TWO Mickey Mantle rookie cards and a Willie Mays rookie card were among a collection of vintage cards that were all tucked away in just a little brown box! No holders - no pages - just a box. This collection proves that you don’t know who will walk in with what!
Selling cards to Just Collect isn’t just for those who are long distance; it’s also for those who don’t mind making a trip to our Summit, NJ location or those who live locally, such as this gentleman. While looking to sell his cards somewhere locally, the client, Dan, came across the Just Collect website and decided to make the trip. Seeing as it wasn’t far from him, he packed up a few items and made the quick drive to our store, no appointment needed! What Dan brought in stunned us here at Just Collect.
THE COLLECTION
After arriving at Just Collect, Dan was helped by our staff and met with Just Collect’s VP, John so that he could obtain a
. John was shocked to see that in the
small brown box Dan brought with him that there were
two 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Rookie cards and a Willie Mays rookie card from the same set!
Dan told us most of the collection from the 1940s and early 1950s were from an inheritance that came from his relatives. When Dan was a teenager, they saw that he was working hard on his chores to get money to buy some packs from corner stores that summer. Dan only collected cards for a year or two, he decided to keep his own cards however and only sell the cards he inherited. His family members were Yankees and Red Sox fans. There was indeed a family feud when it came to baseball. The mickey mantle rookie cards came from the Yankees side of the family. The Ted Williams card came from the Red Sox family side. In addition to these amazing cards, Dan had a slew of Hall of Famers including Yogi Berra, Stan Musial and Satchel Paige! He kept these cards in that small brown box for years.
Below you will see photos of the entire collection including the small brown box that kept the cards safe for many years.
Of course John was quick to explain that the cards should be in Card Savers and helped Dan transfer the cards into them so they would be protected. We have more tips on how to safely store your collection
here.
As you look at the box above, just imagine our surprise when we opened the lid! Beautiful cards from the
1951 Bowman baseball set. Each card
measures 2-1/16" x 3-1/8", making them a little smaller than the standard card size you see today of 2.5" x 3.5". Cards from this set features a lovely painted rendition from a press image of each player. The three-time MVP, seven-time World Series champion, and Hall of Famer, Mickey Mantle made his MLB debut on April 17th, 1951. Bowman baseball cards were released in April of 1951, and on card #253 is the future star. Bowman placed Mantle on a card a year before the
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card.
Mays is arguably the greatest five-tool player ever to play the game. Mays could hit for average (.301 career average), hit for power (660 career home runs), run (four-time leader in stolen bases), and field with a great arm (12 career Gold Glove awards). The 24-time All-Star won the World Series and two MVP awards on his way to Cooperstown.
APPRAISAL AND PURCHASE
After appraising the cards, both our owner, Leighton, and John made a very strong offer on the small collection, but Dan was not ready to sell. He also told John that there were 39 other cards at his home that was also part of the collection. After promising to keep in touch, Dan left with Just Collect in mind. A few weeks later, John reached back out to Dan, who was still not ready to sell, but knew that John would help evaluate the remaining of his 39 cards. John held out hope he’d get the collection.
A few more weeks later, John was preparing for a trip to Jamaica to celebrate his wife’s birthday when he received a call at the airport that morning. He picked it up, and to his surprise and delight, it was Dan! Dan asked if he could stop by to have the rest of the collection evaluated. John remarks that it was hard to say no, but his wife was already staring at him with those "what are you doing answering work calls right now" eyes! John had no choice but to tell Dan to swing by the office the following week to help him with the balance of the collection.
On Tuesday of that week, John was impatiently waiting for Dan to arrive and when he did, he wasn’t surprised to see that same small brown box, this time filled with the 39 cards spoken about before. And yes, all the cards were loose in the box! Some of them were even kept together with paperclips! John was more than happy to evaluate the cards and make one final offer. It was tough—Dan and John spent some time negotiating before finally coming to an agreement. Dan walked away with a check, but not before telling us a little bit about the collection. Dan was very happy with our service and perhaps sometime in the near future he might bring in his own cards he collected as a boy to Just Collect.
OTHER MANTLE ROOKIE CARDS IN CRAZY PLACES
Dan's brown box might sounds like the craziest place a Mantle rookie card has been stored! Just Collect is one of the biggest buyers and sellers of vintage collections in the hobby. The retail stores are focused on selling modern products and simply don't have the time or the knowledge to carefully evaluate vintage collections. This is where we are happy to help you! We have purchased thousands upon thousands of collections and bought and sold over 50 MILLION dollars in cards. As you can imagine, we have purchased a few collections where a Mickey Mantle rookie card was storied in some strange places!
OTHER INCREDIBLE COLLECTIONS
Check out blogs featuring incredible collections Just Collect proudly purchased such as:
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WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING
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.
We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:
We offer many ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.
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.
We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.
If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.
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.
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.
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Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!