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Pat Quinn Talks Signed 1933 Goudey Set at 45th Consecutive National

Hear About Pat Crawling Through a Window for a SIGNED 1933 Goudey Set!

August 17, 2025

PatQuin

Crawled through a window for a SIGNED 1933 Goudey Set? Including the Lajoie card?! Legendary dealer, Pat Quinn, takes you wild story during an interview Leighton live at the National Sports Collectors Convention.

Pat Quinn has never missed a National! For 45 years, Pat has been a mainstay at the biggest convention in the Country. Naturally, Pat has seen and heard it all! Just Collect owner, Leighton, sat down with Pat to talk about a how much the National has evolved, and then the fellas stumbled into a WILD story.

Growing up in Chicago Pat tells us that at only the age of 11, it was nothing to take 20 cents and head out to a White Sox or Cubs game with this friends without an adult around. While at the games, Pat would ask players for their autographs. He would also send autograph requests out through the mail. As he got older, Pat joined worked for SEARS where he made $1.00 per hour, and then joined the NAVY. After the NAVY, Pat was reading an ad in the Sporting News in which someone was buying autographs. Remembering the signatures he collected as a kid, Pat decided to sell those autographs for money. After speaking with his wife, Pat opted to sell baseball cards and autographs as a full-time job! Sixty years of marriage and 45 National Sports Collectors Conventions later, Pat is still a full-time dealer.

Pat and Leighton discuss:

Jackie Robison signing autographs at a game.
Mailing an autograph request to Ty Cobb with no address on the envelope and getting a return!
How the National has evolved over the last 45 years
Starting a sports card auction in 1968,
Climbing into window to buy a signed, complete set of 1933 Gouey cards.

Wait - wait?

Now THIS is a story.

The 1933 Goudey baseball set is iconic. While the major draw of the set are the four Babe Ruth cards, the rarest card in the set belongs to #106, Napoleon (NAP) Larry Lajoie. Goudey did not release the card with the initial sets in 1933. When collectors realized card #106 was always missing, they would write letters to Goudey, and in return, the Lajoie card would be mailed back to the collectors. To date, PSA has graded just 96 of the Lajoie cards. Comparatively, over 4,000 of the four Babe Ruth cards in the set have been graded.

A gentleman read an ad that Pat posted himself about wanting to buy baseball cards, and contacted Pat about selling a complete 1933 Goudey set, with the Lajoie - signed. Every card was signed! Pat and the gentlemen met at a nearby bar where the cards were spread out to see. Even the Lajoie was signed!

The amazing part? Not one, but TWO completed, signed 1933 Goudey sets were purchased that day!

While purchasing the signed set at the bar, the gentlemen told Pat how he and his brother would collect autographs and tried to see which one could complete the set first. The men left the bar and headed to the brother's house. The brother wasn't home, and someone needed to climb into the window for the second set!

If you think that story is crazy, wait until hear how much Pat sold one of the signed Lajoie cards for in 1969:

We love Pat's take on selling a card valued at over a million dollars for around $260. At the time, Pat received the most money for the card! No complaints there. Thank you for the time, Pat; we really appreciate you spending a few minutes to chat. We can't wait to see you at the 2026 National!

Do YOU have a collection that you're interested in selling? We are always buying! We purchased over 800 1933 Goudey Cards in a collection that included 22 Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cards that you can read about HERE. Just Collect offers a FREE appraisal! Here is how you can contact us any time:

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.