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Father-in-Law's Fleer

Many collections that Just Collect is contacted about are cards passed down from family members or family friends.  Recently, we received a call from a woman from the Midwest that had been entrusted by her brother to liquidate the balance of a collection that the brother's late father-in-law had built. 

When the father-in-law became ill, he began selling off a very large sports card collection that he had assembled.  Prior to his passing, he managed to sell everything except for one last item, a partial 1961 Fleer Basketball Set.  The set was missing only 6 cards and included 11 duplicates and the condition ranged from GD to NM and included one PSA graded card.  The son-in-law was not interested in going through the effort of trying to sell the collection and asked his sister if she could help.  She looked locally and then found Just Collect on the Internet through a Google search and began the process of sharing information and providing images in order to get a preliminary evaluation.

Upping the Offer

After reviewing the images, preparing a preliminary evaluation and offer, she was comfortable sending the collection to Just Collect.  Upon in-person review, Just Collect noted the better than normal centering and was able to increase the valuation of the collection (despite a few cards being in lesser condition than originally evaluated) and increase the purchase offer.  The woman presented the offer to her brother and they agreed to sell the collection to Just Collect and we made prompt payment to the family.

1961 Fleer

The early basketball sets were not release annually.  Bowman released their first basketball set in 1948 and it was not until 10 years later that another basketball set appeared when Topps released their first basketball set in 1957.  There was another gap before Fleer released their first basketball set in 1961 and another set would not appear until the end of the decade in 1969.  The result is that most of those sets, with such long periods between releases, presented a great amount of rookie cards in each release.

Last year (2018) a complete set of 1961 Fleer Basketball cards graded PSA 9 sold for over $135,000.00 at auction!

Rookie Hall of Famers

The 1961 Fleer Basketball Set is a gold mine as it contains several of the greats from the 1950s as well as the stars that had appeared in the NBA a few seasons earlier, but have never been featured on a basketball card.  The 1961 Fleer Set is anchored by the rookie cards of Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. Many other Hall of Famers are also featured on their rookie cards in the set, including:  Al Attles (the newest member - Class of 2019!), Elgin Baylor, Walt Bellamy, Hal Greer, Richie Guerin, Bailey Howell, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, Guy Rogers and Lenny Wilkens.

Final Appearance

Also included was the final mainstream release of many greats including Celtic greats Bill Russell and Bob Cousy on both their regular cards and their In-Action cards.  The small set size of 66 cards featured 44 player cards and an additional 22 In-Action cards of players depicted in the first 44 cards.

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.

The "Father-in-law's Fleer Basketball Find Collection" Video: