The Just Collect Blog

Interview with a $1 Million Dollar Unopened Pack Collector

Written by Monte Jennings | Sep 17, 2024 11:28:33 PM

A MILLION dollars' worth of unopened, vintage packs! Larry Solomon joins Just Collect to talk about these rare and historic items that includes a sealed 1962 Topps baseball cello pack with Roger Maris showing on top.

Just Collect is one of the biggest buyers of vintage sports cards in the world. Together with our sister company, , we also purchase and sell unopened vintage packs. Making National news in 2018, Just Collect and Vintage Breaks opened a 1955 Bowman baseball cello pack and pulled a pack-fresh Mickey Mantle live on stage at the National Sports Collectors Convention. You can see the video of this stellar moment HERE. Our owner, Leighton, hosts a weekly podcast called Trading Card Therapy. In the latest episode, Leighton interviews Larry Solomon.  

Around 25 years ago, Larry began collecting only unopened packs. Not a single card - not one loose card is in Larry's collection! Amazingly, Larry has NEVER OPENED A SINGLE PACK. In the video below, you can see a few of Larry's prized possessions and hear his wonderful story.

 

 

Thank you for joining the show, Larry! We are truly honored to view a few of your historic items. Would YOU be able to resist opening all of your packs? If we had another unopened 1962 Topps baseball cello pack, we'd rip into that pretty quickly, looking for legends such as Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, or Willie Mays. In 1962, Roger Maris fresh off his record-breaking home run total of 61 in 1961, his second of back-to-back MVP awards, and the Yankees had just won the World Series. Having this 1962 Topps baseball card right on top of a sealed cello pack is nothing short of spectacular! For 64 years, that 1962 Topps cello pack has remained unopened. Think of how much the world has changed since then: no Internet, we hadn't landed on the moon yet, and gas was 31 cents per gallon!

If you have sealed packs like Larry and you're interested in selling, we are always buying! We offer a . We always offer a free appraisal on cards and collections, too. Our most recent collection purchased includes a special guest named Crosby. "Cros" is Leighton's 9-year-old son, and together they went on a road trip to purchase a collection of 1909-1911 T206 tobacco cards with multiple Hall of Famers including Ty Cobb and Cy Young! You can see the collection and video HERE.

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 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.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.

  • Travel to Us

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

  • Come to convention

We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending.  Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

  • Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

  • Meet in New York City

If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.

  • SHIP your collection 

If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us!  We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

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.

CONTACT US ANY TIME

Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!