Contact Us

Mystery Box With Mickey Mantle Cards in The Unsolicited Collection

We were SHOCKED to see what was in the mystery box!

October 25, 2021

247753739_201416858683743_1087140779716874464_n

A mystery box showed up at the Just Collect doorstep this month. With no information regarding the package, we stored the box in our warehouse for a few weeks. Once we opened up the box, our JAWS DROPPED! Inside were vintage cards of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and rookie cards of legends like Nolan Ryan! Wait -WHAT?! This story is too good not to share - we present The Unsolicited Collection.

Just Collect is ALWAYS interested in buying collections. We offer a free appraisal on our website, as well as a spot for you to upload photos and information about your collection so it can be reviewed by our specialists. If we move forward withy your collection, we then offer the option to ship your items out to our office here in New Jersey (we will travel to you for large collections!) so we can inspect your collection in-person. Earlier this month, we were left scratching our heads when a box arrived without any contact or collection information - just a box of wonder and mystery. The box wasn't ticking, so that was promising. We didn't smell freshly-baked cookies either; we would have opened the box up right then and there for those. We decided to store the unopened box in our warehouse until we could investigate.

THE MYSTERY BOX AND THE PHONE CALL

The mystery box sat in the warehouse for weeks when we finally received a call from Michelle. She found Just Collect online and shipped her collection out to the office without contacting us directly first. When we asked Michelle (in our best Brad Pitt voice...) "what's in the box?" The phone call on our end went something like this:

Wait - Mickey Mantle cards were in the box, you say, Michelle? A Nolan Ryan rookie card, too? Vintage Topps baseball cards of Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente are in the box?!

We're not going to lie - we RACED to the warehouse to find the mystery box. We couldn't believe our eyes when we found these inside:

OH. MY.

We began to sort out the collection that among many others:

(2) 1966 Topps Mickey Mantle
(3) 1966 Topps Pete Rose
(3) 1966 Topps Fergie Jenkins rookies
1967 Topps Willie Mays
1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie
1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie

The 1960's were a wild time, culminating in Woodstock happening in August of '69. Three days of Peace, Music, and a slew of things our parents wouldn't tell us about... Wondering if Michelle went to that Dairy Farm in Bethel, NY. to see the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. Maybe she carried over those wild, carefree days because she had no problem mailing about a box of Mickey Mantle cards without calling us first!

We continued to pull vintage stars out of Michelle's box!

Bobby Murcer, Whitey Ford, Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente - card after card, after card we pulled out were vintage greats!

We evaluated Michell's collection and made a fair off that she accepted. Then we paid Michelle how she wanted to be paid! If we make a deal to buy our collection, we'll pay you in cash, check, money order, wire transfer, or freshly-baked cookies if that's your thing, too.

Just Collect is proud to now own The Unsolicited Collection. Beyond sharing the provenance and stories behind the collections we also like giving back to the collecting community...some of the vintage cards from the collection are being given away as prizes on our social media accounts (follow us below!) or through our sister company, Vintage Breaks!

Have you ever stored baseball cards in a box and simply forgot about them for either weeks or maybe years? Perhaps you were heavy into collecting in 1966, back when you may have put cards in your bike spokes and singing The Troggs "Wild Thing" , but then put your collection inside a box and forget all about it until maybe even right now? Make sure to go check for your mystery box and give us a call if you find a stack of cards! Don't forget to check these Unexpected Places you might find vintage cards, too!

While we LOVED getting a mystery box of vintage cards through the mail, PLEASE make sure to contact us first before shipping your cards to Just Collect.

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. Make sure to contact us first to set up the shipping arrangements.

Travel to us

If you can make the trip here - we can make a deal at the office. I once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet me 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 large or valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

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 blog here.

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.

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