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A small collection with a big name! That’s how I can describe the collection we purchased today here at Just Collect. A young man was given a handful of sports cards as a Christmas gift in the mid-1960's and until recently those cards sat in a chest in his basement. Picking Super Bowl week to go through his old football cards, the man discovered a BIG name in his small collection - a Joe Namath rookie card.

Sitting here at the Just Collect office in New Jersey, I've had football cards on the brain all week. The Super Bowl is this Sunday! Joe Burrow and the Bengals against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angels Rams. This is the week I love to review and purchase football card collections the most! I received a message from a gentleman that used our link on the Just Collect website and the story really piqued my interest - a famous rookie card stored in a chest since the 1960's?! 

THE COLLECTION

This collection belonged to a gentleman from Massachusetts. When he was younger, as a Christmas gift his dad gave him a box of sports cards that included baseball and football cards from the mid-1960s through 1970s. This box of cards was then placed in a chest. After growing up and moving out, the man moved down to sunny Florida where he still had the chest. 

Recently, the gentleman found the chest in his basement and decided to go through it. He found all kinds of stuff including old baseball caps, shirts and the box of cards he was given as a kid. While going through the cards he recognized once specific name - JOE NAMATH. "Broadway Joe" is a Hall of Fame quarterback that lead the New York Jets to a victory in Super Bowl III over the Baltimore Colts in a game he guaranteed a win. That win cemented Namath as an all-time, legendary player. After finding the Joe Namath card, the gentleman went to Google to see if his card had any value. It was then he realized in his chest all these years was a 1965 Topps Joe Namath - his rookie card.

The values on Google he found were for high-graded cards. If you're not familiar with card grading, there are professional grading companies that will review your card and assign a grade. Generally, cards are graded on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being a perfect card. Vintage cards with a grade of 10 can be VERY valuable as there are so few cards that remained in perfect condition after kids played games of FLIP or put the cards in their bike spokes. After doing research, he realized the condition of this particular Namath rookie was not in the same range as the five to six-figured valued cards he found on Google. He needed a professional opinion, that’s where Just Collect comes in. We specialize in vintage cards. Over the last 25 years, we have purchased multiple Joe Namath rookie cards like our Tall Boy Pigskin Collection.

The gentleman provided me images of the cards through our website. As there were only handful of cards in this collection, I reviewed and appraised the collection fairly quickly. The Joe Namath rookie card is from 1965 Topps.

1965 Topps

• Called "Tall Boys" due to their size of 2-1/2” x 4-11/16"  - most cards are only 3.5 inches tall.
• 176 total cards
• Key cards include the Joe Namath rookie card, George Blanda and Len Dawson

To provide an example on how rare a perfect 10 Joe Namath rookie card is, one of the top grading companies, PSA, has zero 10's on their population report. Only five Namath rookies submitted for grading even even came back as a 9.

THE APPRAISAL - PURCHASE - HATES THE JETS?

After reviewing this Namath rookie card in the scans provided to our website, I asked for the gentleman to ship the card here to the office so I may inspect it personally. Shipping your collection is just one of the many options we offer to review and appraise your collection. We will evaluate your cards for free. Once appraised, if you choose not to sell, we will return your cards at charge to you. With our FedEx account, we will ship your cards fully insured with 2-day shipping. Simply contact us like this gentleman did and I'd be glad to review your collection!

I evaluated the Joe Namath rookie card and the gentleman understood the grading scale process used. We made a strong offer that he was more than happy to accept. We then paid him how he wanted to be paid. With Just Collect, we can pay you in cash, check, money order, or we can buy you tickets to the next Jets game if that's what you desire!

Speaking of Joe Namath's Jets... The gentleman mentioned something interesting during the final conversation. He mentioned his dad was a hardcore Steelers fan and still is. I asked if he hated the Jets and his answer was a very quick “Oh yeah!” I asked this because I noticed that of all of the cards in his box were in better condition than the Joe Namath rookie card. He doesn’t remember if his dad purposely damaged the card or made sure it wasn’t protected like the others. He also mentioned his dad wouldn’t remember either. I guess we will leave that up to our imagination of what really happened to Broadway Joe.  

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.

I offer many ways to evaluate and purchase your collections other than shipping.

• In New York City

Meet us in our new office space in New York City. This is a convenient option if you are in or near the New York metro area. For more information on our NY office, click here. 

• Come to a convention

See our LIST of card shows we’ll be attending. Stop by the Just Collect table to chat about your collection. 

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

My name  is John, vintage card specialist and acquisitions manager at Just Collect. If you have a collection you're interested in selling, I'd love to hear from you. Don't hesitate to reach out to John@JustCollect.com.

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! 

• JustCollect.com
• (732) 828-2261
• info@justcollect.com
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