"I've got a little bit of everything, but not a lot of anything." It was an interesting call, but one that is not completely unusual for our customer service specialists.
A collector had assembled a moderate collection of a little more than 150 graded cards -- mostly PSA. The ranged from a few tobacco cards (T205 and T206) featuring Hall of Famers like Nap Lajoie and "Three Fingers" Brown to cards as recent as 1973 Topps Nolan Ryan. In between was a smorgasbord of issues and a Who's Who in baseball history.
Evaluation and Offer Unseen
The great thing about graded collections is that our specialists can evaluate and prepare a purchase offer if the potential seller can provide a spreadsheet or list of the collection and the grades. Providing images of the higher value and higher end cards also helps Just Collect specialists add a little more value to the collection if the eye appeal warrants. This collection was presented sight unseen and Just Collect and the seller were able to agree upon a purchase offer PRIOR to the seller even having to ship the cards.
Pre World War II
Nearly 20% of the collection contained prewar cards. Prewar is term used to describe cards that were released prior to World War II. Including the afore mentioned tobacco cards, there were also examples of Hall of Famers like Charlie Gehringer depicted on a 1933 Delong issue. One of the most popular prewar sets was the 1933 Goudey release and this collection offered a nice representation from the set, including: Maranville, Waner, Ott, Wilson, Terry, Cuyler and one of the highlights of the collection, card #92 featuring Yankees legend Lou Gehrig.
There were several higher PSA 7 cards in the prewar selection. Carl Hubbell appears in a PSA 7 example of the 1934 Goudey and Lefty Gomez stands out on his 1939 Play Ball, also in a PSA 7.
Post World War II
This postwar selection was a veritable list of the greatest players of the generation. Names like Satchel Paige, Yogi Berra, Pee Wee Reese, Whitey Ford, Ernie Banks, Phil Rizzuto, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider and Eddie Mathews appeared on their early Topps and Bowman releases. The icons, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax are the names that standout from the 1950s.
In addition to the incredible star power, there were quite a few significant rookie cards. Sandy Koufax is featured on his inaugural 1955 Topps release while Roger Maris appears on his 1958 Topps rookie card.
The 1960s
As baseball expanded twice in the decade (1962 and 1969), many of the stars of the 1950s were winding down their incredible careers. Mickey Mantle appears in this collection on almost every one of his Topps cards throughout the decade, including his final card in 1969.
Some of the other stars from the 1960s included Johnny Bench, Nolan Ryan, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Willie McCovey and Catfish Hunter.
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