Honus Wagner, Ted Williams and Lucius Appling outline this gorgeous collection of 1948 Leaf cards in a recent purchase by Just Collect!
While many might remember Leaf making their debut in 2010, boasting colorful designs and autographs, it actually wasn’t the first time that Leaf trading cards existed. Over 75 years ago, Leaf cards were manufactured right at the end of World War II. Though they were produced in 1949, many consider the cards to be a set from 1948. Before Topps began its long and successful run with smaller playing size cards in 1951, the year before the modern baseball card era began with Topps producing standard-size cards, the Leaf Gum Company produced a 98-card set, and it’s considered the first significant card set following the war that had color images. Ink, cardboard and ingredients to produce gum were allotted to other areas during this time, because of wartime efforts.
They also included many well-known and important baseball figures, such as Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson as well as established stars such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Luke Appling, all Hall of Famers.
The Leaf cards are undersized by today’s standards, measuring 2-3/8” by 2-7/8,” and the design is basic on the image side. Card backs include the player’s name, some biographical information and a brief performance capsule. The cards are also skip-numbered, an attempt to make the set seem larger.
The set is even more interesting for its inclusion of included many well-known and important baseball figures, such as Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson as well as established stars such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Luke Appling, all Hall of Famers.
But there were two of the game’s greats of yesteryear also included in the set. One is Babe Ruth, still long after his career and even after his passing in August of 1948 an iconic figure with mass appeal. The second, some may not recognize at first. His name is John Wagner, who, in 1948 was a member of Pirate manager Pie Traynor’s coaching staff.
John Wagner retired as a player in 1917 and joined Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson as the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He is, of course, more commonly known as Honus Wagner, accorded the epithet The Flying Dutchman. The nickname came from a comic-strip character popular in the early 20th century named Hans Wagner.
As for the Wagner image, well, there’s an element of irony to the image, as it shows Wagner after dipping into a tobacco pouch, readying a plug. Wagner’s 1909 T-206 card, produced by the American Tobacco Company, is the rarest and most valuable card in the industry, in part because so few were produced because Wagner stopped manufacture as soon as he was aware that the cards were manufactured by a tobacco company, objecting to his image being used to promote tobacco.
This leads us to the collection we purchased!
Back in October 2025, Kelley, the owner of this fine collection, contacted Just Collect asking for some information on these 1948-49 Leaf cards that her father-in-law no longer wanted since he was looking to de-clutter. Acquisition special Dan was more than happy to help.
Working together, Dan was able to get Kelley a free appraisal and make an offer based on what he'd seen.
Kelley was ready to ship the cards, but her husband had second thoughts about it and wanted to see some second opinions from other dealers as to the cards’ worth. However, Kelley never updated Dan and weeks went by.
Rather than giving up on the potential deal, Dan kept the file open and one day, Kelley contacted him again. It turns out Just Collect’s offer exceeded every other appraisal the family received, and so they were ready to move forward! Just Collect covered shipping and insurance costs to bring that amazing collection in. Once receiving the cards and seeing that the cards conditions did indeed match the images Kelley sent, Dan was relieved that he didn’t let this deal slip through his fingers. After finalizing the deal, Kelley and her family were sent a check, and Just Collect can now bring to you this amazing 1948 Leaf collection!
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Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 2009 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or 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. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.
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If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.
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We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!
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 souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and 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.
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