowman and Topps baseball cards. These were previously highlighted in our blog posts "The Vintage Cleveland Collection: Capturing Karma!" and the "1948-49 Leaf Baseball w/ Joe DiMaggio and Hal Newhowser SP" stories.
When we purchased the collection last August, the seller mention that there was also some football cards that he didn't think were worth including. After reviewing and purchasing the baseball portion of the collection, we convinced him that the football cards were probably worth more than he thought and that we would love to have the opportunity to review them.
Well, we had to wait until the Winter holidays for the seller to gather them up and forward them to our Somerset, NJ office. Upon receipt, our vintage specialists immediately reviewed the collection, prepared the spreadsheets and had an offer within 24 hours. After discussing the collection and the valuation with the seller, he was astonished at the value and even moreso at our offer and gladly agreed to our purchase offer and sold the remainder of the collection.
1950 Bowman Football
Similar to the summer collection, the collection started with a near set of 1950 Bowman Football cards. These tiny little gems featured a wide array of stars and rookies. Included were stars like Doak Walker, Sid Luckman, Charley Connerly, Bob Waterfield and Bobby Layne. Additionally, rookie included eventual Hall of Famers Y.A. Tittle, Tom Fears, Jim Finks, Tony Canadeo, Marion Motley, Crazy Legs Hirsch, Joe Perry and Lou Groza. Sadly absent was the rookie card of Otto Graham. The cards were in great condition, ranging mostly from EX to NM with a few better and a few lesser.
** - Unfortunately, the card images used in this blog are not cards from the actual collection.
1951 Bowman Football
The 1951 Bowman Football Set was nearly complete minus just one card (a common card of Dub Jones). One of the nicest condition cards in the set was the Near Mint condition rookie card of Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry when he was a member of the New York Giants. Other significant Hall of Fame rookie cards in the set included Norm Van Brocklin, Arnie Weinmeister, Ernie Stautner, Emlen Tunnell and Lou Creekmur. One of my favorite cards, Jack Zilly diving for the pigskin with the grass kicking up behind him, was also found in this collection.
1949 Leaf Football
Leaf was also represented in this collection. While not the highly desirable 1948 Leaf issue, this nearly complete set was missing only a few cards, but featured all of the major stars. We can only wonder how incredible this group would've been had they been collected just a year earlier given the very nice condition that these cards presented in.
Schedule an Appointment to Meet Just Collect at a Show Near You
Just Collect travels to several shows on a regular basis. In the New York area, we often attend the White Plains Show at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY. If you're in the New England area, you can make an appointment to meet with one of our specialists when we're in the area for the Shriner's Show at the Aleppo Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. We also visit the Metro-DC area when we attend the CSA Show in Chantilly, VA. If you're in the South Jersey or Delaware area, you can also schedule appointments while we're in the Philadelphia area when we do The Philly Show in Valley Forge, PA.
We set up at The National Sports Collectors Convention every year and this year, it will be at the Stephens Convention Center in the Rosemont section of Chicago, IL and it has also been in Cleveland, Atlantic City and Baltimore in recent years. Additionally, we travel to the Sports Card and Memorabilia Expo in Mississauga, Ontario for those of you in the Toronto area that want to meet with us in Canada.
We would love to meet with you and schedule a private appointment to assess and value your collection while we are in your area, so please check out our show and travel schedule to see when Just Collect will be in your area!
Our Buying Philosophy
We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the past decade. Although we are known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage basketball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, also!
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 soul into building their collection. 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
We discuss all of the selling options with everyone that we meet with. In most cases, selling the collection on their own will put the most money on the bottom line, but it will also take an large commitment of time and energy and one that most are not ready or able to undertake. Another 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 your collection and 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.
Don't hesitate to check out our Google Reviews left by many of the great people that have considered selling collections to Just Collect
"Cleveland Karma: The Football Collection" Video: