There's a story behind every card. At Just Collect, we hear a plethora of good, sad, and off-the-wall stories every single day, but in the end, it's always fascinating to see how key pieces of memorabilia have lasted over the years - and we are here to help tell that story. One of the most coveted cards in the hobby today is a T206 Ty Cobb. There are four different variations within the set - red portrait, green portrait, bat on shoulder and bat off shoulder - with all them being equally desirable, and for the most part, worth about the same. The only exception to that rule would be the Portrait Green Background variation, which is less common, and is worth a little bit more. We were contacted by a gentleman in Florida last week who was looking to sell one, and we jumped at the opportunity to buy it.

There had been an unfortunate death in his family, and he and his brother were in charge of cleaning out the trailer. They spent hours digging though boxes full of "old stuff", which ranged from pictures to newspaper clippings to old Westerns collectibles. Not sure of the value, they threw most of the stuff away. One thing however, they did put to the side -- a baseball card from over 100 years ago. After some initial research, they concluded that the card was indeed worth some money, so they reached out to us for some expertise. After explaining the appraisal process to them on the phone, they felt confident enough with our services, and mailed the card to us the very next day! Two days later we received the card, did a full evaluation, and made them an offer. Jay and his brother happily accepted, and we mailed them a check the following day. The entire process took less than a week, something they were ecstatic about, since the holidays are right around the corner. "This is great. My brother and I both have two kids, so we are going to split the money and use it for Christmas. I'm sure there are even more cards in those boxes, so we are going to look through the stuff again and call you guys back next week". The following day we turned to the experts at Sportscard Guarantee to get the card encapsulated. Due to their close proximity, we were able to take advantage of their "walk thru service", which allowed us to get the card back hours later. This card graded out at an SGC 30 GOOD - which was in the range of what we had thought. This example comes fairly well centered, and without paper loss - something both collectors and investors are looking for. The card actually displays much nicer than it's assigned grade, and looks fantastic inside of the black encapsulation. It's pretty amazing that in less than a week's time, we were contacted about a card, appraised it, bought it, got it graded, and now have it listed on eBay for auction! The most interesting thing that we took away from this purchase, was that we were able to get a "history" of the card. The two brothers had inherited the card from their grandmother, and she had gotten it from her husband after he had passed away, when they lived in Detroit decades ago. He was apparently a collector himself and held the card in his collection for many years. So, for the last 75 years or so, this very card had stayed with one family, even as they relocated from Michigan to Florida - and now the brothers are able to use the money to enjoy the holidays with their families! Unfortunately, not every deal is that efficient, but that hasn't stopped us from aggressively buying. With that said, we encourage you to take a look through your attic and basement to see what you have! If you do happen to come across vintage cards or memorabilia, and you would like to know what they are worth, please give us a call at 732-828-2261. We'd be happy to give you a free appraisal and to make you an offer! Who doesn't love a little extra cash around the holidays?!